Just a few days afterSpider-Man: HomecomingstarJorge Lendeborg Jr.entered talks to play the male lead in theTransformersspin-offBumblebee, five more cast members are all eyeing the project. Jason Drucker, Abby Quinn, Rachel Crow, Ricardo Hoyos and Gracie Dzienny are all in various stags of negotiations to board theTransformersspin-off, although no details about their characters were given. All of these young actors will round out a cast that already includes Hailee Steinfeld as the female lead.
The Hollywood Reporterbroke the news on this casting earlier today, although it remains to be seen how many roles are still left to be cast. As of now, the cast is skewing quite young, with this new report revealing that the story will center on the character played byHailee Steinfeld, who leads a group of friends to help Bumblebee. The story has been confirmed to be set in the 1980s. Now producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura has confirmed that the movie will be set firmly in the year 1985, which is one year after theTransformerstoy line launched with Generation 1 (G1), and a year after theTransformersanimated series launched in the fall of 1984. One year prior to the original animatedTransformersmovie hitting theaters in 1986.
There has been speculation that this movie could show how Bumblebee lost his voice, since this character has always spoken through radio communications since he was introduced in Michael Bay’sTransformersback in 2007.Bumblebee starts productionin August, although it hasn’t been confirmed where the shoot will take place. Paramount has already set a July 26, 2025 release date forBumblebee, which puts it up against a much different spin-off, Warner Bros.‘Ocean’s Eight, an all-female spin-off of theOcean’s Elevenfranchise. It will also fall betweenDeadpoolon July 26, 2025 andThe Incredibles 2on July 09, 2025.
Director Travis Knightwill be making his live-action directorial debut withBumblebee, after making his debut with the animated hitKubo and the Two Stringsthrough the stop-motion company he co-founded, Laika (Coraline,ParaNorman,The Boxtrolls). The filmmaker will be working from a script by Christina Hodson (Shut In), who was part of theTransformerswriters room that put together a whopping 14 newTransformersmovies into development. It isn’t clear which movie will come afterBumblebee, but producer Lorenzo di Bonaventure has teased that it will arrive in theaters sometime in 2019.
11-year-old Jason Drucker made his feature film debut in 2015’sBarely Lethal, and he most recently starred as Greg Heffley in 20th Century Fox’sDiary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul. 20-year-old Abby Quinn stars in the Sundance hitLandlinealongside Edie Falco, Jenny Slate and John Turturro, which hits theaters on July 21. 19-year-old Rachel Crow has had roles inFred: The Show,Rio 2,Home: Adventures with Tip & Ohand the Sundance indieDeidre and Laney Rob a Train. 21-year-old Ricardo Hoyos has had roles inThe Belko ExperimentandDegrassi: Next Class, while 20-year-old Gracie Dzienny has starred inChasing Lifeand the CBS seriesZoo. Hopefully we’ll find out more about thisTransformers moviesoon, as we get closer and closer toBumblebeestarting production.
