'Kubo and the Two Strings' director, Travis Knight to helm 'Transformers' spinoff 'Bumblebee'

Image from Los Angeles Times

By Darian Scalamoni

            It’s not as uncommon to see directors of animation headlining bigger live-action blockbusters anymore as we’ve recently seen Chris McKay, the director of The Lego Batman Movie getting the Nightwing job. Deadline reports that Travis Knight, the director of Kubo and the Two Strings will helm the Transformers spinoff, Bumblebee.

            Bumblebee is one of the biggest fan favorites of the mega franchise of Transformers that has grossed over $3 billion worldwide. This is a huge opportunity for Knight who made his feature debut with Kubo, but is also the president and CEO of Laika, the stop-motion studio that also housed projects like Coraline, The Boxtrolls and ParaNorman. Knight’s freshman effort was nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Animated Picture and Best Achievement in Visual Effects.

            The live-action spinoff is expected to operate as a lower cost vehicle for Paramount but other than that, not much is known about the film. Bumblebee is expected to open on June 8^th, 2018 opposite Godzilla: King of the Monsters.