Michael Bay Basically Confirms He'll Return To Direct TRANSFORMERS 5 Before Moving On
It's been rumored that Michael Bay would return to direct the fifth installment in Paramount's Transformers franchise and now he's come out and basically confirmed that he'll be back for one last ride.
Twice before, director Michael Bay has claimed that he was leaving Paramount Pictures' multi-billion dollar Transformers franchise in his rear-view mirror, only to later change his mind.
Well, third time's the charm, I suppose.
In his extensive profile with Rolling Stone, the immensely successful director/producer revealed that he's more likely than not directing Transformers 5, which will star Mark Wahlberg and hit theaters summer 2017. He also once again assured everyone that this next one will definitely be his last one and credits Star Wars: The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams for being the driving force behind convincing him to return for a fifth and final go-round.
Read an excerpt from Rolling Stone's conversation with Bay below:
Between his producing duties and directorial work, Bay usually has a half-dozen projects going at once. Right now, in addition to 13 Hours, he's doing post-production on the next Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which he's producing and which is due in 2016, and pre-production for the next Transformers, which he's directing for summer 2017. "I'm doing Transformers ... 5, is it?" Bay says, temporarily losing track. He shakes his head. "I've taken on a lot of work."
"The movie industry has really changed," Bay says, apropos of nothing. "The middle-[budget] movie is basically gone. They just want these big movies." (The irony of this statement goes unremarked-upon.) "Transformers, I still have a great time. 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."
I remind Bay that he said the same thing before each of the last two Transformers movies. "I know," he says. "J.J. [Abrams] told me, 'You're the only guy that could do this.' But it's time to move on. One more."
Sounds like 2017 will be a year of farewells as it's also the year where we see X-Men star Hugh Jackman bid adieu to his fan-favorite role as Wolverine.
Bay's decision to return shouldn't come as a total surprise as star Mark Wahlberg had stated on numerous ocassions that he had a good feeling that Bay would return to direct the next installment. Also, with Paramount actively developing a larger cinematic unvierse around their Transformers franchise, it was probably in their best interest to bring back the director of the original films to help them build a bridge from the previous films to any future prequels, spin-offs, and/or sequels.
So, what do you guys think? Sound off with your thoughts below!
Transformers 5 hits theaters Summer 2017