I hope you’ve insured your eyeballs, because pretty soon Michael Bay will be blowing them up, as he takes his old giant robot pals out for another spin in Transformers 4. But, if you pay attention to these things, you will recall that the Baysplosion Master once indicated that Transformers 3 would be his last robo-movie. And to prove it, he made that movie super long, throwing in everything except the kitchen sink. Because it had been blown up earlier.
So what gives? Are you we going to get another robo-epic and why did he hang around for another film? You know, besides money.
Bay spoke to Canadian site Canoë (via Comic Book Movie) where he revealed, via some unfortunately badly translated English, why he returned for a fourth film, when this is supposed to be the start of a brand new trilogy featuring completely different characters, and he has already revealed that a different director would be taking over for parts deux and tres.
“The franchise was assigned to a new industry. This person would have to redraw the entire franchise, which is not an easy task. Creating robots alone takes several months to complete. Also, I knew an inexperienced director does not succeed in convincing a superstar to accept a role. That’s why I initially convinced Mark [Wahlberg] to play in the film, issue a good start.”
Parlez-vous what? Ok, so the gist of what he is saying is that for a new director to come in and take over, rebuilding the franchise with this new trilogy, it would be a really tall order, so he’s actually just being a nice guy and laying down the groundwork. Aw, Michael Bay is so sweet.
Speaking of things that are sweet, the 2 hours and 34 minute running time on Transformers 3 was definitely not one of them. With a final act battle alone that went on for more than an hour, there were many a viewer, myself included, that felt that we were just all Transforme-ed out long before the credits rolled. Bay recognizes his mistakes in stretching that film out like that though, and it’s something he’s hoping to rectify with this latest installment.
“I designed two hours seven minutes, which I think is a good formula, which gives enough room to maneuver.”
That being said, he was also quick to point exactly why a Transformer movie needs to have a long running time.
“In ‘Transformers,’ you tell three stories in one, that of humans, the aliens and the robots. Also, the films were released in the summer and for this reason have become events. You want to make sure to give the public value for money.”
Wait, aliens and robots?! Aren’t they same thing? Man, you mean to tell me that all this time I was accusing the Transformers movies are bad stories, there was a whole other storyline that I didn’t even know existed? Oh, Bay, you sneaky military obsessed, flag waving, pyromaniac, you!
Transformers 4 will star Mark Wahlberg, Niccola Peltz, Jack Reynor and Stanley Tucci and will be blowing up cinemas on June 27, 2014.
As humanity picks up the pieces, following the conclusion of Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Autobots and Decepticons have all but vanished from the face of the planet. However, a group of powerful, ingenious businessman and scientists attempt to learn from past Transformer incursions and push the boundaries of technology beyond what they can control – all while an ancient, powerful Transformer menace sets Earth in his crosshairs. The epic adventure and battle between good and evil, freedom and enslavement ensues.
Last Updated: April 25, 2013
