The return of micheal Bay in the Transformers Franchise

 The Transformers Movies Have Struggled At The Box Office Without Michael Bay

Bay’s absence from the franchise has seen its box office dwindle

Michael Bay Transformers Future Movies Spinoffs Sequels Prediction

However, Bay’s time in the Transformers franchise came to an end in 2017 with the release of Transformers: The Last Knight.

However, Bay’s time in the Transformers franchise came to an end in 2017 with the release of Transformers: The Last Knight. While Transformers: Age of Extinction was the most financially successful movie of 2014, The Last Knight failed to outdo its predecessor. Only a year later, The Last Knight received a prequel. However, Bay didn’t return to direct 2018’s Bumblebee, instead handing directing duties over to Travis Knight. While critically acclaimed, Bumblebee under-performed upon release. Thanks to its smaller budget, the prequel was still a success, but this didn’t inspire confidence in the franchise’s future.

The Transformers Movies

Worldwide Box Office

Transformers

$709 million

Revenge of the Fallen

$836 million

Dark Side of the Moon

$1.124 billion

Age of Extinction

$1.104 billion

The Last Knight

$605 million

Bumblebee

$468 million

Rise of the Beasts

$439 million

Anyone uncertain about the prospects of the series had their hopes thoroughly dashed six years later with the arrival of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. This belated sequel was a box office disaster, failing to recoup its massive budget in its initial run and earning the lowest gross of the series so far. To make matters worse, Rise of the Beasts didn’t even share Bumblebee’s critical success. The performance of Rise of the Beasts proves that the Transformers movies need Bay to succeed, although the franchise is attempting a lot of alternative solutions to deal with its current crisis.

Transformers' Future Has No Clear Direction Without Michael Bay

The Transformers series doesn’t have a cohesive strategy

While all of the Transformers movies tell a relatively cohesive story, the timeline of the series is about to get a lot more complicated. The financial failure of Rise of the Beasts has not stopped the producers of the Transformers franchise from pulling out all the stops when it comes to salvaging the series. There is a Transformers reboot franchise, an animated movie, and even a standalone movie that have been announced so far, all of which aim to reignite interest in the series. However, while Bay is a producer on these projects, they are missing a creative driving force.

While Shia Labeouf didn’t return for the fourth movie, Bay’s sequels all retained the teen adventure movie tone that made the 2007 original such a surprise hit with critics.

For better or worse, Bay was viewed as the singular artist behind the early Transformers movies and the series had a fairly consistent tone before he departed from the series. While Shia Labeouf didn’t return for the fourth movie, Bay’s sequels all retained the teen adventure movie tone that made the 2007 original such a surprise hit with critics. 2018’s Bumblebee doubled down on this, with Laika Studio's Knight effectively emulating Bay’s combination of character comedy and action sequences. However, Bumblebee’s limited budget made its action less immersive, while Rise of the Beasts took itself far too seriously.

Michael Bay's Career Rebounded After Leaving Transformers

Bay has enjoyed both good reviews and solid audience successes recently

Jake Gyllenhaal with a machine gun in Ambulance

While Bay’s name has historically been associated with critical derision, that hasn’t always been reflected in the director's actual real-life reviews. Since leaving the Transformers franchise, Bay has enjoyed some surprisingly solid critical write-ups and some success with audiences. 2019’s 6 Underground wasn't well received among critics, but it was a huge hit on Netflix. Meanwhile, Ambulance failed to find an audience at the box office but did provide Bay with some positive reviews again. As such, Bay’s career has arguably improved since he left the series, even though no project has yet won him critical acclaim and commercial success.

As such, while Bay’s Transformers movies may be filled with plot holes, the first in the series remains the last time that the director impressed viewers and reviewers alike. Bay’s other projects have historically been met with mixed results, with 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi failing at the box office and leaving critics unimpressed. With Transformers, Bay found a series where his love of explosions and vehicular mayhem wasn’t at odds with the storytelling, but intrinsic to it. As such, the filmmaker should return to the franchise now that he has regained some critical credibility.

Transformers' G.I. Joe Crossover Means Its The Perfect Time For Michael Bay To Return

Bay’s obsession with the military suits a GI Joe crossover movie

Transformers' G.I. Joe Crossover Sets Up A Retcon For Michael Bay's Movies

Since Bay has always had a predilection for focusing on the military in his movies, a crossover between Transformers and the GI Joe franchise could be a perfect opportunity for him to return to the series. From The Rock to Pearl Harbor to 13 Hours, Bay has spent his career focusing on the military and has even included military characters in earlier Transformers movies like Revenge of the Fallen. As such, the GI Joe/Transformers crossover movie would be perfect for Bay, who could return to the series in a project tailor-made for his interests.

The GI Joe/Transformers crossover movie was teased by the ending of Rise of the Beasts, which served as a prequel to 2007’s original Transformers. Although Rise of the Beasts seemingly set up a follow-up involving the GI Joe team, Bay would not necessarily need to pick up where the movie left off. Since Rise of the Beasts under-performed, it would make sense for Bay to instead jump ahead in time to after the events of his last movie in the franchise timeline. This approach could allow Micheal Bay to return to the Transformers franchise without getting bogged down by lore.

Transformers

Created by

Hasbro

First Film

Transformers (2007)

Latest Film

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

Upcoming Films

Transformers One

Cast

Frank Welker , Peter Cullen , Corey Burton , John Stephenson , Jack Angel , Michael Bell , Dan Gilvezan , Casey Kasem , Christopher Collins , Shia LaBeouf , Megan Fox , Josh Duhamel , Tyrese Gibson , John Turturro , Rosie Huntington-Whiteley , Mark Wahlberg , Hailee Steinfeld , Anthony Ramos

Character(s)

Megatron , Optimus Prime , Starscream , Bumblebee , Mirage , Ratchet , Ironhide , Jazz , Sam Witwicky

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