Thursday, June 18, 2009

UPDATE: Bay Quits 'Transformers' Franchise

Michael Bay said this weekend's new release "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" will be the last film he makes in the robot franchise.

The director is reported as saying he needs a break from the explosive action movies and is tired of being savaged by critics for his film-making style.

According to Yahoo News (WENN), Bay said: "It's easy to go shoot an art movie in a winery in the South of France. But people have no idea how hard it is to create something like Transformers. They (the critics) review me before they've even seen the movie."

A third movie in the series was greenlit in March, with a release date of July 1, 2011 (now moved to 2012). But it seems studio bosses will have to find another filmmaker.

Bay said: "After the three and a half years I've spent making these movies, I feel like I've had enough of the 'Transformers' world.

"I need to do something totally divergent, something without any explosions."

This goes along with Bay saying he wanted to take a break from "Transformers" to make smaller films for a while, but now the director has just gotten fed up with all the riduclous amount of work he has to put into these large summer blockbusters.

Who will direct "Transformers 3" now?

UPDATE: On his message board, Shoot for the Edit, Bay clarified the reports and says he just wants a break from the action films but will not quit for good.

He said: "Never said it - just wanted a vacation is more to the point."

The initial report said he was fed up with being savaged by critics but he added: "And, no, I don't read the good or the bad reviews."
More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Sources: The Geek Files, Yahoo News (WENN)

2 comments:

Mikey said...

NO WAY!!

For some reason, I don't buy this for a second. I think if he gets a big enough paycheck, Bay will probably return for Transformers 3. Because no matter how people bitch about him, his movies are still pretty big hits--except maybe for "The Island". So if he leaves, it might actually kill the franchise.

But if he does leave, I say bring on Steven Spielberg or James Cameron. How awesome would that be?

Head Hero said...

He has refuted that the press has blown his comments out of proportion.

He has asked for a vacation, which I said does go with his earlier comments about moving the third moving from 2011 to 2012.

If Paramount gives him that extra year break, then I bet he will indeed come back.

He really does appreciate his fans and has a good sense of humor, so I don't believe he would straight up and ditch the franchise just like that.

Looking at the numbers for "Transformers 2" makes me agree that he does need a vacation.