Michael Bay Not Planning to Direct Transformers 5

[Sky Shadow]

What I'm saying is that people actively watch Michael Bay's movies and pay regularly to do so.

But do they? I didn't know what a Michael Bay was until he made the first Transformers film. I just looked it up - he'd directed six films at that point, and even now he's still only directed seven non-Transformers films. Are people really going to watch a Michael Bay film, or are they going to watch Transformers (and Ninja Turtles)? Transformers and TMNT have more history than Michael Bay, and they have fandoms and toys and TV shows and comic books and inspire nostalgia in eighties and nineties kids. Surely the franchises are the draw, not the hack.

[millhouse]

But do they? I didn't know what a Michael Bay was until he made the first Transformers film. I just looked it up - he'd directed six films at that point, and even now he's still only directed seven non-Transformers films. Are people really going to watch a Michael Bay film, or are they going to watch Transformers (and Ninja Turtles)? Transformers and TMNT have more history than Michael Bay, and they have fandoms and toys and TV shows and comic books and inspire nostalgia in eighties and nineties kids. Surely the franchises are the draw, not the hack.

I think you can look at Armageddon, Bad Boys, and The Rock as examples of Bay having a name for himself (after Bad Boys). Criterion released Armageddon and The Rock on DVD, so he's known (often for the worse) among cinephiles.

Bay got the TF gig because of his ability to do high dollar projects, on time, on budget, and watched by audiences. They didn't give TF to an 80s kid who loved the franchise and had no proven track record with high budget motion pictures.

The TF live action movie franchise is far bigger than Bay, but don't think he hasn't been instrumental in it's financial success.

The fact remains, for the better or worse of the franchise, Bay has been a smart business move until he moves on from it.