Paramount Pictures and Hasbro are bringing back some familiar faces for the next live-action Transformers movie, with the studio tapping Steven Spielberg to oversee all creative aspects of the next film alongside longtime producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura, and Michael Bay is also in early talks to return as director.
As reported by Deadline, Spielberg will also serve as the sequel’s executive producer, but will mainly lead the creative direction of the film, a role he previously took on for the first two live-action Transformers films in 2007 and 2009. Other producers on the project include Mark Vahradian, Don Murphy, Tom DeSanto and Hasbro.
The sequel will be developed based on a script by Jason Fuchs (It: Welcome to Derry), and while plot details are still under wraps, the film will be set in the modern day and will likely see a brand new cast of characters, meaning fans shouldn’t expect to see the return of past Bayformers protagonists like Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) or Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg).
The Transformers live-action franchise began with the eponymous first film in 2007, which reimagined the classic cartoon in a modern-day setting. The franchise eventually grew to become one of Paramount’s biggest properties, with Bay helming four sequels before taking a break from the franchise after 2017’s Transformers: The Last Knight. Two sequels followed after – Travis Knight’s Bumblebee in 2018 and Steven Caple Jr’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts in 2023 – and while these two films performed well, they still couldn’t reach the heights of the Bayformers era.
With this in mind, all eyes are on whether Bay will return to direct the eighth instalment of the Transformers franchise. The 61-year-old director had previously expressed his interest in returning to the franchise over the years, and Deadline’s sources claim that he was on board after reading the latest script and meeting with Spielberg earlier in the week, so fingers crossed for a proper Bayformers return.
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
Yonk
