Michael Bay wants to make an R-rated ‘Transformers’ movie.
The 52-year-old filmmaker is unsure whether Hasbro, who own the rights to the brand, would be keen to stray into adult territory with the franchise, but the director thinks it would be a good move, especially following the success of raunchy superhero saga ‘Deadpool’.
He said: "I would like to do that. It would be fun. [Would Hasbro allow it?] I don’t know. I don’t know. They should. I mean, you have things like ‘Deadpool’… "
A team of 12 writers were recruited to work on ideas for the latest installment of the ‘Transformers’ franchise, ‘The Last Night’, because Michael was worried the franchise would "die" after Shia LaBeouf quit the series.
He explained: "It was me going to [former Paramount CEO] Brad Grey saying, ‘I need to have a meeting with you.’ I went to Brad and said, ‘This franchise is gonna die.’"
Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura added: "We were worried it was getting stale. We were feeling the need for more robust storytelling and weren’t feeling we were getting it from the one-off process.
"It wasn’t a bunch of sci-fi guys or even ‘Transformers’ fans. There were women who’d never written anything in the genre. Writers early in their careers. Senior writers who’ve been through a lot."
And the eventual screenwriters of the film – Ken Nolan, Art Marcum and Matt Holloway – enjoyed working with Bay as it seemed their every wish came true.
Explaining an English castle-dwelling character who held ‘Transformers’ secrets, Sir Edmund Burton, Nolan said: "We said, ‘He’s an Anthony Hopkins-type character. And two days later, Michael is like, ‘So, we’ve got Anthony Hopkins.’"
Whilst of psychotic robot butler Cogman, ‘Downton Abbey’ fan Holloway added: "It would be so funny if Jim Carter voiced this character. [A little later, Bay said] ‘Jim Carter – we got him."
Michael Bay wants R-rated Transformers movies
