Michael Bay has left Transformers behind. That’s not unfortunate considering the cool action firework Ambulance he made afterwards. Director legend Steven Spielberg advised him early on that he shouldn’t have stopped until after part 5. Today Michael Bay sees it that way too.
“Just stop after part 3”: Michael Bay would have quit Steven Spielberg should hear
Michael Bay not only shot the very successful Transformers trilogy with Shia LaBeouf from 2009 to 2011 in one go. He later directed the sequels Transformers 4: Age of Extinction and Transformers 5: The Last Knight. Two years ago, Michael Bay told Unilad UK about advice that he should have listened to after Part 3:
I’ve done too many of those. Steven Spielberg told me: “Just stop after part 3.” I wanted that, too. But the studio begged for a fourth and it grossed a billion. Then I wanted to stop but they begged again. I should have stopped. But [die Filme] were fun.
That sounds like a success story, but also a warning. Of his five franchise films, Bay’s Transformers 4: Age of Extinction was immensely successful, the sequel a colossal sci-fi flop.
Are there more Transformers hits coming from action junkie Michael Bay?
He was only involved as a producer on the sixth Transformers film, the spin-off Bumblebee and the seventh part Transformers: Rise of the Beasts from last year. In fact, Transformers 8 is planned for next year, but here too Bay will not honor the director’s chair and will follow Spielberg’s advice.
Bumblebee and Transformers 4: Age of Extinction are playing today, May 16, 2024, on ProSieben from 8:15 p.m as a double feature on TV.