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Tag: transformers

  • First ‘Bumblebee’ Photo With Hailee Steinfeld Teases Retro ‘Transformers’ Spinoff

    The “Transformers” franchise is traveling back to the 1980s, just with a Volkswagen Beetle instead of a DeLorean.

    “Bumblebee,” heading to theaters a year from now, is the first film in the live-action franchise to not be directed by Michael Bay. Instead, Travis Knight (“Kubo And The Two Strings”) is heading behind the wheel, so to speak, for a spinoff focused on our Autobot hero.

    Here’s the synopsis from Paramount:

    “On the run in the year 1987, Bumblebee finds refuge in a junkyard in a small Californian beach town. Charlie (Hailee Steinfeld), on the cusp of turning 18 and trying to find her place in the world, discovers Bumblebee, battle-scarred and broken. When Charlie revives him, she quickly learns this is no ordinary, yellow VW bug.”

    Empire shared a new photo showing Charlie and Bumblebee:Yep, he’s back to being a bug — like the old cartoons — as opposed to the Chevy Camaro of the films.

    Travis Knight told Empire how he wants to distinguish his film from the others by Michael Bay:

    “I wanted to approach this massive, expansive franchise and really focus in on a tiny corner of the canvas. Everything I’ve tried to do at Laika [animation studio] — searching for an artful blend of darkness and light, intensity and warmth, humor and heart — I wanted to bring to the Transformers franchise.”

    The rest of the cast includes John Cena, Pamela Adlon, Stephen Schneider, and Gracie Dzienny.

    “Bumblebee” is scheduled for release on December 21, 2018, which will pit it against DC’s “Aquaman.”

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  • Megan Fox Blames Herself for ‘Transformers 3’ Firing: ‘All I Had to Do Was Apologize’

    'Transformers' Press Conference In SeoulMegan Fox compared director Michael Bay to Hitler and was too “self-righteous” to back down.

    Fox shot to fame as Mikaela Banes in Bay’s first two “Transformers” movies opposite Shia LaBeouf. She was supposed to be in the 2011 film “Transformers 3,” but then she gave a rather colorful interview to London’s Wonderland Magazine before filming. Here’s part of what she said at the time:

    “[Bay] wants to be like Hitler on his sets, and he is. So he’s a nightmare to work for but when you get him away from set, and he’s not in director mode, I kind of really enjoy his personality because he’s so awkward, so hopelessly awkward. […] He has no social skills at all. And it’s endearing to watch him. He’s vulnerable and fragile in real life and then on set he’s a tyrant.”

    Michael Bay didn’t seem to mind what she said, but producer Steven Spielberg is not one to let a Hitler quip slide. According to Bay, “You know that Hitler thing. Steven said, fire her right now.”

    So Megan Fox was replaced by Rosie Huntington-Whiteley in “Transformers: Dark of the Moon.”

    Fast-forward several years, and the now 31-year-old Fox is on the new cover of Cosmopolitan UK, revisiting that dark time in her life:

    “That was absolutely the low point of my career. But without – ‘that thing’, I wouldn’t have learned as quickly as I did. All I had to do was apologize – and I refused. I was so self-righteous at 23, I couldn’t see [that] it was for the greater good. I really thought I was Joan of Arc.

    It hurt me and a lot of other people. However, that darkness that descended caused enormous and brisk spiritual growth. Once I realized I [had] brought it on myself, it was an invaluable learning experience, looking back on it.”

    She has a good attitude about it. Even though she used an unfortunate comparison, you could argue the punishment was worse than the crime. Then again, being freed from the “Transformers” franchise isn’t the worst thing to happen to a person, and she eventually landed another blockbuster franchise with “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”

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  • Every Post-Credits Scene From Summer 2017 Movies, Ranked

    Every Post-Credits Scene From Summer 2017 Movies, Ranked

  • ‘Transformers’ Spinoff ‘Bumblee’ Announces Cast, New Release Date

    “Bumblebee” will be getting his turn in the spotlight next Christmas.

    The “Transformers” spinoff has a new release date: December 21, 2018 (moved back from June). The movie is being directed by Travis Knight (“Kubo and the Two Strings”), who makes his live-action helming debut.

    Paramount also announced the cast, headlined by WWE star John Cena and Hailee Steinfeld. Pamela Aldon, Stephen Schenider, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Jason Drucker, Kenneth Choi, Ricardo Hoyos, Abby Quinn, Rachel Crow, and Grace Dzienny also appear.

    Here’s the official synopsis:

    On the run in the year 1987, Bumblebee finds refuge in a junkyard in a small Californian beach town. Charlie (Hailee Steinfeld), on the cusp of turning 18 and trying to find her place in the world, discovers Bumblebee, battle-scarred and broken. When Charlie revives him, she quickly learns this is no ordinary, yellow VW bug.

    The “Bumblebee” spinoff is the first in what Paramount hopes becomes a “Transformers” Cinematic Universe, in the vein of what Marvel and DC Comics have done. The recent “Transformers: The Last Knight” opened last month and has earned $568.9 million worldwide.

    With the Dec. 21, 2018 release date, “Bumblebee” will now go up against Warner Bros. “Aquaman.”

  • Box Office: ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ Slings to Massive $117 Million Domestic Opening

    LOS ANGELES, July 9 (Variety.com) – Spider-Man is officially a box office overachiever.

    As of Sunday morning, the latest cinematic depiction of the webbed-hero, “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” is looking at a $117 million opening from 4,348 locations. $10.6 million of the domestic total came from 392 Imax screens. That’s a huge win for Sony, Columbia Pictures, and Marvel Studios for the film, which cost roughly $175 million to produce. The anticipated opening weekend is higher than industry estimates, which were in the $90 million to $110 million range, while the studio cautiously pegged it at $80 million.

    “Everyone at Sony and Marvel are thrilled,” said Josh Greenstein, Sony’s marketing chief. “It’s safe to say it’s a triumphant return for Spider-Man.”

    “Homecoming” banked on the idea that the summer box office was craving a family-friendly superhero movie — Tom Holland plays a high school version of Peter Parker who, at 15 years old, has to prove that he is worthy of being called an Avenger. And it seems that bet is paying off. The $117 million figure is the second largest in Sony Pictures history, behind “Spider-Man 3.”

    Much attention has been paid to the flick’s successful marketing campaign, which heavily featured Iron Man (Robert Downy Jr.), who serves as Spider-Man’s mentor in the film. Michael Keaton plays the big bad, Vulture, Jon Favreau plays Spidey’s guardian, Happy Hogan, and Zendaya stars as Michelle Jones (“MJ”), Parker’s brainy classmate. The movie consistently dominated social media in the weeks leading up to its release.

    Before “Homecoming,” Jon Watts directed two much lower-budget feature films — the 2014 horror movie “Clown” and 2015’s “Cop Car” starring Kevin Bacon. He also has a handful of writing and producing credits, and is one of six writers credited on the “Homecoming” script. Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal share production credit. While the former has proven essentially infallible in the biz, “Homecoming” serves as a redemption narrative for the latter. After the infamous 2014 Sony hack, Pascal was ousted from her post at the top of the studio, and began to focus on producing. This is her second major release following last summer’s “Ghostbusters” reboot, but she also has a hand in a long list of upcoming projects including Sony’s “Barbie” movie, Steven Spielberg’s A-list-studded “The Papers,” and future “Spider-Man” movies.

    “We have incredible partners,” said Greenstein, who said that those relationships helped the film to be “embraced in a big way. It really shows the strength for this beloved character.”

    Despite the reliability of superhero movies at the box office, “Homecoming” could have been seen as a big bet for all parties involved. For one, it’s the third iteration of the character in the past 15 years — before Holland, Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire donned the Spidey suit. The makers had to trust that audiences would be ready to see the character yet again. On top of that, the summer box office has not been particularly kind to the sequels and reboots that have become the industry’s summer signature. As audience fatigue has impacted previously reliable franchises like “Transformers” and even “Despicable Me,” the one thing that this summer has proved is that the domestic audience is not yet burnt out on superheroes.

    This is yet another Marvel movie release that has managed to capture the approval of critics and audience members — something the DC Extended Universe could not claim until this summer with “Wonder Woman.” But Marvel’s been there since the beginning. “Homecoming” currently has a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes and an A CinemaScore.

    “Homecoming” is the only major release this weekend, so the rest of the top five are made up to familiar faces. Starting with “Despicable Me 3,” which is headed for a $34 million second frame, or a 53% drop from last weekend. “Baby Driver” should sit comfortable in third, as positive word of a mouth is steering to a $12.8 million second weekend, or a 38% drop. “Wonder Woman” continues to hold on with $10.1 million in its sixth weekend, and “Transformers: The Last Knight” should round out the top five with $6.3 million.

    Kumail Nanjiani‘s “The Big Sick” is entering the top ten as it expands toward wide release, starting next Friday. From 326 North American theaters this weekend the movie should make $3.7 million. Sofia Coppola’s “The Beguiled” should stay in the top ten as it, too, expands. This weekend it’s expected to make $2.1 million from 941 locations. Meanwhile, A24’s “A Ghost Story” starring Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck should spook $105,000 from four locations during its opening frame.

    Overall, the summer box office stands at about $2.3 billion, or 8% lower than last year. That leaves the year overall about dead even with 2016 after movies like “Beauty and the Beast,” “Logan,” “Get Out” and “The Fate of the Furious” laid a strong foundation for the summer during the early part of the calendar year.

    “Despite the strength of ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming,’ yet another ‘down’ weekend puts us dead even with last year’s box office pace as we remain down 8% for the summer,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at ComScore. “The silver lining is the expected continued strength of Spidey, plus ‘War For The Planet of The Apes,’ ‘Dunkirk,’ and ‘Atomic Blonde’ all in rapid succession that could fuel a much-needed late summer renaissance at the multiplex.”

  • Here’s Why ‘Transformers: The Last Knight’ Is a Box Office Disappointment

    “Transformers: The Last Knight” had the box office all to itself this weekend, and yet, even without any other new wide releases, it still failed to impress.

    True, most movies would kill for an opening weekend estimated at $45.3 million, or a five-day total (the movie opened Wednesday) estimated at $69.0 million. Indeed, that’s just about where pundits expected the franchise’s fifth installment to debut.

    But the “Transformers” — and director Michael “I demand things to be awesome!” Bay — have higher standards. After all, the last installment, 2014’s “Transformers: Age of Extinction,” premiered with a $100.0 million first weekend. “Last Knight” marks the lowest debut in the series’ ten-year history.

    This is more bad news for Paramount this year — the studio is in a costly slump due to such expensive flops as “Monster Trucks,” “Ghost in the Shell,” and “Baywatch” — as well as for the franchise and its director. Critics have never liked these movies, but now, everyone else seems to be getting tired of the giant-robot films, even Bay, who’s all but insisted that “Last Knight” will be his last “Transformers” movie.

    And yet, there’s reason for Paramount to celebrate (just a little) — and reason for it to go ahead with its Bumblebee spinoff due next year: Overseas box office.
    The “Transformers” movies may have seen diminishing returns in North America, but they just keep getting bigger abroad. “Age of Extinction” was the first film in the series to earn more than a billion worldwide. But while “Extinction” saw domestic earnings plummet from “Dark of the Moon’s” $352 million to $245 million, it saw foreign earnings vault from $771 million to $859 million. So the overseas take now accounts for three-quarters of the franchise’s ticket sales.

    That figure has held with the release of the new movie, which has already earned an estimated $196.2 million abroad. $123.4 million of that, or 63 percent, comes from China — which is insane. That marks the franchise’s largest opening ever in the Middle Kingdom and the fourth-biggest debut in history for a Hollywood film in China. It’s no wonder that China is now the linchpin to the success of virtually every Hollywood blockbuster.

    At a reported production cost of $217 million (before an aggressive and costly marketing spend), “Last Knight” was an expensive movie to make. But with $265.3 million earned in its first five days, the movie could find its way to profitability, once all revenue streams are accounted for — even after you account for marketing and distribution costs (more than $100 million) and the theater owners’ share of the grosses (about half).
    That worldwide success means a lot to Paramount, a studio that’s lost money in recent years. In 2016 alone, it claimed a stunning loss of $445 million, about a fourth of which came from writing off “Monster Trucks” as a flop four months before it opened. Yikes.

    Even so, despite a slate of movies that fizzled at the domestic box office in 2017, overseas grosses are slowly helping put Paramount back into the black. “Rings,” “xXx: Return of Xander Cage,” and “Baywatch” all looked like flops based on their North American earnings, but they all made a ton of money elsewhere, with somewhere between 58 and 87 percent of their sales coming from abroad. “Rings” and “xXx” ultimately earned back several times their cost in worldwide grosses, while “Baywatch” has earned back twice its cost and may well be profitable by the end of the summer.

    Reviving old franchises — and mining the vault and Viacom partners for new ones — is a priority for Paramount, which lacks many of them. So far, their current franchises are “Transformers,” “Star Trek,” and “Mission: Impossible,” all of which are aging fast. Until the studio comes up with some new ones — “Baywatch” sequel, anyone? — it’s going to have to make do with these. No wonder there are three more “Transformers” movies in the works, including Bumblebee’s spinoff.
    Even without Bay, they should make money — not just from foreign sales, but from merchandising. New Paramount chief Jim Gianopulos says he wants to make more movies based on Hasbro toys; besides “Transformers,” Hasbro playthings have also yielded the “G.I. Joe” films for Paramount, as well as the successful “Ouija” horror series at Universal. (Meanwhile, let’s all pretend that massive duds “Battleship” and “Jem and the Holograms” never happened.)

    It’s worth noting that all the other studios are using the same foreign-dependent strategy. Lots of 2017 movies that underwhelmed domestically, including Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” and Universal’s “The Mummy,” have raked it in abroad. (This is why Johnny Depp and Tom Cruise get to keep starring in movies, despite the meh response to their films in America.)

    Even this year’s biggest domestic hits, including “Beauty and the Beast,” “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” and “Wonder Woman,” have earned the majority of their money overseas. In fact, among the top ten domestic hits of 2017, only two, “The LEGO Batman Movie” and “Get Out,” earned more here than abroad.

    Still, it’s sort of funny that Paramount added Anthony Hopkins to the “Transformers” ensemble in “Last Knight,” as if the venerable Oscar-winning actor’s presence would bring in older or more highbrow audiences. As the scathing reviews (just 15 percent at Rotten Tomatoes), the unenthusiastic word-of-mouth (a tepid B+ from CinemaScore), and the weak domestic box office numbers suggest, “Transformers” isn’t bringing in any new fans, at least not in the U.S.

    But if you’re one of those core fans, congratulations: your fandom will be rewarded by at least three more installments in the “Transformers” universe. And if you’re an American or Canadian who’s not a fan — well, these movies weren’t made for you. Few Hollywood movies are — or will be, going forth.

  • Box Office: ‘Transformers’ Crashes With Franchise’s Lowest Opening Ever

    By Seth Kelley

    LOS ANGELES, June 25 (Variety.com) — It seems the “Transformers” franchise is rusty.

    As of Sunday morning “Transformers: The Last Knight,” the fifth installment directed by Michael Bay, looks to bring in $69.1 million from 4,069 domestic locations during its five-day opening weekend. That’s a franchise low for the sequel from Paramount and Hasbro, behind the first in the modern series, which earned $70.5 million in 2007. “The Last Knight” carries an estimated $217 million production budget.

    This makes “Transformers: The Last Knight” the latest summer blockbuster to bank on overseas ticket sales to have a shot at turning a profit. In China, the big-budget action sequel made $41 million in its opening day alone. The projected international cume through Sunday is $196.2 million, powered by $123.4 million in China.

    “The Last Knight” comes at a time when Paramount could have used an all-around hit, following recent misses “Baywatch” and “Ghost in the Shell.” While the latest “Transformers” movie has been advertised as “the final chapter” and Bay’s last go-around, the franchise will continue — Paramount has at least two more movies slated, including a spinoff that could star Hailee Steinfeld. The franchise has historically been massively profitable and seen solid multiples for the studio. Together, the first four earned over $1.3 billion domestically and well over $3.5 billion worldwide.

    The latest take on the series centers on an alliance between Bumblebee, Cade Yeager — who Mark Wahlberg also played in 2014’s “Age of Extinction” — and roles played by franchise newcomers Anthony Hopkins and Laura Haddock. Together, the team works together to save the world. Audiences have earned the film a B+ CinemaScore, while critics have mostly dismissed it — it currently holds a 15% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

    “The Last Knight” was uncontested at the box office this weekend, but a few indie releases showed traction. Sofia Coppola’s “The Beguiled” remake from Focus Features played at four theaters this weekend, and should gross $240,545 with a strong per screen average before it expands to over 500 locations next weekend.

    “We’re thrilled by this opening,” said Lisa Bunnell, Focus Features’ distribution president. “This is Focus’ third collaboration with Sofia and she’s created an entertaining, atmospheric thriller featuring strong female representation in front of and behind the camera.”

    And Kumail Nanjiani’s critically adored romantic comedy “The Big Sick” should earn $435,000 during its opening weekend in five locations — that would give the Lionsgate and Amazon Studios release the highest per screen average of any film that has opened this year so far.

    “Kumail and Emily’s true story provided audiences of all ages a much-needed alternative to the summer blockbusters,” said Bob Berney, Amazon Studios’ distribution chief.

    Otherwise, “Wonder Woman” continues to post impressive numbers, and holds onto second place during its fourth weekend in theaters. This weekend, it should earn an additional $25.2 million, bringing its domestic total to $318.4 million. Earlier this week, the film became the highest-grossing live-action movie to be directed by a woman — a major distinction for Patty Jenkins.

    Disney and Pixar’s “Cars 3” also looks to earn $25.2 million domestically during its second weekend. Some estimates have the film slightly lower, just below $25 million. The family film, which won last weekend’s box office, is expected to pass the $100 million mark in North America by Monday.

    “Transformers: The Last Knight’s” performance is a tough break for the summer box office’s bottom line domestically. For the past two years, this weekend has seen monster grosses for “Jurassic World” and “Finding Dory.” Now, attention is turned toward a trio of releases next weekend, as the box office hopes for a shot in the arm from “Despicable Me 3,” “Baby Driver,” and “The House.”

  • The Most Anticipated Movies of June 2017


    Welcome to New Release Rundown, where we run down the most anticipated movies hitting theaters in June 2017. And the winners are…

    June 2nd sees “Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie” and the hotly anticipated — and well reviewed — “Wonder Woman” flying into theaters.

    The following weekend bolsters up with Kate Mara war drama “Megan Leavey,” the Sam Elliott drama “The Hero,” and horror-thriller “Camera Obscura” all on limited release. And Tom Cruise Dark Universe kick-off movie “The Mummy” busts into the box office on June 9th

    June 16th is chock full of new releases, with tearjerker “The Book of Henry,” shark-infested Mandy Moore thriller “47 Meters Down,” Disney-Pixar’s speedy sequel “Cars 3,” R-rated party-comedy “Rough Night,” and the Tupac Shakur biopic “All Eyez on Me” all new in theaters.

    The latest entry in the Transformers franchise, “Transformers: The Last Knight,” gets a mid-week release on Wednesday, June 21st, while Sofia Coppola’s period drama “The Beguiled,” dystopian apocalypse flick “The Bad Batch,” and romantic dramedy “The Big Sick” come to theaters June 23rd.

    Action-thriller “Baby Driver” revs its engine with a midweek debut on June 28th, while minion-heady three-quel “Despicable Me 3” and the Amy Poehler / Will Ferrell comedy “The House” both hit theaters on Friday, June 30th.

    Head over to Moviefone.com to watch the trailers for all the movies we mentioned, plus search showtimes and buy tickets for a theater near you!

  • ‘Kubo’ Director Tapped for ‘Transformers’ Spinoff ‘Bumblebee’

    Bumblebee, Transformers SpinoffTravis Knight, director of the Oscar-nominated animated film “Kubo and the Two Strings” will make his live-action debut with the “Transformers” spinoff “Bumblebee.”

    THR reports that the franchise’s first solo-character spinoff is scheduled for a June 8, 2018 release and that an animated film is also in the works. No plot or cast has yet been announced, just the screenwriter: Christina Hodson (“Shut In“), who’s also writing a Harley Quinn-centered movie for the DC universe.

    Bumblebee, one of the most beloved Transformers, is the big yellow ‘bot who can turn into a sweet Chevy Camaro. In the first “Transformers” film, his vocal processor was damaged, so he communicated via snippets from songs on the radio. Once his voicebox was restored, he can speak, but often chooses to communicate via radio. He’s voiced by Mark Ryan, who also voices Jetfire and Lockdown.Premiere Of Focus Features' 'Kubo And The Two Strings' - ArrivalsTHR’s Borys Kit tweeted that Knight beat out Jaume Collet-Serra, Rick Famuyiwa, Seth Gordon, and the Nee Brothers for the job.

    Since Knight is also CEO of the Portland, OR-based Laika Entertainment, Kit pondered what this job announcement means for Laika’s future.

  • Michael Bay Announces He’s Done With ‘Transformers’ Franchise

    Michael Bay is putting away his giant robots.

    The director announced via a letter on his website that “Transformers: The Last Knight” will be his last movie in the franchise. He has said this before, but now he really means it. Probably.

    “It’s bittersweet for me. With every ‘Transformers’ film, I’ve said it would be my last,” he wrote. “I see the 120 million fans around the world who see these movies, the huge theme park lines to the ride and the amazing Make- A-Wish kids who visit my sets, and it somehow keeps drawing me back. I love doing these movies. This film was especially fun to shoot. But, this time might really be it. So I’m blowing this one out.”

    Bay can’t help himself and leaves himself a way back in (“might really be it”). Still, he noted that the “Transformers” franchise will be taken over by a writers room. These scribes will create interlinking movies that expand the “Transformers” universe.

    As for Bay, well, he’ll still be Bay. He’ll just take his love of explosions, car chases, and fireballs to new stories.

    “The Last Knight” opens in theaters June 23.