The Transformers franchise has had a strange run with the failure of Transformers: The Last Knight, to the success of Bumblebee. Many fans have been tired of director Michael Bay’s take on the franchise and hoped that with the success of Bumblebee, he and the studio would just move on from that iteration. Apparently, that may just be the case.
It was previously reported that Bay would return to Paramount for a sequel to Transformers: The Last Knight. Fans were understandably confused as it bombed with only a 15% Rotten Tomatoes score.
Transformers producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura has now offered a brief update. It’s been confirmed that the studio won’t be making a sequel to The Last Knight, and that Bay is done with the franchise. Bonaventura said the following:
“I think Bay has made it really clear that he loved what he did and he’s not doing anymore. So I think the answer is we’re writing a script. At that point, once we get script we have a strong belief in, then we’ll begin to debate that. Michael’s made it really clear that he didn’t want to do it. I don’t blame him. He spent a hell of a lot, a decade of his life, shooting them.”
It’s a possibility that Bumblebee director Travis Knight could return for future films in the Transformers franchise. Knight has expressed his opinion on directing more Transformers films:
“I viewed the film as a self-contained thing. Every film that I’ve ever done, I’ve viewed it as, ‘This is a statement about this. These are these characters. This is our point of view and on this story.’ Once it’s done, it’s done. So, I tend to not think about sequels or where the story goes beyond that in terms of actually producing something. However, every single thing I’ve done, these characters, they reside in your mind and imagination. You live and breathe them for so long. You always imagine their lives and their stories outside of the confines of the pictures. What happened in their life before? What happens in their life after? You actually create these stories even though they never make it into the movie. So, in my mind, I have all kinds of ideas for where Charlie goes from here; where Bumblebee goes from here; where Optimus Prime goes from here. In my mind I’ve already made those movies on some level. Like you say, if the stars align, would I tell another story in this universe? I mean, I love these characters, so it’d be a thrill to be able to tell a different kind of story in this universe. Time will tell.”
