On Cybertron, the Autobots, led by Optimus Prime, are on the verge of losing the Great Cybertronian War to their enemies, the Decepticons, had begin making preparations to leave the planet. The Decepticons led by Shockwave, Soundwave and Starscream ambush them during the evacuation, and Optimus sends a young scout, B-127, to Earth in order to set up a base of operations where the Autobots can regroup. B-127 reaches Earth alone in 1987, crash-landing in California and disrupting a training exercise being conducted by Sector 7, a secret government agency that monitors extraterrestrial activity on Earth. Sector 7 agent Colonel Jack Burns presumes B-127 to be a hostile invader and attacks, driving B-127 into the forest, where he is then ambushed by the Decepticon Blitzwing. When B-127 refuses to reveal Optimus' whereabouts, Blitzwing spitefully tears out his voice-box and damages his memory core. B-127 manages to destroy Blitzwing before collapsing from his wounds. Before entering stasis, B-127 scans and transforms into a yellow 1967 Volkswagen Beetle.

What is the budget of Bumblebee?

"Bumblebee," a action released in 2018, was directed by Travis Knight and stars Dylan O'Brien, Hailee Steinfeld. The production budget was $135,000,000, placing it in the high-budget range for action productions of its era.

Key Budget Allocation Categories

While specific budget breakdowns are not publicly available, typical cost drivers for a action production like this include:

Stunts, Action Sequences & Visual Effects: Action films allocate a substantial portion of their budget to choreographing and executing practical stunts, pyrotechnics, and CGI-heavy sequences.
Above-the-Line Talent (Cast & Director): A-list talent commands significant upfront fees plus backend participation.
Production Design, Sets & Locations: Action films frequently require multiple international shooting locations, large-scale set construction, vehicle acquisitions and modifications, and specialized equipment , all of which drive production costs well above those of dialogue-driven genres.
Casting: In May 2017, it was reported that Hailee Steinfeld was in talks to be the lead in the film, and she confirmed her involvement later in June.

What were the major cost factors in Bumblebee?

Several factors contributed to the overall production costs of "Bumblebee."

Stunts: Stunts, Action Sequences & Visual Effects is one of the primary cost drivers in action productions of this scale.
Above-the-Line Talent (Cast: Above-the-Line Talent (Cast & Director) is one of the primary cost drivers in action productions of this scale.
Production Design: Production Design, Sets & Locations is one of the primary cost drivers in action productions of this scale.

How Does Bumblebee's Budget Compare to Similar Films?

At $135,000,000, Bumblebee sits in the high-budget range. Here is how it compares to productions with a similar budget:

After Earth (2013): Budget $130,000,000, Worldwide Gross $243,843,127
Ant-Man (2015): Budget $130,000,000, Worldwide Gross $519,311,965
Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018): Budget $140,000,000, Worldwide Gross $622,674,139
Armageddon (1998): Budget $140,000,000, Worldwide Gross $553,799,566
Australia (2008): Budget $130,000,000, Worldwide Gross $211,787,511

The median budget for wide-release action films in the 2010s ranges from $30 to 80M for mid-budget to $150M+ for tentpoles.

Bumblebee Box Office Performance

"Bumblebee" earned $127,195,589 domestically and $467,989,645 worldwide at the box office. Against a production budget of $135,000,000, the film performed strongly at the box office.

A film typically needs to earn approximately twice its production budget to cover marketing and distribution costs. For "Bumblebee," that break-even threshold was roughly $270,000,000. With worldwide earnings of $467,989,645, the film cleared that threshold comfortably.

Production Budget: $135,000,000
Worldwide Gross: $467,989,645
Net Return: $332,989,645
ROI: approximately 246.7%

At 246.7%, "Bumblebee" earned roughly $3.47 for every $1 invested in production.

Bumblebee Production History

In May 2017, it was reported that Hailee Steinfeld was in talks to be the lead in the film, and she confirmed her involvement later in June. On July 11, 2017, Jorge Lendeborg Jr. joined the cast as the male lead.

Principal photography on the film began on July 31, 2017, in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Vallejo, and Mare Island, California, and was scheduled to finish on November 16, 2017, under the working title Brighton Falls. Filming concluded six days ahead of schedule, on November 10, 2017. Scroggins Aviation Mockup & Effects was hired to supply the two Bell UH-1H Huey helicopters in the film.

Hailee Steinfeld's single "Back to Life", from the soundtrack, was released on November 2, 2018. The soundtrack featured several songs from the 1980s, including "The Touch", which had featured heavily in the 1986 original cinematic Transformers movie, and was released on December 21, 2018.

Awards and Recognition

2 wins & 13 nominations total

Critical Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 91% based on 251 reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critical consensus read, "Bumblebee proves it's possible to bring fun and a sense of wonder back to a bloated blockbuster franchise, and sets up its own slate of sequels in the bargain." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 66 out of 100, based on 39 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. It is the highest-rated Transformers film on both websites.