Michael Bay directed five Transformers movies, all of which were huge box office hits. Critics didn't love them, and fans had mixed feelings, but the "least" successful of his films made $605 million, with the most successful grossing $1.1 billion.
Bumblebee, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, and Transformers One didn't find the same level of commercial success, even with better reviews, but is Bay the right person to restore the property to its former box office glory?
According to a report from Puck, the filmmaker is developing a new Transformers movie at Paramount Pictures that he intends to direct. While he walked away from the franchise after Transformers: The Last Knight underperformed in 2017, his recent movies haven't come close to reaching Transformers numbers.
The site explains, "Bay approached the studio last year to come back as a hands-on producer and possibly director, and he's got writer Jordan VanDina working on a script. It's one of five or so Transformers projects in development that David Ellison and Skydance will inherit if/when the Paramount sale closes."
"Josh Cooley, who made last year's animated Transformers One, just closed a deal to pursue a live-action take," the report continues. "There's also a possible G.I. Joe/Transformers crossover in development, and the studio has two separate ideas in early stages."
It seems there's no rush to make any of these Transformers movies, as Paramount will retain the rights, provided one of them is in production by 2029.
It's interesting that Bay is back in play, particularly as it means the highly anticipated G.I. Joe/Transformers crossover isn't a sure thing. In case you're unaware, VanDina is best known for writing SuperMansion, Animaniacs, and the upcoming Dodgeball 2.
Promoting Ambulance in 2022, Bay reflected on 2007's Transformers. "The first one was scary. It was technology we didn’t know would work, and then it became very successful. It was the first time digital effects were that highly reflective, so it broke a lot of new ground."
"It was a fun experience," he added. "It made more than [$709 million], that’s a lot of movie tickets and a lot of people that have seen it."
However, Bay also acknowledged that he should have walked away when the going was good. "I made too many of them. Steven Spielberg said, 'Just stop at three.' And I said I’d stop. The studio begged me to do a fourth, and then that made a billion too. And then I said I’m gonna stop here. And they begged me again. I should have stopped. They were fun to do."
Following a much-needed break, it seems Bay is ready to make his Transformers return. That's bound to divide opinions, but for Paramount, it could be the best possible way to make the Autobots and Decepticons one of its biggest draws again.