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Message
re: Michael Bay can't get greenlit anymore
Posted on 3/15/25 at 4:32 pm to wildtigercat93
Posted on 3/15/25 at 4:32 pm to wildtigercat93
quote:
it’s hard to have much sympathy from a director that had a blank check for 30 years and played a heavy hand in the overall tentpole/IP atmosphere where it’s 300 million dollar budgets or bust
From 1995-2007, Michael Bay made one film (Bad Boys II) that was a sequel and one film (Transformers) that was based on an existing IP. Bad Boys, The Rock, Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, and The Island were all original films. Hell, even though it was based on a cartoon from the 80s, it wasn't like there was a tremendous cry going up for a Transformers film from fans of the animated series. And he had been trying to leave that franchise for years before he finally did. The studio kept throwing more money at him and upping his budget to keep him directing those films.
Love him or hate him, his best and most famous films were either original concepts or the first film in what eventually became a franchise. And it's not like he's the only big named director with this problem. James Cameron has been trying to get his Hiroshima movie made for years. It took Steven Spielberg over a decade to produce and direct his Lincoln biopic with Daniel Day-Lewis. It took even more time for him and Tom Hanks to green light and film Masters of the Air. Now he's struggling to get his Napoleon miniseries made.
Studios just don't want to take risks.
This post was edited on 3/15/25 at 4:35 pm
2
Posted on 3/15/25 at 4:40 pm to RollTide1987
quote:
And he had been trying to leave that franchise for years before he finally did. The studio kept throwing more money at him and upping his budget to keep him directing those films.
That's still his fault though. He kept going back for the money and he got pigeonholed as the shitty Transformers guy.
Posted on 3/15/25 at 5:12 pm to saintsfan22
quote:
He kept going back for the money and he got pigeonholed as the shitty Transformers guy.
I don't think he's crying about it. Those movies made money. However, studios aren't going to risk the budgets his films once commanded unless he's willing to direct another franchise film. And that's not just him. Other A-list directors are also struggling to see their original projects get greenlit. Out of all the directors working in Hollywood right now, it seems the only one who is immune to this is Christopher Nolan:
Inception (2010): Original IP - budget of $160 million
Interstellar (2014): Original IP - budget of $165 million
Dunkirk (2017): Original IP - budget of $100 million
Tenet (2020): Original IP - budget of $205 million
Oppenheimer (2023): Adaptation of published material - budget of $100 million
The Odyssey (2026): Adaptation of published material - budget of $250 million
Posted on 3/15/25 at 6:48 pm to RollTide1987
quote:
However, studios aren't going to risk the budgets his films once commanded unless he's willing to direct another franchise film.
Most of his non Transformers movies since Pearl Harbor were either money losers or barely broke even at the box office once you take advertising budgets and theatrical splits into account. Bad Boys II and Pain & Gain are probably the only two he made in the last 20 years that turned a profit after DVD sales and TV licensing pushing them over the top.
Posted on 3/15/25 at 7:01 pm to Dr RC
quote:
Most of his non Transformers movies since Pearl Harbor were either money losers or barely broke even at the box office once you take advertising budgets and theatrical splits into account. Bad Boys II and Pain & Gain are probably the only two he made in the last 20 years that turned a profit after DVD sales and TV licensing pushing them over the top.
So subtracting the Transformers movies, Pain & Gain, and Bad Boys II, these are the films you are left with in the post-Pearl Harbor era of Michael Bay:
The Island (2005)
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2013)
6 Underground (2019) - Netflix release
Ambulance (2022)
So we're talking three theatrical releases that were box office disappointments and one Netflix film since Pearl Harbor that weren't titled Bad Boys II, Transformers, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Pain & Gain, Transformers: Age of Extinction, and Transformers: The Last Knight.
Posted on 3/16/25 at 1:54 pm to RollTide1987
Yes. 3 movies that were straight up bombs and 2 that needed money after the theatrical take to break even or eke out some small profit. So 5 straight financial failures according to bean counters and it's more than likely 6 since the Netflix movie was released in '19 and they haven’t worked w/him since. His last Transformers movie was also enough of a financial disappointment Paramount decided to do a soft reboot of the series w/Bumblebee. Yes the movie business has changed but that's not the reason he's having trouble getting films green lit.
This post was edited on 3/16/25 at 2:17 pm
Posted on 3/17/25 at 6:57 am to skullhawk
quote:
Did superhero movies replace this genre? I feel like they are very different types of films, and the public would react positively to a well-made popcorn action flick.
Look at budgets... Pay out the arse from a star to play an unknown character, or go cheap with an unknown to play a character with its own built-in fan base. As long as you do the lore justice, it will make a huge profit. Superhero movies of late have gone away from this formula. They have started casting known stars, while neglecting lore, thus alienating their fans.
Posted on 3/17/25 at 8:22 am to RollTide1987
Michael Bay has some stuff going against him as well. He got me-too'ed a bit and is openly conservative in Hollywood.
That, combined with new movie studio directions, have led him down this path.
That, combined with new movie studio directions, have led him down this path.
Posted on 3/17/25 at 8:48 am to RollTide1987
He needs to change focus to streaming series, it seems like anyone with even the most half-assed idea can sell it to Amazon, Netflix, etc.
Posted on 3/17/25 at 9:01 am to StansberryRules
quote:
it's not a comic book movie no studio is exactly eager to drop $200+ million on a CGI packed action flick.
Was watching behind the scenes of the train wreck in The Fugitive and Harrison Ford said that you want to use real elements when possible because it’s faster and cheaper. They said locomotives were plentiful and cheaper than miniatures, and they bought 2 locomotives for $19k and $20k each
. Is CGI that much cheaper now that studios don’t even look at practical effects, which at the time was the cheaper over SFx? Does Christopher Nolan sacrifice millions to use real elements over 100% CGI, ala truck flip in TDK (I realize he uses some CGI to remove fixtures, cables etc)?
Posted on 3/17/25 at 9:49 am to RollTide1987
quote:
Studios just don't want to take risks.
Which is why we have 67 Marvel films. 60 freaking 7.
Posted on 3/17/25 at 10:33 am to saintsfan22
quote:
Making a decade of shitty Transformers movies probably didn't help
I really enjoyed the first one. The rest were meh.
Didn't Bay get a bad rep for being too over-the-top with the explosions and action?
Not surprising that Hollywood is too woke to greenlight projects. They seem hellbent on making shitty remakes of good movies.
Posted on 3/17/25 at 10:35 am to RollTide1987
If people want Bay to get greenlit, they should make sure they go to a theater to see his parkour documentary this year.
Posted on 3/17/25 at 11:53 am to Dr RC
6 Underground was a big hit
LINK
Check out the top 10 below.
1. Extraction – 99 Million
2. Bird Box – 89 Million
3. Spenser Confidential – 85 Million
4. 6 Underground – 83 Million
5. Murder Mystery – 83 Million
6. The Irishman – 64 Million
7. Triple Frontier – 63 Million
8. The Wrong Missy – 59 Million
9. The Platform – 56 Million
10. The Perfect Date – 55 Million
list is from 2020 but still 83 million people watched it in the first four weeks
LINK
Check out the top 10 below.
1. Extraction – 99 Million
2. Bird Box – 89 Million
3. Spenser Confidential – 85 Million
4. 6 Underground – 83 Million
5. Murder Mystery – 83 Million
6. The Irishman – 64 Million
7. Triple Frontier – 63 Million
8. The Wrong Missy – 59 Million
9. The Platform – 56 Million
10. The Perfect Date – 55 Million
list is from 2020 but still 83 million people watched it in the first four weeks
Posted on 3/17/25 at 12:05 pm to RollTide1987
quote:
Armageddon
I don't care what anyone says, I will watch this anytime it is on tv at any point in the movie.
Posted on 3/17/25 at 2:24 pm to RollTide1987
Hollywood has been trying to feed us a bunch of crap we never wanted to begin with….. Transformers 1 might be in my top 10 all time. It’s a great movie but should have ended there….. Jurassic park 3 should have never ever happened. the list goes on. Hollywood has been dying a slow death and the audiences are gone forever. RIP.
Posted on 3/17/25 at 2:34 pm to RollTide1987
Well, gone are the days when studios will greenlit a movie based on star power.
In the past, if you got a big name to sign on, that was huge - Bad Boys, The Rock, and Armageddon all had stars attached to them. Transformers was the only one that didn't, but instead was a very recognizable IP - and one of the few that's been in constant circulation since the 80s, meaning it had both a nostalgia audience as well as a younger one built in.
If he were to make a movie based around an existing IP, it might get the go ahead.
In the past, if you got a big name to sign on, that was huge - Bad Boys, The Rock, and Armageddon all had stars attached to them. Transformers was the only one that didn't, but instead was a very recognizable IP - and one of the few that's been in constant circulation since the 80s, meaning it had both a nostalgia audience as well as a younger one built in.
If he were to make a movie based around an existing IP, it might get the go ahead.
Posted on 3/17/25 at 2:40 pm to skullhawk
quote:
Did superhero movies replace this genre?
Superhero movies lasted longer, but there's always been a trend in Hollywood (intentional or not) of similar movies hitting all at the same time.
In the 90s disaster movies were all the rage. Deep Impact, Armageddon, Dante's Peak, Volcano, Twister, even Outbreak.
Other times there was the "parody stretch" that got kick started by Scary Movie but eventually there was one for every genre, ranging from the really good "Not Another Teen Movie" to the cringe-worthy "Date Movie".
Superhero movies just lasted longer thanks to Marvel having their long-term plan... but after Endgame they had no real plan. They definitely waited too long, and also counted too much on Spider-Man (which would be a constant negotiation with Sony), Black Panther (the death of the lead ruined this approach), and Captain Marvel (who became unlikeable at an historic level).
Posted on 3/17/25 at 9:26 pm to skrayper
quote:
In the past, if you got a big name to sign on, that was huge - Bad Boys, The Rock, and Armageddon all had stars attached to them.
Are there really that many stars now?
Posted on 3/17/25 at 9:54 pm to saintsfan22
quote:
Making a decade of shitty Transformers movies probably didn't help
quote:
The Transformers film series has grossed a total of approximately $5.29 billion worldwide across seven films, with "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" being the highest-grossing at $1.123 billion
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