Hashim Asraff
Hailee Steinfeld received critical acclaim for her performance as Charlene “Charlie” Watson in the 2018 Transformers spin-off, Bumblebee. The film was surprisingly well-received among audiences and became the best-reviewed Transformers movie. The film also served as director Travis Knight’s first live-action film. After the release of the film, Knight hinted at a possible sequel stating that he had ideas for a script.
However, Paramount continued with a prequel to the original Transformers franchise, releasing the 2023 film, Transformers: Rise of the Beast, which acts as a standalone sequel to Bumblebee. It made the chances of a direct Bumblebee sequel increasingly unlikely, and even Hailee Steinfeld hinted at this disappointing news.
Hailee Steinfeld Was Not Optimistic About A Bumblebee Sequel
Hailee Steinfeld quickly rose to fame with her roles in True Grit, Dickinson, and The Edge of Seventeen. Currently, she’s also one of the next-generation superheroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, playing Kate Bishop in Hawkeye. With plenty of projects on her plate, the Pitch Perfect actress was not disappointed with Paramount Pictures’ decision to make a Transformers film, instead of a Bumblebee sequel.
While fans hoped to see her in the recently released Transformers movie, neither the Barely Lethal actress nor John Cena, who played Col. Jack Burns, reprised their roles. During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Steinfeld was asked about the Bumblebee sequel and whether she was surprised that the studio hadn’t pursued one yet. The Arcane voice actress responded to The Hollywood Reporter, saying:
“Not necessarily. I don’t know that I knew the plans beyond that, but I like to take everything one step at a time. I’ve gotten a lot better at that in my life. I tend to get ahead of myself, and so when it comes to these bigger projects that have whispers and more of a future and whatnot, I like to just focus on what’s in front of me and make that the best that I can.”
As Steinfeld continues to live in the present and engage in interesting projects that come her way, it seems like the 3 Days to Kill actress has given up on the Bumblebee sequel project. In her most recent successful film, Steinfeld voiced the role of Gwen Stacy / Spider-Gwen in the Sony animated film, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
Will A Bumblebee Sequel Ever Happen?
After Bumblebee, Travis Knight returned to his animation studio, Laika, and resumed working on animated films. However, both Knight and writer Christina Hodson revealed that they had ideas of what the sequel was going to be. Reports emerged in 2019 stating that Bumblebee 2 was in development. At that time, Hailee Steinfeld also expressed interest in the sequel, believing that Charlie needed another movie to further develop her arc.
However, in 2020, it was announced that the studio had combined two different scripts for a sequel into a film within the main Transformers series. At present, Bumblebee 2 is no longer in Paramount’s plans. The studio intends to add two more sequels to the new Transformers movie and an animated prequel, Transformers: One, scheduled for a 2024 release.
Despite being the best-reviewed movie in the franchise, Bumblebee was the lowest-grossing installment until the latest film failed to cross Bumblebee’s earnings. Bumblebee grossed $468 million at the box office, while Transformers: Rise of the Beasts could only muster $439 million.
All the movies in the Transformers franchise are now available for streaming on Paramount Plus.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
