A long time ago, Michael Bay was one of the busiest people in Hollywood. Averaging a movie every two years from 1995 to 2019, which was a big result for someone known for mind-blowing, explosive action films. But since 2019, Bay has starred in only one film -Ambulanceheist thriller featuring Jake Gyllenhaal, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, And Eiza Gonzalez. During Transformers: Rise of the Beasts red carpet premiere in Brooklyn last week, Collider’s Steve Weintraub asked Bay a very important question: what was he doing?
“I got a little distracted,” Bay said. “I have produced a lot of documentaries, I got into the documentary world, and we are filming some of them now, right now. The strike has ruined and completely stopped a few things I’m working on - one with a big producer, but I don’t want to get into all these different things.”
Bay has a very distinct visual style. A former music video director in which everything should grab attention, he made a natural leap into cinema, where his focus on camera angles, close-ups, slow-motion and explosions created an immersive interior experience. The prospect of bringing this style to documentaries is certainly intriguing, especially when considering the different genres, although his desire to get started is clear despite the ongoing WGA strike.
“I just sold five shows to Discovery, this is a family of serial killers, okay? This is a story you haven’t heard yet, and there are two more,” he continued. “But I can’t wait to shoot, I tell you. I’m really itching to shoot and the hit is going to happen, but for a lot of people it’s going to be hard.”
returning to transformers
Weintraub and Bay chatted as they discussed the recently released Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, produced by Bay. The franchise, based on the animated series of the same name, was launched by Bay in 2007, and he will also direct the next four sequels. Satisfied with not participating in the spin-off, bumblebee, Rise of the Beasts marks the first direct transformers a sequel not directed by Bay. However, as a producer, he was more than happy to share his experience with the project. Bay shared:
“I talked to different teams, different effects teams, lead animators, lighting and whatever, gave them advice, and they asked a lot of questions, and in the process I had different meetings. So this is a car. You know there are a lot of people there and it’s a mathematical machine. You have to keep the car moving, you understand?”
Having worked on the franchise for more than a decade, handing over the reins to someone new - in this case Stephen Capel Jr.It would be a strange situation for him. Weintraub noted that Bay visited the set Rise of the Beasts in Peru, and wondered what it was like to return to the world for which he was responsible, but without this control, as he did earlier with Bad Boys 3another franchise in which he left after initial success.
“I must tell you when I visited Bad Boys 3, it’s kind of sad. I mean, it’s like you love it when other people do it, but it’s like “Ah,” you know? But it brings back a lot of memories, because it’s like my child, one of my children, and I have two left. You know, Bad Boys was my first and, you know, I did first and second and then this one, I did five films, but it’s good to pass the baton. And I helped both directors who were making other films, and I just helped with advice on editing one or the other. When you’re doing these films, you need a lot of people.”
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts now plays in theaters and IMAX. Watch our interview with director Steven Caple Jr below.
Source: Collider
I have worked as a journalist for over 7 years and have written for many different publications. I currently work as an author at Daily News Hack, where I mostly cover entertainment news. I have a great deal of experience in the industry and am always looking to learn more. I am a highly motivated individual who is always looking to improve my skills. I am also a very friendly and personable person, which makes me easy to work with.
