Paramount is looking to expand the Transformers franchise with two new separate movie scripts now in active development.
The first script is by Murder Mystery scribe James Vanderbilt while the other one is by John Wick Chapter 3 executive producer and Army of the Dead writer Joby Harold.
Vanderbilt’s project is reportedly based on the Transformers offshoot Beast Wars, which features robots that turn into robotic animals like Optimus Primal (Gorilla), Tigatron (Tiger), Cheetor (Cheetah), and Rhinox (Rhinoceros), among many others. Vanderbilt is said to have been working on the project since April.
Harold’s project, on the other hand, is reportedly based in the Bumblebee universe, which was introduced in the 2018 movie of the same name starring Dylan O’Brien, Hailee Steinfeld, John Cena, and more. Directed by Travis Knight, Bumblebee was well received by both critics and viewers. However, it was the lowest-grossing movie in the franchise, only earning $468 million worldwide. But since it was produced on a smaller budget than other Transformers films, Bumblebee was still considered a box-office success.
Launched with Michael Bay’s 2007 movie Transformers starring Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox, the Transformers franchise hit box-office highs with 2011’s Dark of the Moon and 2014’s Age of Extinction, which made over $1.1 billion each. Including the spinoff Bumblebee, the Transformers movie franchise has amassed over $4.8 billion worldwide over six titles.
Since Vanderbilt and Harold’s projects are still in early development, no director is currently attached to either script yet. Both movies, however, will reportedly feature an all-new cast.