Transformers: The Last Knight will be getting a direct sequel

It appears that a follow-up movie to Transformers: The Last Knight is actually happening following the success of Bumblebee.

Just when things appeared to be quite bleak for the Transformers franchise, Cinema (h/t Heroic Hollywood) confirmed that a sequel to the fifth entry, Transformers: The Last Knight, also the last installment with director Michael Bay at the helm, is under development.

After The Last Knight, which grossed $605 million, underperformed at the box office the shared universe involving the Transformers was cancelled after Allspark Pictures was launched under Hasbro. The writer’s room, led by Akiva Goldsman was shut down. At one point, there were a reported 14 set of ideas being pitched at the time. One of them was Transformers 6, which had been cancelled following the release of The Last Knight.

Longtime Transformers producer, Lorenzo Di Bonaventura, made this statement:

"“We are already working on two projects and both have scripts under development.”"

He continued:

"“One is the latest in the main family series following the events of Transformers: The Last Knight and the other is a prequel to Bumblebee. So, we are thinking of films where Optimus Prime and Bumblebee will be the baddies, but when Optimus and Bumblebee are the movies of the protagonists… how human beings get involved in their drama in the first place, the size is different between human beings and theirs… It’s a worrying point [laughs.]”"

After Bumblebee had been released at the tail-end of last year, while it grossed $459 million worldwide, the lowest entry internationally to date, despite lower earnings, Bumblebee was received better with critics than any Transformers film in live-action before. Even the 2007 original film received mixed reviews at best.

While Bumblebee was the first film in the franchise not to be directed by Michael Bay, instead by animator/filmmaker, Travis Knight, it would be more reasonable if Bay remains producer and future movies within the series have a distinct voice, but consistent design from the spin-off that way it remains producer-driven in approach, while the succeeding director will be able to play within the [producers] sandcastle and thus within their parameters.