Michael Bay Confirmed To Direct “Transformers 4″

Money is more important that quality.  That's a sad fact about Hollywood.  When you look at a film series where after three films each successive film is not as good as the previous one, the series would be dead in the water.  But if that film series also has merchandising ties, the quality of the films doesn't matter.  That's been the story, and criticism, of the "Transformers" franchise.  Michael Bay has always been accused of making a quality story take a backseat to jumbled explosive action sequences, but it seemed to work since he has been asked to return to the series for the fourth film. 

While speaking with MTV, series producer Lorenzo DiBonaventura not only confirmed the new movie, Michael Bay's return, and a June 2014 release date, DiBonaventura gave a hint to the direction of the story,

“I think the challenge there is we really are going to do a reboot there, and what that’s going to be we don’t even know yet.”

Its odd to see a reboot of a series done by the same director as the previous films.  Usually a reboot not only restarts the story, but also the tone and overall feel of the film.  When asked if they had an idea of casting for the new films, DiBonaventura said,

“No, it’s so silly. We gotta get a story first. You can’t pick characters until you have a story…there’s still continuity that’s going on. There’ll be a lot of new cast, whether there’s anyone from the first we don’t even know yet. The truth is, there’s going to be a whole new story. The characters that will come along will be Optimus and Bumblebee, I’m sure.”

After news broke about the MTV interview, Paramount released a statement confirming all of DiBonaventura's statements, saying the new film will be a "new take" on the Transformers story (I will believe that if/when I see it), and a release date of June 29th, 2014.  Paramount also confirmed an additional part of the deal to have Michael Bay return as director, another film by Bay called "Pain and Gain"; a dark comedy about body builders who get wrapped up in a plot of kidnapping, extortion, and murder, set to star Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne Johnson.  I get it!  Michael Bay wants to do a movie first that will make "Transformers 4" look fantastic by comparison. 

Michael Bay is a fantasic visual director, but his films have never had the greatest story lines.  Bay's problem is a limited resume when you look at the types of films he's directed.  Since 2007, he hasn't directed anything but "Transformers" films, and the rest of his films are very similar over-the-top action films like "The Rock" (which I actually love), "Pearl Harbor", and "Armageddon".  After criticism over "Transformers: Dark of the Moon", Bay had said he was going to direct a more artistic film to put his critics to rest.  But seeing as how he has another "Transformers" film on the way and a rumored "Bad Boys 3" coming up, I don't see that happening. 

via Film School Rejects