For a guy known for directing a bunch of explosions, Michael Bay is surprisingly low-key when it comes to his most lucrative meal ticket, the ‘Transformers’ franchise. Based on the Hasbro toy line, the four movies so far have raked in multiple BILLIONS despite withering reviews and cast upheavals. It seems as long as there are giant robots blowing stuff up, movie goers will flock to these flicks the way that extras in them run screaming toward the destruction. Does Mr. Bay need a private island? Well, maybe just one. The director confirmed that he will subject the world to one more Robots In Disguise installment, but that’s all! After that, he’s rinsing his hands and moving on to other endeavors.
“I’m doing Transformers … 5, is it? I’ve taken on a lot of work. … It’s fun to do a movie that 100 million people will see. But this is the last one. I have to pass the reins to someone else. J.J. [Abrams] told me, ‘You’re the only guy that could do this.’ But it’s time to move on. One more.”
“J.J.” They’re cool like that.
Whatever the fifth (is it?) ‘Transformers’ ends up being about– and does it even matter?– it will make an insane amount of money, leaving whatever sucker/genius who picks up the reins with some pretty big shoes to fill.
The last movie, the $1 billion-grossing ‘Age Of Extinction’, replaced the principle cast with Mark Wahlberg, Jack Traynor and Nicola Peltz, but of those three, only Wahlberg is expected to return for the next movie. At one point, the release date for ‘Transformers 5’ was announced as being June 24, 2016 but considering that that’s six months from now and filming hasn’t begun, it’s safe to assume that those plans have changed. Also, keep in mind Paramount plans to build an entire universe around this franchise so there’s no end to ‘Transformers’ movies anytime in the foreseeable future.
Are you looking forward to another Bay-helmed ‘Transformers’ flick? Where else can they go from here?
Source: Rolling Stone
