‘Transformers’ May Spin Off Bumblebee Into His Own Solo Movie

The Transformers franchise has grossed more than $3.7 billion worldwide. So you and I and all rational thinking people might believe they’re terrible, but from a financial perspective, they’re definitely working. But you know that old expression in Hollywood: If it ain’t broke, break it into its component parts, and then turn each of those component parts into its own spinoff franchise to maximize revenue. I think Thomas Edison is the first guy who said that one.

And so while we can also expect a Transformers 5 in the future, we can also apparently expect Transformers spinoffs as well. Coming Soon reports that Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner told an audience at the “Global Consumer Conference” that they should expect a cinematic splintering of the Transformers Cinematic Universe in the near future:

As we go forward, we would imagine several more Transformers Movies,” Goldner said (via TFW2005.com). “Not just in the current lineage but also spinoffs and focusing on certain key characters that are beloved by the world over. Many of you know Bumblebee; the yellow Camaro… formally known as a yellow VW Bug. He is a beloved character by kids all over the world. We could see stories told around Bumblebee and other characters.

Ho boy.

First of all: Can’t we focus on making one Transformers movie that’s not actively awful before taking on the additional creative challenge about making a movie based on just one of these characters? Secondly, is there any character in all of fiction less suited to a spinoff than Bumblebee? As conceived by the Michael Bay Transformers films, Bumblebee doesn’t speak; his infrequent verbal communications are made entirely through excerpts from television shows, movies, and songs. When he’s excited, he plays “I’m So Excited” by the Pointer Sisters. Although I love Anita, Ruth, and Sadako, I’m not sure they have enough songs to adequately express the full range of emotions a sensitive robot like Bumblebee feels.

But hey: All the Transformers movies were various levels of bad and they were all hugely successful. There’s no reason to think Bumblebee won’t be just as terrible and just as profitable.