Next 'Transformers' Sequel Pulled From Schedule And Other Release Date News

Paramount and Fox 2000 have set several movie release dates for upcoming films, and possible canned one big franchise entry.

While the latest entry for Michael Bay's Transformers series has been pulled from the schedule, Paramount and Fox 2000 have set release dates for the highly anticipated YA adaptation The Hate U Give, the Elton John biopic Rocketman, and the feature adaptation of Stephen King's Pet Sematary.

Paramount is pulling the plug on the next entry in the Transformers franchise. At least for now. The studio has reportedly dropped the Transformers sequel from its planned June 28, 2019 release date, removing it from its schedule altogether. However, the Transformers spin-off, Bumblebee starring Hailee Steinfeld and directed by Kubo and the Two Strings director Travis Knight, is still slated for December 21, 2018.

This may be part of Paramount's shift to reboot the franchise with Bumblebee, as recent reports suggested. The sixth Transformers movie, The Last Knight, failed to impress at the box office last year, raking in only $130 million domestically — the lowest showing for the entire franchise. And with long-time director Michael Bay indicating that he's done directing Transformers movies, the main saga may be coming to an end and making way for more light-hearted, standalone stories like Bumblebee.

Paramount's upcoming Elton John biopic has a release date. Titled Rocketman, the biopic is set to star Taron Egerton, who actually co-starred with the musician in Kingsman: The Golden Circle. Paramount has set Rocketman's release date for May 17, 2019. That puts Rocketman in direct competition with John Wick: Chapter 3, A Dog's Journey, and The Sun is Also a Star. Dexter Fletcher directs Rocketman from a script by Lee Hall.

Paramount has also moved up the release date for the remake of Stephen King's Pet Sematary. The horror adaptation has been moved up slightly from its initial April 19 release, to April 5, 2019, according to Box Office. Pet Sematary is only one of dozens of upcoming King adaptations coming to theaters in the next few years, after last year's It saw critically acclaimed, record-breaking success.

The YA adaptation of the New York Times bestseller by Angela Thomas will arrive in theaters on October 19, 2018. But the highly anticipated drama will have some stiff competition that weekend, facing off against Andy Serkis' Mowgli and the long-awaited Halloween sequel.

The film stars The Hunger Games star Amandla Stenberg as Starr Carter, a girl who witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Torn between two worlds — the privileged, mostly white prep school she attends, and the poor, majority-black neighborhood where she lives — Starr must decide what to do in the wake of this tragedy.

Thomas' book was a critically acclaimed meditation on race and identity which spent 63 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. The film is directed by George Tillman Jr. from a screenplay by Tina Mabry and Audrey Wells. The Hate U Give also stars Regina Hall, Russell Hornsby, Issa Rae, Sabrina Carpenter, Algee Smith, Lamar Johnson, Anthony Mackie, K.J. Apa, and Common.