Skip to main content

Hasbro may not be rebooting Transformers after all

On Friday, a report from Transformer World suggested that the franchise may be getting a reboot without the involvement of director Micheal Bay. During the Toy Fair 2018 Investor preview, a Hasbro representative said that the “new team at Paramount will reset the Transformers Live Action Movie Series following the release of Bumblebee: The Movie.”

However, Bleeding Cool more recently reported that during an event at the Toy Fair, a spokesperson for Hasbro denied those claims. He reportedly told those in attendance, “Don’t believe what you hear, don’t worry,” in regards to reboot.

Recommended Videos

The original Transformer World report comes from a preview event for the 2018 Toy Fair, where a slate of upcoming Hasbro movies were revealed. Transformers 6 was not on the list, nor were any other Transformers movies. The list goes through 2021 with a Dungeons & Dragons movie, along with an unnamed “Paramount/Hasbro Event Film” being the only movies listed for that year. Whatever Hasbro has planned likely won’t see the light of day until 2021.

That being said, it is possible that the unnamed Hasbro/Paramount movie is a new entry in the Transformers franchise, reboot or otherwise. This would give the studio some time to handle production and work on a new script. Regardless of when the new movie arrives, we can hope it will be an improvement over Last Knight, which we considered one of the franchise’s weakest entries.

The uncertainty surrounding the future of the Transformers franchise does make a bit of sense when we look at the franchise as a whole. The series has been a critical failure and also been a fixture at several Razzies. But despite the poor critical reception, the films have been a major commercial success, collectively pulling in more than $4 billion since the original film’s 2007 debut.

Prior to the release of Transformers: Last Knight, longtime director Michael Bay announced that he was stepping away from the franchise, so it is unlikely that he will be returning for any new installments. As of right now, it is unclear who will take over, but in 2016, Hasbro brought on three new writers to help manage the expanding Hasbro-Paramount cinematic universe.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon, Eisner Award-winning Brian K. Vaughan, and Guardians of the Galaxy screenwriter Nicole Perlman will be working on various Hasbro properties such as G.I. Joe and Dungeons & Dragons. It is likely that they’ll also be involved in whatever Hasbro has planned for Transformers, though nothing has been confirmed on that front.

While the future of the franchise isn’t entirely clear, the Bumblebee spin-off is still expected to release on December 21 of this year.

Updated on February 18: Added information to reflect report that Hasbro has denied working on a reboot.

Eric Brackett
Former Digital Trends Contributor
All the DC Easter eggs in The Flash movie
Michael Keaton's Batman sits in front of two versions of Barry Allen in The Flash.

At long last, after years of delays, DC's time-traveling blockbuster, The Flash, has reached theaters. When Barry Allen runs back in time to prevent his mother's murder, he ends up in a drastically different timeline without any heroes to protect the world from General Zod's invasion.

Given that the Flash travels the Multiverse and teams up with Michael Keaton's iconic version of Batman, this superhero film features an extraordinary number of Easter eggs that should give comic book fans a field day. To make it easier for viewers, here's a breakdown of all the DC references found in the Scarlet Speedster's first solo film.

Read more
Where to watch all the Transformers movies and TV shows
Optimus Prime readies to fight in Transformers.

In 1984, Hasbro and Takara Tomy released Transformers, a robot toy line that can be converted into vehicles, animals, or devices. These transformations explain the toys' tagline, "Robots in Disguise." The toy line then led to an animated series and animated film in the mid-1980s. However, it was not until Michael Bay launched the live-action Transformers film series in 2007 that the franchise eclipsed newfound popularity.

After six live-action films, Transformers is one of the 15 highest-grossing film series with over $4.8 billion worldwide. The seventh film, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, hits theaters on June 9, 2023. Catch up on the Transformers movies and TV shows before heading to the theater.
Where to watch Transformers movies

Read more
New benchmarks show Intel Arc GPU may not be a lost cause after all
Intel Arc Alchemist reference design render.

Ever since it was quietly released, the Intel Arc A380 discrete GPU has mostly collected unfavorable reviews. Although early benchmarks were promising, testing the GPU in real-world gaming scenarios revealed that it can't even keep up with the entry-level AMD Radeon RX 6400.

Bit now there's information that comes directly from the source: Intel revealed the official data for the A380 GPU, including benchmarks and specifications. With some honest insight into the actual performance of the GPU, things are starting to look a little less bleak for the Intel A380.

Read more