Seven years after “Transformers The Last Knight”, will Michael Bay direct a new film in the robotic franchise? The historic producer of the saga answers us!
Michael Bay, 59, is one of Hollywood’s most acclaimed action film directors. He is responsible for many major cinema successes such as Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, Bad Boys 1 and 2 or the Transformers saga. In 14 feature films, the American filmmaker can boast of having brought in 6.5 billion dollars at the global box office!
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Michael Bay
The action boss
Recently, the director gave us Ambulance, a Dante action film starring a supercharged Jake Gyllenhaal. Unfortunately, the film did not meet with the expected success with only 52 million dollars at the worldwide box office for a budget of 40 million.
Since then, Michael Bay has been content with the producer’s chair in Transformers Rise of the Beasts, Quietly: Day 1 or the future Transformers The Beginning, in theaters on October 23. Thus, the director keeps an eye on his cult franchise, of which he directed 5 episodes between 2007 and 2017. In total, his Hasbro toy films have collected 4.3 billion internationally.
The artist then handed over to Travis Knight for Bumblebee, Steven Caple Jr. for Rise of the Beasts and Josh Cooley for First Class. The franchise will continue on the big screen via a crossover with another Hasbro license: GI Joe. For his part, does Michael Bay want to return to directing a Transformers feature film?
Michael Bay to direct a new Transformers?
Questioned by us during the Annecy festival, the historic producer of the franchise, Lorenzo Di Bonaventura, gave a clear answer to this question. “No. Michael feels like he’s done it all. He was the perfect director, even though I wasn’t sure about it at first. It was Michael’s idea Steven Spielberg“confided the 67-year-old producer.
Michael Bay feels like he’s done the trick. He was the perfect director, even if I wasn’t sure at first. It was Steven Spielberg’s idea.
“I asked Steven, ‘Why him?’. He gave me his answer. I asked Michael the same question and got a different answer. With all his experience in explosions and big characters , Michael is mainly called for action films, but what really makes him successful is comedy.he continues.
With all his experience in explosions and big characters, Michael is mostly called upon for action movies. But what really makes him successful is comedy.
“If you watch all of his hit films, you realize that they’re all very funny. I think when we first tried to sell Transformers, it was all about robots. We had to make them cool But if we had just made a serious film, I don’t think it would have worked. Comedy was the key to success and it was Michael who brought it.”concluded Lorenzo Di Bonaventura, who therefore assures that Mr. Bay will no longer direct Transformers films.
In the meantime, First Class will hit theaters on October 23. This feature film takes place entirely on Cybertron and tells the story of how two brothers in arms, Optimus Prime and Megatron, became sworn enemies, leading to the greatest battle of all between the Autobots and the Decepticons.
Interview by Manon Maroufi at the Annecy 2024 festival.
