Rise Of The Beasts Is Just The Beginning

Michael Bay's final Transformers movie plan helped save the franchise, paving the way for Transformers: Rise of the Beasts and much more.

Michael Bay might be done directing Transformers movies, but his help with a final movie plan helped save the franchise. Paramount found success with Michael Bay at the helm of the Transformers franchise once it began in 2007. The studio and director partnered up for five Transformers movies in total before Bay decided to call it quits and shift his focus to directing other films. The film series has continued to live on, as Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is the seventh entry in the live-action franchise overall. However, it was not that long ago that it appeared that the Transformers movies could come to an end.

Michael Bay's Transformers movies peaked in popularity with Transformers: Dark of the Moon and Transformers: Age of Extinction. The two films, one the end of the first trilogy and the other the start of a potential new trilogy, both earned over $1.1 billion at the box office worldwide. This came despite critic reviews continuing to drop for Michael Bay's films. It appeared that interest had run dry by Transformers: The Last Knight, as it finished with a franchise-worst box office run after being publicly confirmed to be Bay's last with the franchise. Instead of letting the films end without him, Michael Bay was part of saving the future.

Before Transformers: The Last Knight was even announced, Michael Bay was involved in Paramount's plans to expand the franchise, which included overseeing the development of a Transformers writers room. Bay was among the franchise creators who were most connected to the writers assembled to come up with ideas for new Transformers movies. Overseen by Akiva Goldsman, the Transformers writers room included Ken Nolan (Black Hawk Down), Geneva Robertson-Dworet (Captain Marvel), Christina Hodson (Bumblebee), Lindsey Beer (Sierra Burgess Is A Loser), Andrew Barrer & Gabriel Ferrari (Ant-Man), Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead), Art Marcum & Matt Holloway (Iron Man), Zak Penn (Pacific Rim: Uprising), and Jeff Pinkner (The Amazing Spider-Man 2).

While the writers room was disbanded after Transformers: The Last Knight's release, the work done by the writers was substantial. Michael Bay told MTV in 2017 that Paramount had 14 more Transformers movie ideas that were byproducts of the writers room, not counting Transformers 5's script from Ken Nolan. While Michael Bay did not directly help develop the specific ideas, he was responsible for listening to the pitches and figuring out if they would be worthwhile additions to the live-action franchise. This helped convince him to return for Transformers: The Last Knight but also put the series in a better position to succeed once he stopped directing the films.

Since Michael Bay was involved in the writers room's development, he had a role in helping save the Transformers franchise's future. While Transformers: The Last Knight was not a success, the writers room was responsible for developing ideas for a few films that are being made. Christina Hodson's idea for a Bumblebee solo movie set in the 1980s and centered around the Volkswagen Beetle and a teenage girl was the first Transformers spinoff movie announced. The film successfully soft-rebooted the continuity, paving the way for Transformers: Rise of the Beasts to pick up the pieces and start a new potential trilogy.

While many of the other scripts developed in the Transformers writers room have not materialized yet, the success of Bumblebee is enough to show how Michael Bay's plan helped save the franchise. The filmmaker knew that he needed to work with Paramount to figure out a way to keep the franchise afloat even after he left, as Bay also produces the Transformers franchise. He is financially incentivized to have more movies come out and become hits. Although he easily could have left the series without helping chart out the future, Michael Bay's Transformers movie plan helped create a film that regenerated excitement for the franchise's future.

As mentioned, Michael Bay is involved in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts as the producer of the franchise. He is not directing the seventh live-action entry in the series, but it is known that he was very hands-on in terms of working with director Steven Caple Jr. They were seen on set together and talked throughout the development process to make sure the franchise's new director was comfortable making Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.

Michael Bay will continue to be involved with the Transformers franchise as a producer on each upcoming movie, but it does appear that his days of directing the installments are over. After saying that Transformers: Dark of the Moon and Transformers: Age of Extinction were his last films only to return again, he has stayed true to his word after Transformers: The Last Knight. Bay has found success outside of the franchise since his exit, making it unlikely that he will ever direct another Transformers movie. But, he could still help steer the franchise in the right direction.