Michael Bay’s directing future may not include Transformers 5

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Like it or not, TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION is currently the top grossing movie of the 2014 summer season and the third highest of the year. While those numbers may change with a couple big films left this year, it almost definitely guarantees that we will be seeing a fifth film in the franchise. While it never seemed a lock that Michael Bay would be back to helm another chapter in the mega-budget series, it looks like we may now have an almost definitive answer to that question.

Bay told USA Today that his hope would be to pass the reins of the TRANSFORMERS series to another filmmaker.

“There’s kind of a new chapter, a new direction in movies I want to make,” says Bay, who is eyeing a passion project, a documentary on elephant poaching. “I have a lot of stories to tell. And it’s about flexing new muscles.”

While Bay has accumulated enough wealth to never have to worry about directing another movie, he has entered the phase of his life where he can now pursue passion projects. A documentary about elephant poaching may not seem very Bay-esque, but you have to admire he isn’t going to make movies just for the paycheck as some of his recent movies have seemed. PAIN AND GAIN may not have been a huge stretch for the director, but at least he tried something different than his usual explosion-centric style.

It remains to be seen who can take over and refresh the TRANSFORMERS series after the recent not quite a reboot that was AGE OF EXTINCTION but I doubt the studio and producers will venture too far away from the tried and true formula that has worked for almost half a dozen films to date. Jonathan Liebesman, anyone?