Although the last two Transformers movies were rather financially successful, Steven Spielberg was still wise to advise that Michael Bay stop after three. While promoting his upcoming film, Ambulance, director Michael Bay has had time to reflect on the state of the Transformers franchise and his role within it. Spielberg’s advice proved to be sound based on the franchise's quality issues, and it would seem that Bay has his regrets about not listening.
Bay has long been known for his explosive, high-octane action sequences, a style dubbed “Bayhem” by his fans, which is on full display across the live-action Transformers films. Based on the 1984 animated series, the Transformers franchise has defined the director’s career, making him one of the most sought-after filmmakers in the industry. From 2007 to 2017, Bay directed 5 Transformers movies, grossing a collective $4.8 billion at the worldwide box office and making it one of the most successful movie franchises in history. Despite being an anchor for the series, Bay didn't direct the prequel Bumblebee, nor is he set to direct Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, arriving in 2023.
In a recent interview, Michael Bay revealed that legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg suggested that the director “just stop at three” Transformers movies, which Bay initially agreed to before signing on for Transformers: Age of Extinction in 2014. Transformers: Dark of the Moon was the 28th highest-grossing movie of all time, beating Transformers: Age of Extinction by just under $20 million, but the series suffered a significant drop in quality between the two films, a fact with which even Bay reluctantly agrees. “I made too many of them,” Bay said in the interview. “The studio begged me to do a fourth, and then that made a billion too. And then I said I’m gonna stop here. And they begged me again. I should have stopped.” Had Bay stopped after Dark of the Moon, he certainly would’ve missed out on a not-insignificant sum of money, but the franchise would have been better off for it in the long run.
After the end of Shia LaBeouf’s Transformers trilogy, the series effectively became a parody, emphasizing exciting visuals rather than compelling stories and resurrecting characters to rehash the same battles time and time again. Bay’s iconic style became a crutch for the franchise as his final two films failed to offer much to the series beyond bigger and more frequent explosions, which, despite making nearly $2 billion between them, left fans and critics wanting. Although it was less financially successful, the 2018 spinoff Bumblebee was a refreshing change in pace for the franchise, making use of the successes of its predecessors while still managing to find a voice all its own. There was (and perhaps even is) still a market for more Transformers movies, but the uninspired IP maintenance of Bay’s last two films failed to best use that interest, and future installments will suffer as a result.
Although he agreed that the Transformers movies declined in quality over the years, Bay maintained that he never lost his love for the franchise. He insisted that he has never made a film that he was not passionate about and that, despite his reservations, the final two Transformers movies still “were fun to do.” With a production budget of roughly $200 million per film, Michael Bay was able to push the boundaries of animation and production design, ultimately shaping a generation of blockbusters. Nevertheless, when Steven Spielberg offers filmmaking advice, it seems the wiser option to listen.
