‘Transformers’ Producer Compares Bumblebee Spin-Off to ‘The Iron Giant’

After Cars 3 raced into theaters last weekend and with Transformers: The Last Knight on its way to crush the global box office this weekend, the talking car movies keep on rolling as Transformers producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura recently dished to Collider details on the upcoming spin-off starring the fan-favorite, radio-talking Autobot warrior, Bumblebee.

In the interview with Collider, Bonaventura described the lighter tone and smaller scale for Bumblebee’s solo story, which is now confirmed to be set during the mid-eigthies.

“I know we’re doing a spinoff first in the Bumblebee movie, and that is a very distinctive departure from what you’ve been seeing so far… The objective of that movie is to develop more time with less robots in a way, and to go back to 1985 and go back to sort of the original heritage if you would of the Transformers. G1.”

“There are dramatically less Transformers. We hired purposefully Travis Knight, who is a very distinct filmmaker. You can’t compete with Michael—you’re gonna lose. And also I think the audience wants something different all the time, let’s keep them interested. They’re gonna get a very emotionally complex story, a very tight story in terms of its location and in terms of its storytelling.”

The eighties setting is sure to delight fans of the original Transformers cartoon and toy line, as both made their debut in 1984, and hints at a possibility that we may finally see the live-action Bumblebee in his classic yellow Volkswagen Beetle form.

Bonaventura went on to compare the new spin-off’s scale to the highly celebrated animated film, The Iron Giant, which also stars a lovable robot and their young human friend.

“In fact, it reminds me a little bit of Iron Giant years ago when I did that movie at Warner Bros. It just reminds me a little bit of that where it was very contained and yet it didn’t feel small.”

Helmed by Kubo and the Two Strings director and Laika Animation Studios CEO Travis Knight in his live-action directorial debut, the Bumblebee movie is set for a 2018 release.