Emmerich is, for all intents and purposes, the German Michael Bay. From INDEPENDENCE DAY to 2012, Emmerich may be better at destruction porn than Bay himself. So, if you want to ensure that this franchise keeps raking in the money without skipping a beat, bring in Emmerich who can make even the most nonsensical screenplay look goddamn amazing on the big screen.
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Movie fans have been waiting with bated breath to see what the legendary McTiernan does in his post-prison career as a director. The man behind DIE HARD and PREDATOR is one of the best when it comes to action. While a studio may not be comfortable handing him hundreds of millions of dollars, there are few directors out there who could do as damn good a job as McTiernan.
Ritchie has been hit or miss with his studio outings. Coming off the abysmal performance of KING ARTHUR: LEGEND OF THE SWORD, Ritchie needs a win. He already has the competency to do something cool with TRANSFORMERS and could bring some of his stylistic flair to the rote work of Bay. You could do a lot worse, right?
Back in the golden days of Jerry Bruckheimer films when Michael Bay was making it big, many forget that Simon West was right there too. Having helmed CON AIR, West should have been the next big thing but instead delivered some underwhelming movies like LARA CROFT: TOMB RAIDER and THE EXPENDABLES 2. If Paramount wants to keep things consistent, West would be an easy transition from Michael Bay.
Carnahan has not made a film since the cult favorite STRETCH back in 2014, but his work on THE A-TEAM, THE GREY and SMOKIN’ ACES more than speak for his prowess as an action filmmaker. There may be questions as to whether he is too difficult to work with as he has dropped out of the director’s chair on three films in a row. Still, he has the eye that would work for this type of movie and I would love to see what he could do with the material.
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Bird blew audiences away with his live action debut on MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PROTOCOL but lost some of that luster with the bomb that was TOMORROWLAND. Bird has background with giant robots (see THE IRON GIANT) and has the same eye that Spielberg would bring to the project. Plus, he is not shy from joining franchises midway through their existence.
Just this week, the directors broke ties on the in-production Han Solo STAR WARS movie. While the next TRANSFORMERS won’t be in production for a couple of years, this does afford the partners a chance to get in and build the next one with plenty of time. I am sure Paramount is not nearly as stringent with their franchise requirements as Disney or Lucasfilm, so maybe this franchise is a better fit for them?
Berg has been on a roll lately with DEEPWATER HORIZON, PATRIOTS DAY and LONE SURVIVOR. Plus, he has experience with the giant alien robot sub-genre. BATTLESHIP was a bit formulaic, but with each new film Berg distinguishes himself more and more as a director. Why not give him another shot at big budget studio franchise glory?
While Spielberg has so many projects on his plate already, the legendary filmmaker has a strong grasp of CGI and action movies that could bring some heart that is sorely lacking from Bay’s TRANSFORMERS flicks. Spielberg would probably never jump into the middle of an existing franchise, but he would absolutely have the skill set to make the next film the best to date.
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Blomkamp has repeatedly stayed away from franchise filmmaking, but he was poised to enter the ALIEN universe. With his experience with robotics and science fiction, Blomkamp could bring another level of depth to the very superficial TRANSFORMERS series and deliver not just a movie but a film.