They say death and taxes are the only two things certain in life, but it seems you can toss “Transformers” movies into the mix. Quality of the movies aside, the series has been a financial juggernaut, bringing in over $2.6 billion worldwide at the box office and that’s not even counting the various marketing tie-ins and god knows what else that have boosted the bottom line. And it’s not a big shock that Paramount wants to keep the good times rolling transforming. They already bagged Michael Bay to return — again — to make explosions and it seems they’re already planning for a future beyond.
With Transformers: The Ride now open at Disney’s California Adventure, Hero Complex has used the opportunity to get a minor update on where the franchise is going. Bay has confirmed with them that “Transformers 4” will be his last time with the robots, but adds that unlike Christopher Nolan‘s “The Dark Knight Rises,” his movie will be set up “for the next guy.” So if you’ve got a hankering to direct “Transformers 5,” might as well starting getting that sizzle reel and CV ready, and call your agent.
Basically it boils down to this: as long as people keep buying tickets for the movies and going to the rides and snapping up the toys, Hasbro and Paramount will keep the gravy train rolling. It’s business, not art, and in that sense, who can blame them? But of course, before any of this can happen, a new lead will have to be found as Shia LaBeouf has moved on. In fact, Bay says that it will have an “entirely new cast” so any hopes you had of a Josh Duhamel led franchise movie are now crushed, sorry.
“Transformers 4” hits theaters on June 29, 2014.