Transformers Movie Franchise's Future Is Suddenly Uncertain

The Transformers series might be one of the most successful film franchises of all time, but 2017's Transformers: The Last Knight wasn't nearly as big a hit as the previous movies in the series. The spin-off Bumblebee is due out later this year, but plans to continue the series beyond that remain uncertain. It has now been reported that Paramount has removed the Transformers movie planned for 2019 from its release schedule entirely.

As reported by Variety, the film was originally set for release on June 28, 2019. However, it no longer appears on the schedule and has been replaced by the comedy Limited Partners, starring Tiffany Haddish.

This follows the rumors back in February that Habsro, the toy manufacturer which owns the rights to Transformers, is planning to reboot the whole franchise. It was also reported that a new agreement with Paramount means that Hasbro will have greater control over the property, including greenlighting movie projects.

This is something of a change in fortune for the series. In October 2015, Hasbro announced that there would be at least four more movies, and that a "writers room" had been established to map out the next decade of Transformers across movies, TV, and digital.

The Last Knight made $605 million worldwide. This was well below the $1.104 billion haul for its predecessor, 2014's The Age of Extinction, and less than the first movie made back in 2007.

Bumblebee hits theaters on December 21, 2018 and stars Hailee Steinfeld and John Cena. It will be directed by Kubo And The Two Strings director Travis Knight, who is making his live-action debut.