Transformers: The Last Knight
Director: Michael Bay
Screenwriters: Matt Holloway, Ken Nolan, Art Marcum
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Anthony Hopkins, Josh Duhamel, Laura Haddock, Isabela Moner, Jerrod Carmichael, Jim Carter, John Goodman, Ken Watanabe, Omar Sy, Peter Cullen
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Rated PG| 149 Minutes
Release Date: June 21, 2017

Transformers: The Last Knight continues the franchise’s long line of large-scale visuals, epic explosions, poorly written scripts, and lack of care for its own continuity. Even after four of these films, the new Transformers installment fails to learn from any of the previous lessons, and instead, chooses to double down (or should I say quadruples down) on them. So let’s not stand on ceremony and just say what we already know: Transformers: The Last Knight is just another two and half hours’ worth of explosion porn fest with a nonsensical script that has plenty of sexual overtones and characters that play to their racial stereotypes. Oh, and let’s not forget all those explosions and shouting matches. Check out my full review below.

According to longtime Transformers director Michael Bay, there’s 14 more movies in the franchise on the way including the spinoffs, and he’s interested in making one of those spinoffs. Now, before we shake our heads in (not so surprised) disbelief, let’s just get one thing out of the way first. Transformers: The Last Knight is supposed to be Bay’s last film in the franchise. At least that’s what he’s said. Remember, he previously told the press that for Transformers: Dark of the Moon. So it doesn’t come as a shock when he also says he’d like to do one of the spinoffs.

Secondly, 14 more Transformers films was not unexpected. At least not when Bay, Akvia Goldsman, and Steven Spielberg gathered a group of writers to pitch ideas to expand the franchise into a shared universe. More on the story below.

This past summer, Paramount Studios hired 12 writers to write out the bible for the Transformers cinematic universe. The plan was for the writers to come up with ideas that would expand beyond the canon films with spinoffs and prequels. Of the proposed works there were plans for a Bumblebee spinoff, Beast Wars, and more.

Of the nine pitches that were sent to the Transformers brain trust — Michael Bay, Akiva Goldsman, Steven Spielberg, Mark Vahradian, and Lorenzo di Bonaventura, as well as Hasbro’s Brian Goldner — only five were approved. Of those five, a Transformers Cybertron animated origins film will be helmed by Ant-Man co-writers Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari, while Goldsman is confirmed to be scripting Transformers 5. Bay has yet to announce if he will return to direct the fifth untitled Transformers film. It’s still not clear if the other three unnamed projects are spinoffs or prequels, but Hasbro announced that there will be four more Transformers films in the next decade. More on the story below.

The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman, Iron Man scribes Art Marcum and Matt Holloway, Pacific Rim 2 writer Zak Penn, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Lost“˜s Jeff Pinkner, Ant-Man co-writers Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari, Lindsey Beer (The Fugitive remake), Christina Hodson (the re-imagining of Wizard of Oz), former Daredevil showrunner Steven DeKnight, Ken Nolan (Black Hawk Down), and Geneva Robertson-Dworet (Black List script Hibernation) are all members of the Transformers shared universe writing team. Led by Akiva Goldsman, the plan is to take the franchise beyond the films we have seen so far. Rumors of this expansion include spinoffs centering on Bumblebee, a Cybertron origins film, and possibly Beast Wars. But there is one certainty: Paramount wants to have a Transformers 5, and they want Michael Bay to direct it.

The plan was to have a script ready in time for Bay when he completes his work on the Bengazhi film 13 Hours. While nothing is official yet, it appears that the Armageddon director is interested in coming back to direct his fifth Transformers film. But there is more. A new report is coming out that give us a look at what the writing teams have come up with in four short months. More on the story below.

The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman, Iron Man scribes Art Marcum and Matt Holloway, Pacific Rim 2 writer Zak Penn, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Lost“˜s Jeff Pinkner, and Ant-Man co-writers Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari, Lindsey Beer (The Fugitive remake) and Christina Hodson (the re-imagining of Wizard of Oz) currently make up the writing team of the Transformers Shared Universe, and now that team is about to add three more.

Joining the team will be former Daredevil showrunner Steven DeKnight, Ken Nolan (Black Hawk Down) and Geneva Robertson-Dworet (Black List script Hibernation). The team will be led by Akiva Goldsman, who talked a little bit about the upcoming universe and what to expect from him and the team. Read what he had to say below.