Here's what Michael Bay actually said about the future of Transformers movies

A couple of years ago we had a writer's room with 14 writers. We locked them up in a room for about a month and they came up with 14 different stories of where this franchise could go in the future. They came up with a wonderful mythology.

o.supreme wrote:I agree its agonizing how news is reported inaccurately, but apparently screen junkies is doing some sort of live event scheduled for 2:45pm (EST) 10:45am (PST) in just under 3 minuets based on this information...what the reason is for the "live" report...I have no idea.

william-james88 wrote:

o.supreme wrote:I agree its agonizing how news is reported inaccurately, but apparently screen junkies is doing some sort of live event scheduled for 2:45pm (EST) 10:45am (PST) in just under 3 minuets based on this information...what the reason is for the "live" report...I have no idea.

They should know better, one of our very own staff members is also on their team.

william-james88 wrote:They should know better, one of our very own staff members is also on their team.

Seibertron wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

o.supreme wrote:I agree its agonizing how news is reported inaccurately, but apparently screen junkies is doing some sort of live event scheduled for 2:45pm (EST) 10:45am (PST) in just under 3 minuets based on this information...what the reason is for the "live" report...I have no idea.

They should know better, one of our very own staff members is also on their team.

Who?

Dergarabedian said that international audiences, particularly in China, India and South America, still embrace these films because they grew up on big American blockbusters and enjoy the action-packed adventures.

"Action is the international language and that's what audiences really respond to," he said.

"The Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise isn't the only one that gets an international boost. The "Transformers" films have also been met by lackluster reviews and U.S. audience fatigue.

The fourth "Transformers" film, "Age of Extinction," which was released in 2014, garnered more than $858.6 million in international tickets. Domestically, its ticket sales for the full run of the film were about $245 million.

Dergarabedian attributed the film's international success not only to the action sequences, but the cast of Mark Wahlberg, an action movie star, and the fact that much of the film took place in a city in China. He said that international audiences like to see films set on a global stage

[...]


Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
Source: Disney
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

If you've looked at the movie listings this weekend, and asked yourself "Why is Disney making another 'Pirates of the Caribbean film?" you're not alone.

The fifth installment "Dead Men Tell No Tales" opens Friday in the U.S. With each new addition to the Pirates' franchise, the reviews have gotten worse and the U.S. audiences have shrunk. But overseas, fans are still enamored with Johnny Depp's swashbuckling portrayal of Captain Jack Sparrow.

International markets have driven the majority of box office revenue for the "Pirates" franchise since the first film was released in 2003. At the box office "Curse of the Black Pearl" saw a pretty even split between U.S. and international ticket sales, but with each additional release, that gap has widened.

By the fourth film, "On Stranger Tides," more than 75 percent of box office revenue was earned overseas, a whopping $804.8 million.

For comparison, the film garnered $241 million in the U.S., less than the opening weekend gross of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."

"U.S. audiences have been subjected to so many sequels over the decades that it is hard to maintain the excitement," Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for comScore, told CNBC.

Despite the lackluster performances in the United States, two of the "Pirates" films have garnered more than $1 billion in total global ticket sales and one fell just shy of the mark with $962 million.

Dergarabedian said that international audiences, particularly in China, India and South America, still embrace these films because they grew up on big American blockbusters and enjoy the action-packed adventures.

"Action is the international language and that's what audiences really respond to," he said.

"The Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise isn't the only one that gets an international boost. The "Transformers" films have also been met by lackluster reviews and U.S. audience fatigue.

The fourth "Transformers" film, "Age of Extinction," which was released in 2014, garnered more than $858.6 million in international tickets. Domestically, its ticket sales for the full run of the film were about $245 million.

Dergarabedian attributed the film's international success not only to the action sequences, but the cast of Mark Wahlberg, an action movie star, and the fact that much of the film took place in a city in China. He said that international audiences like to see films set on a global stage.

"If you look at the numbers, international has to be at the forefront," Dergarabedian said. "Appealing to global audiences is the driving force."

That's why this summer a fifth "Transformers" film, "The Last Knight," will hit theaters.

While several cast members of the "Pirates" franchise have hinted that there could be more films in the future, the studio does not currently have any plans for a sixth installment.

"Transformers," on the other hand, is slated to release at least four more films after "The Last Knight," one of which will be a standalone "Bumblebee" movie set for release in 2018.

When Paramount and Hasbro began laying the groundwork for a potential Transformers Cinematic Universe, they hired Oscar-winning screenwriter Akiva Goldsman to lead a writers room to expand the world. The first movie that resulted from that writers room was this summer’s Transformers: The Last Knight, with a Bumblebee standalone movie next in line.

Things got less certain in the lead-up to The Last Knight’s release, with both director Michael Bay and star Mark Wahlberg suggesting they were done with Transformers movies. Now, /Film has learned that Goldsman is done, too. Goldsman spoke with us at the Television Critics Association, where he was representing Star Trek: Discovery.

Asked if he was still involved with Transformers, Goldsman simply said, “No.”

“The writers room which was set up by all of us was set up to explore the mythology more,” Di Bonaventura explained. “It was set up for a few different reasons but the biggest thing that happened in it was they expanded the mythology of Transformers in a way that allowed us to go to King Arthur. There’s different areas, like we’ve examined World War II, etc.”

As for the state of the proposed Transformers extended universe, Di Bonaventura is focused on Bumblebee.

Dagon wrote:Well. There goes that quality cinematic universe, I guess. Back to bad scripts after the meisterwerk that was The Last Knight.

RAR wrote:I'm disappointed the Movie Press is pretty much ignoring The Last Knight - as there is some very odd things that seem to have happened with this Movie that made it go off the rails in some uniquely bizarre ways.

I can only really conclude that Bay just used the people complaining about them being to long to not finish his movie properly at all let alone just cut what was shot. It's clear that a whole lot of what he left in was filler and that other scenes are poorly explained - over-explained or not explained at all.

I don't think the usual problems all Transformers Movie share is going to be down to a reduced run time - they will be down to Bay being incapable of doing his job properly and Paramount being incapable of approving a script that makes sense.

People say the same thing again and again and they don't listen

People say
1) The screen is to dark (even worse in 3D) and you can't tell the characters apart (even the humans sometimes)
2) The framing of scenes is just wonky and disjointed with robots and sometimes people out of frame and it's just confusing to look at.
3) The Music is to generic and repetitive and self-reverential
4) Characters just disappear and also take actions that make no sense
5) Character are in the Movie who serve no purpose who's entire presence could be trimmed to 2 lines of dialgue and a saving of millions of dollars
6) Lack of Expert approval - any technical dialogue - is ALWAYS wrong - and often the visual are wrong too.

Windsweeper wrote:Good riddance to Goldsman. After Batman and Robin, he and Schumacher should never have been left near another movie.

Same with Bay after Revenge of the Fallen.

If they do reboot the franchise I hope they stay away from horrible designs like Frenzy, Starscream, Ironhide, Wheelie, Reedman, the Twins, Jetfire, Brains, Que, Drift, Hound and Gecko. All of whom looked like rejects from the Robots movie and not Transformers.

Alien robots shouldn't have hair, buck teeth or samurai armour.

The comics work because they treat Transformers like proper sci fi and not bloody Harry Potter.

Except Barber who focuses too much on humans and gives us crap like the droid, Garrison Blackrock and Thundercracker's dog and should also be kept away from the Transformers.

Windsweeper wrote:Good riddance to Goldsman. After Batman and Robin, he and Schumacher should never have been left near another movie.

Same with Bay after Revenge of the Fallen.

If they do reboot the franchise I hope they stay away from horrible designs like Frenzy, Starscream, Ironhide, Wheelie, Reedman, the Twins, Jetfire, Brains, Que, Drift, Hound and Gecko. All of whom looked like rejects from the Robots movie and not Transformers.

Alien robots shouldn't have hair, buck teeth or samurai armour.

The comics work because they treat Transformers like proper sci fi and not bloody Harry Potter.

Except Barber who focuses too much on humans and gives us crap like the droid, Garrison Blackrock and Thundercracker's dog and should also be kept away from the Transformers.

partholon wrote:i think things have worked out as well for the franchise as they can.

the films STILL making money, last i checked it was circa 570million worldwide so its made its production budget back so everyone gets paid.

Meanwhile the Bay films, separate from any "GEEWUN 4eva!" criticism are:
-heavily misogynistic and filled with creepy male gaze moments (usually on young/underage girl's bodies)
-filled with blatant military propaganda for some reason
-overly crude "humor" (if it was funny I *might* strike this from the list, but it's really not. It's like gross dad humor)
-have way too many racist moments (the correct amount to have would be ZERO)
-are extremely violent in a way that is inappropriate for Hasbro's main target demographic: children

Sabrblade wrote:This is the best sum up of the films' criticisms I've seen:

Meanwhile the Bay films, separate from any "GEEWUN 4eva!" criticism are:
-heavily misogynistic and filled with creepy male gaze moments (usually on young/underage girl's bodies)
-filled with blatant military propaganda for some reason
-overly crude "humor" (if it was funny I *might* strike this from the list, but it's really not. It's like gross dad humor)
-have way too many racist moments (the correct amount to have would be ZERO)
-are extremely violent in a way that is inappropriate for Hasbro's main target demographic: children

Black Hat wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:This is the best sum up of the films' criticisms I've seen:

Meanwhile the Bay films, separate from any "GEEWUN 4eva!" criticism are:
-heavily misogynistic and filled with creepy male gaze moments (usually on young/underage girl's bodies)
-filled with blatant military propaganda for some reason
-overly crude "humor" (if it was funny I *might* strike this from the list, but it's really not. It's like gross dad humor)
-have way too many racist moments (the correct amount to have would be ZERO)
-are extremely violent in a way that is inappropriate for Hasbro's main target demographic: children

Allspark is that way.

Sabrblade wrote:

Black Hat wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:This is the best sum up of the films' criticisms I've seen:

Meanwhile the Bay films, separate from any "GEEWUN 4eva!" criticism are:
-heavily misogynistic and filled with creepy male gaze moments (usually on young/underage girl's bodies)
-filled with blatant military propaganda for some reason
-overly crude "humor" (if it was funny I *might* strike this from the list, but it's really not. It's like gross dad humor)
-have way too many racist moments (the correct amount to have would be ZERO)
-are extremely violent in a way that is inappropriate for Hasbro's main target demographic: children

Allspark is that way.

It's still valid criticism.

Sabrblade wrote:...Wow.

You, like, completely missed the mark on the points of every one of those criticisms.

Egad.

Black Hat wrote:After the dumpster fire that was TLK? Good.

To be honest, I think the writer's room was part of the problem. Too many cooks spoil the broth. TLK was a mess of a hundred potentially good ideas all crammed into one movie. Had it focused purely on the Knights/staff storyline, or the Autobots on the run, or the Decepticons getting out of prison, it might have worked. As is, having all those story threads and ideas running through one movie was a recipe for disaster. The only movies I've seen that pull off that amount of different subplots well have been Amelie and most Coen Brothers movies, and fairly obviously comparing those to Transformers is a silly idea.

If we do get a TF6 (not counting the spinoffs) hopefully it'll be a return to form- one or two writers at most, a straightforward but solid story and plenty of robot action with only the token amount of humans.

Black Hat wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:...Wow.

You, like, completely missed the mark on the points of every one of those criticisms.

Egad.

No, you're just looking at the world through Allspark glasses. As noticable from your passive-aggressive responses.

kurthy wrote:The biggest problem with the TFs movies is that my 9 year old hasn't seen one of the 5 movies. They aren't for little kids and they should work on getting kids back in the theater. He's grown up on g1, beast wars, prime, rescue bots and rid15 (also currently reading IDW) but has no interest in those movies and I have no interest in showing them to him.

Barricade.it wrote:I've let my daughters (7 and 8 years old) watch 2007 after I've cut those parts and they've enjoyed the film.

JazZeke wrote:

Dagon wrote:Well. There goes that quality cinematic universe, I guess. Back to bad scripts after the meisterwerk that was The Last Knight.

Again, "Batman & Robin." I doubt quality was ever on the table.

dbwells wrote:

Barricade.it wrote:I've let my daughters (7 and 8 years old) watch 2007 after I've cut those parts and they've enjoyed the film.

I've considered doing the same, but haven't gotten around to it. I'm curious, though: how did you "cut" the parts? Just know where they are and skip past them, or something more than that?

I've considered doing some kind of real edit to that movie, but realistically I am not likely to find the time for such things.

Stuartmaximus wrote:So there's to be an entirely new storyline
http://news.tfw2005.com/2017/09/23/2019 ... ine-349463

One of the bigger news stories coming out of the Hasbro stable is the big screen movie release of My Little Pony in October 2017 and the Bumblebee movie in 2018. Tell us more.

KB: [...] Next December, Bumblebee will hit theaters from Academy Award nominated director Travis Knight and will star Academy Award-nominated actress Hailee Steinfeld and John Cena to offer fans a rich storyline surrounding fan favorite Autobot Bumblebee.

[...]

Let's move on to Transformers - Hasbro has really created a Transformers Cinematic Universe here. With each new film, what approach does the team make to its licensing programme?

KB: Hasbro takes a pragmatic approach when developing product ranges for upcoming films. From the start, we pay specific attention to detail to ensure the characters and storylines fans see on the screen translate into products people see on the shelves. The product needs to deliver a level of innovation that’s more than meets the eye [geddit?]. Consumers and fans expect that from us. The robust Transformers entertainment offering - which spans television, gaming, and full length features - lends itself to products, and we’ve enjoyed finding like-minded partners to grow the brand and its consumer product portfolio.

Talk us through the next steps in the movie franchise for Transformers.

KB: We still have several action-packed years coming up for the Transformers brand. Beginning this year, there will be a movie every year for the next three years, helping fans connect with the brand and its characters like never before. With Michael Bay at the helm, Transformers: The Last Knight – the fifth installment of the Transformers franchise – hit theaters in June 2017, and featured leading actors like Mark Wahlberg, Anthony Hopkins, Isabela Moner and Josh Duhamel. For December 2018, Hasbro is working on a film centered on the never-before-heard story of Bumblebee, and in June 2019 Hasbro will unveil an entirely new exciting storyline for the beloved brand.

Do Hasbro ever find themselves at a crossroads with brands such as Transformers? How do you ensure you are catering for all aspects of your fan base that spans such a wide range?

KB: Hasbro is always innovating for the new generation of kids while ensuring that it maintains the brand promise to fans. We like to say that Hasbro is always at a point of departure with the key franchise brands, so it's constantly evolving to reach new fans in unique ways across multiple entertainment and product categories. [...] Legendary fashion house Moschino featured Transformers in a collection available globally now. Inspired by the original Transformers look from the 1980s, the line is kept up to date with a vibrant gender neutral palette, action packed graphics and stylish silhouettes across men’s, women’s and kids’ apparel and accessories.

skywarp-2 wrote:The Show would be called NEST Covert Ops.