The “Transformers” film franchise has found itself at a bit of a crossroads. But instead of picking one path to march down, Paramount has decided to hedge its bets with multiple paths.
According to Deadline, Paramount has hired two writers, James Vanderbilt and Joby Harold, to write different scripts based on the “Transformers” franchise to see which to move forward with. The report claims that Vanderbilt is penning a script that is rumored to be based on the “Beast Wars” cartoon series that found the robots in disguise take on the forms of animals instead of vehicles. Apparently, Vanderbilt has been working on that project since April.
READ MORE: ‘Bumblebee’: ’80s Nostalgia Fuels A Comeback For The ‘Transformers’ Series [Review]
Harold, on the other hand, is said to be working on a script that continues the story set forth from “Bumblebee.” That film was a bit of a financial flop for Paramount, respective to the previous “Transformers” films, but “Bumblebee” was a rare film in the series to earn a solid critical grade and fan support. So, it makes sense that the studio would be interested in exploring that world a bit more to see if “Transformers” can follow the soft reboot universe that was established in the 2018 film.
After Michael Bay drove the franchise into the ground thanks to his final two films, ‘Age of Extinction’ and ‘Last Knight,’ Paramount desperately tried to keep “Transformers” afloat. After ‘Extinction’ earned $1 billion worldwide but was one of the worst-reviewed blockbusters of the year, the studio went in a unique direction and hired a “writer’s room” filled with some big names to help refocus the franchise and build towards the future.
Unfortunately, that idea was dashed and Bay was brought in to work on ‘The Last Knight,’ which was somehow even worse than ‘Extinction’ and fully cratered the franchise. 2018’s “Bumblebee” was a back-to-basics spin-off film that was seen as the last-ditch effort to save the series. So, it’ll be interesting to see if Paramount moves forward with a full reboot, a la “Beast Wars,” or keeps going down the road that “Bumblebee” paved.
Long story short, “Transformers” isn’t going anywhere. It’s just a matter of finding out which form the robots will disguise themselves in next.
