We’ve known for a couple of years that Paramount was eager to get another live-action Transformers movie going, and that hasn’t changed under the new Skydance regime. Michael Bay, who directed five Transformers movies from 2007 to 2017 before interest started to wane, has been eyeing a return for a while, too. Now, Deadline reports that a new movie is indeed in the works, and it will reunite Bay and Steven Spielberg, who worked together on the earlier films.
The difference this time is that Spielberg is aboard as a “primary producer” and not an executive producer, meaning he will have more creative input. Bay is in early talks to direct the new Transformers movie, making it his sixth behind the camera and eighth in the franchise overall.
Spielberg was instrumental in the creative development of the first two Transformers movies in 2007 and 2009. Arguably, those are the best of the bunch, although I would say they’re all pretty bad. Still, having Spielberg around is a positive step in the right direction.
Jason Fuchs (Argylle) will write the screenplay, set in the modern day. Chances are there will be little to no connection with 2023’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, which brought in a franchise-low $443M worldwide. It attempted to freshen things up by introducing Beast Wars characters into the mix, while also teasing a potential GI Joe crossover that we’re unlikely to ever see.
