Michael Bay has often expressed a desire to leave the Transformers franchise he practically built, and even stepped away briefly to direct Pain & Gain. It seems that every sequel he at least teases the idea of moving on, and yet always ends up returning. The same has been happening, albeit a little less publicly, with Transformers 5, but now in a profile with Rolling Stone he confirms that he will indeed be back.
"I’m doing Transformers … 5, is it?, J.J. [Abrams] told me, ‘You’re the only guy that could do this.’ But it’s time to move on. One more."
Is there any reason to believe this will be the last for him? Why would he leave now right in the middle of the franchise's second trilogy? Apparently he took a video call from the visual effects wizards at ILM who presented "an underwater rendering of a crash-landed alien spaceship, then a new dump-truck Transformer with a cloak”.
It's going to be a busy year for Bay and it goes well beyond just the Transformers. Next week his controversial film 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi opens and is likely to make some waves (for being wildly inaccurate), but he's also a producer on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, a sequel to the hit film featuring everyone's favorite heroes on a half-shell. While we know that Bebop and Rocksteady will be challenging the Turtles, Bay confirmed the alien villain Krang will be turning up, as well, saying that he "could have some tentacles". Hopefully he'll be bringing his hilarious bodysuit.
Transformers 5 is expected to hit in the summer of 2017. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows opens June 3rd 2016.
