2017 marks the 10-year anniversary of theTransformersmovie franchise and will see the release of the fifth movie featuring the giant, alien robots, all of which have been directed byMichael Bay.Transformers: The Last Knightis set for release this summer, though it isn’t clear if it will be an improvement overTransformers: Age of Extinction. As the movie inches closer to release, we are learning more and more about it. Now, we have learned thatTransformers 5will probably beMichael Bay’s last as director.
Michael Bayrecently made a post on his own website about his history with theTransformersfranchise and the upcomingTransformers: The Last Knight. He has said that he probably wouldn’t direct anotherTransformersmovie plenty of times before, but he is once again stating that he is probably done directing the robots in disguise on the big screen. Here is what he had to say.
“It’s bittersweet for me. With every Transformers film, I’ve said it would be my last. I see the 120 million fans around the world who see these movies, the huge theme park lines to the ride and the amazing Make- A-Wish kids who visit my sets, and it somehow keeps drawing me back. I love doing these movies. This film was especially fun to shoot. But, this time might really be it. So I’m blowing this one out.”
Even ifMichael Bayactually does stay good to his word this time around, Paramount has no plans of discontinuing theTransformers franchise. They are already moving ahead with aBumblebeemovie and there are plans for many other movies in the works. Much of that came out of theTransformerswriters room that the studio andBayput together in 2015, which includedAkiva Goldsman,Art Marcum,Matt Holloway,Ken Nolan,Zak Penn,Lindsey Beer,Geneva Robertson-Dworet,Christina Hodson,Steven DeKnight,Jeff Pinkner,Andrew BarrerandGabriel Ferrari. The director talked a bit about that writers room in his post.
“It was a huge task to expand mythology from the beginning of the world throughout history…Through the summer of 2015, they worked in a huge space on the Paramount lot, surrounded by over 10,000 concept images from the franchise’s history: the movies, cartoons, and comic books. They had a life-sizeBumblebee, a Megatron head, and many other props staring them down. We pulled from everything. It was a fan’s dream room. We brought in Transformers historians from Hasbro to educate them on where Transformers has been - so that they could figure out where it can go.”
Paramount clearly put a lot into that writer’s room and has a lot of faith in the franchise moving forward, as they probably should. To date, theTransformersmovies have grossed $3.77 billion worldwide, despite the fact that they are regularly panned by critics and even many fans don’t seem pleased with the direction the movies have taken. So there is no reason to thinkTransformers: The Last Knightwon’t also crush it at the box office.Michael Bayhad one last gift in his post for fans of the series, with an official synopsis for the upcoming movie.
“The Last Knight shatters the core myths of the Transformers franchise, and redefines what it means to be a hero. Humans and Transformers are at war,Optimus Primeis gone. The key to saving our future lies buried in the secrets of the past, in the hidden history of Transformers on Earth. Saving our world falls upon the shoulders of an unlikely alliance: Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg); Bumblebee; an English Lord (Sir Anthony Hopkins); and an Oxford Professor (Laura Haddock). There comes a moment in everyone’s life when we are called upon to make a difference. In Transformers: The Last Knight, the hunted will become heroes. Heroes will become villains. Only one world will survive: theirs, or ours.”
The Last Knightwill bring back series starsMark Wahlberg,Tyrese Gibson,John TurturroandJosh Duhamel, as well asPeter Cullen, who will once again provide the voice of Optimus Prime. They will be joined by newcomers to the seriesIsabela Moner,Laura HaddockandAnthony Hopkins. The Super Bowl spot for the movie recently made its way online, but Paramount will be airing an extended version of the spot during the game on Sunday, so be on the lookout for that.Transformers: The Last Knightis being directed by Michael Bay and is set for release on June 23.
