Despite the first movie being a successful and well-received installment in the Transformers franchise, Bumblebee 2 has yet to happen. Not long after Bumblebee’s release in 2018, there was talk of a second film, but it remains to be seen if it’s still part of the studio’s plan. As things stand, there’s been no official confirmation that Bumblebee 2 is even in development.
Directed by Travis Knight and starring Hailee Steinfeld, Bumblebee was a major departure from the main Transformers franchise, as it took the spotlight away from Optimus Prime and his team and focused on just one Autobot. Ultimately, the decision to explore Bumblebee’s adventures in the 1980s proved to be a good move, even if the film’s box office numbers couldn’t match Michael Bay’s movies. That being said, its $468 box office haul against a smaller-than-usual budget made it a modest success. Plus, its favorable reviews were a welcome change from some of the earlier installments, particularly Transformers: The Last Knight. All things considered, it did well enough to justify the studio’s interest in Bumblebee 2. A Paramount executive confirmed that Bumblebee was “solidly profitable”.
Over three years have passed, and still no official plans for Bumblebee 2 have been revealed, thus raising questions about the title character’s future and why the sequel hasn’t happened yet. It was reportedly in development early on, but plans for it seem to have taken a backseat to other films. Presumably because of the failure of The Last Knight, there seemed to be a sense of uncertainty in terms of what should come next for the franchise, especially since more announcements didn’t come until 2020. And as noted above, Bumblebee did bring the studio a profit but it wasn’t exactly a massive hit. The state of the franchise as a whole seemingly caused a reevaluation of its future, which then led to two new movies being added to the slate.
For now, it looks like Transformers: Rise of the Beasts and an animated Transformers movie are currently Paramount’s top priorities for the franchise, with the former releasing in 2022 and the latter in 2024. With Rise of the Beasts, the studio is looking to build a new trilogy, so new Transformers movies will be put into development after Rise of the Beasts releases. For the time being, it’s unclear if Bumblebee 2 has a place in Paramount’s plans at all. How Rise of the Beasts performs could determine the direction of the Transformers series for the next few years. If it breathes new life into the franchise, Paramount may look to do more with this formula, rather than deliver more solo stories like Bumblebee.
The longer the wait for an announcement goes on, the odds of Bumblebee 2 happening will continue to fall. At this point, it won’t be a surprise if the Transformers series simply moves on. It appears that in addition to maintaining a very limited slate of Transformers movies, Paramount’s plan for the franchise looks very different from what it was a few years ago.
