In terms of film adaptations, the
history of live-action “Transformers” movies is looking to be similar to a bowl.
It had a strong start in the first, iffy reception in the second and third, a
noticeable dip in the fourth and fifth, and what appears to be a recovery in
quality from the last one in 2018. Said last one (“Bumblebee”) may have been an
improvement due to it being ret-conned as a reboot after being originally presented
as a prequel to the Michael Bay-directed films. But where does it go from
there? Wherever it might be, at least there are scripts now being written.
The Hollywood Reporter tells us that there are at least more than
one new “Transformers” film productions under development from Paramount
Pictures and Hasbro’s Allspark Pictures, if the recent taking on of two
screenwriters was any indication from their end. These writers are Joby Harold
and James Vanderbilt, both veteran screenwriters with significant movie
credits. Harold worked on the second and third “John Wick” films starring Keanu
Reeves as well as Zack Snyder’s “Army of the Dead,” while Vanderbilt was
co-writer on Sony’s first “Amazing Spider-Man” starring Andrew Garfield, and “Zodiac”
from director David Fincher.
What is interesting about the two
“Transformers” film scripts that will be written is that they will also be
developed at the same time, though whether that concurrent work will carry on
to production has not been specified. Sources from Hasbro and Paramount have
spoken on the possibility of creating multiple story arcs in a potential expansion
to a cinematic universe for “Transformers.” Online speculation from the fandom
of the classic “vehicles transform into robots” toy and media franchise have proposed
the idea that one of the films being conceptualized is a live-action take on “Beast
Wars,” the popular spinoff sub-franchise where the Transformers changed (initially)
into animal disguises instead.
The “Transformers” became a major
Hollywood blockbuster franchise back in 2007, with Michael Bay directing an
action-oriented cast with Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox, as well as Peter Cullen
reprising his 1980s voice-work as heroic Autobot leader Optimus Prime. The
movies were among the first wave of billion-dollar box-office juggernauts that
have defined major franchise films in the 21st Century.
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