Oscar-winning screenwriter Akiva Goldsman is no longer involved with Paramount Pictures' Transformers universe. The Transformers franchise ranks among the studio's top-grossing properties, and that has been primarily due to Michael Bay's leadership -- good or bad -- since he first launched the series with his 2007 Transformers film. Shortly after Bay's Transformers: Age of Extinction hit theaters in 2014, the studio decided to get into the shared universe space and expand their Transformers franchise into a cinematic universe.
In order to expand the Transformers series, Paramount hired Akiva Goldsman to shepherd a writer's room that consisted of some of Hollywood's top screenwriters and filmmakers, such as Zak Penn (The Avengers), Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead), Steven DeKnight (Daredevil), Ken Nolan (Black Hawk Down), Jeff Pinker (LOST), Christina Hodson (Shut In), and more. Together, they ideated concepts and stories for more than a dozen potential films, some of which were prequels and spinoffs, along with main series installments. Transformers: The Last Knight was the first movie to come out of that writer's room, and next year's Bumblebee film marks the franchise's first spinoff. It appears, though, that Bumblebee and 2019's Transformers 6 are the last movies to have direct involvement from the writer's room.
Goldsman, who co-wrote the story (but not the script) for The Last Knight, has been busy promoting CBS' upcoming Star Trek: Discovery TV series. In an interview with /Film at the network's summer TCA presentation this week, the screenwriter revealed that he's no longer involved with the Transformers writer's room. When asked if he was still working on Transformers, all Goldsman had to say was, "No."
This news comes off the heels franchise producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura's comments about the writer's room shuttering altogether. The original purpose behind the studio gathering the industry's top writers to expand the franchise was to see how they could develop the world beyond its established storylines, so that they could visit King Arthur's time period as well as World War II -- both of which were seen in The Last Knight.
Then, there's Travis Knight's Bumblebee spin-off, starring Hailee Steinfeld, John Cena, and Jorge Lendborg Jr., which takes the franchise back to the past and is set in 1987 -- 20 years prior to the first movie's events. It's unclear what Paramount's plans are for the future of the franchise, but as of now, they have the currently untitled Transformers 6 scheduled to release in June 2019. Since Bay has decided to depart the series, the studio is on the lookout for another director to helm the upcoming sixth main installment. Perhaps a new director can breathe new life into the stalling franchise.
MORE: Who Is Jon Cena Playing In Bumblebee?
Source: /Film
