We are only a week away from the release of Transformers: Age Of Extinction and already, the big guys at Hasbro and Paramount are discussing the possible future of the Transformers Live Action Movie Franchise.
First to speak was Vice Chairman of Paramount Pictures Rob Moore, correcting a statement by Paramount Pictures Senior Vice President Edward Ryan and mentioning that Transformers 5 will release on 2017 (as originally planned) instead of 2016.
Next to speak was Transformers: Age of Extinction producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura, who said that Transformers 4 may not be a start of a new Trilogy.
“”We’re not planning on doing a trilogy,” he told Roth. “We’re not not planning on doing a trilogy. It’s really a one-movie-at-a-time philosophy. It feels a little arrogant. Both [director Michael Bay] and I feel like it’s a little arrogant of us to presume success each time. We know our fans are really out there and they’re going to come, so we presume a certain amount of success. But all the energy will be thrown into the next movie, if we’re lucky enough to get there.”
Of course, a lot of studios have been angling their respective franchises for spinoffs — Disney’s Star Wars, for example, or Sony’s Spider-Man, Fox’s X-Men, etcetera. However, while di Bonaventura and crew have talked about going that route with Transformers, that may not necessarily be the case for future installments, at least for now.
“I think one of the things that people underestimate about the Transformers mythology is how rich it is,” he continued. “If you actually look at the bible, if you would, there is an enormous number of characters; there’s a helluva lot of storylines, etcetera. Honestly, there’s been no discussion of it because we’ve been in the business of making it bigger and bigger. I think a lot of those spinoffs tend to happen when something’s plateaued. We’re not at that place yet, hopefully. We’re going to find out with the audience.””
Edwardmus Prime
With the Galvatron story line started up in the fourth movie and the money that it will most likely make there is no way there will be a fifth film. That and the fifth film seems to have been confirmed.
toaprime
I'm surprised that they still say this. We all know AOE will be a hit and make tons of money. TF 5 looks to already be in the process of being planned. I look forward to this new series.
Ceasar121
After seeing it… I think he was bluffing. Or trolling. This is the first movie that really truly suggests a sequel is coming. Tons of foreshadowing.
Autobot Burnout
Didn't Paramount already announce TF5 was greenlighted?
shadowfall1976
The first three films were connected in a larger story, every main character was the same character and connected to the previous film.
Megatron was killed tryng to get the all-spark (which shards of it were being still found in ROTF), then resurrected where he flew off to meet up with the fallen, at the end of ROTF, he fled with Starscream….hence in DOTM where he was where ever the hell he was and hiding as a semi….then Sentinel was brought back on line to finish the deal he struck with Megatron bringing him back out of hiding.
They did have a story arch….sure it feels spotty enough to make it seem like 3 separate movies due to shitty writing….but they all tied into each other. Maybe too, the lack of cohesion with random unnamed Decepticons appearing and disappearing, then the Robo trash twins being a huge part of ROTF to not even being around at all in DOTM….has a big part in making them feel like 3 separate movies.
FoC Grimlock
hahah
While there may not be a trilogy in the works, even speculating that there won't be a TF5 is ridiculously ******ed
Robogeek28
They're nuts if they don't think this movie will make a ton of money.
That being said, why isn't this coming out next week for the 4th of July weekend like every other movie has? Ticket sales WILL be lower than every other opening weekend because of that.
JimTheJIRRMan
Not going to spoil any specific plot points or anything, but this statement might be considered a SPOILER! So be warned.
After seeing the movie, what the producer says seems completely false. Not going into specifics, but this movie leaves so much open for a sequel that it almost feels like it was MEANT to be the start of a trilogy (unlike the first that was made mainly as a standalone film with a bit open for a sequel just in case). This movie feels like it doesn't work as a standalone film and that a conclusion is to be found in a sequel.
Metroplex79
Bought up, yes….like side-notes. But barely seen and relevant (in the grand scheme) to the movies. Thus far, it's been a journey of growth of a guy…and the people in his life.
…yes, it got better with the 3rd one.
Hoping this one has more to it than 20 min of eye candy in a 100 min movie.
SPLIT LIP
What are you talking about? There's a shitload of lore that was brought up for the movies. (Allspark, 13, Spacebridges, Sentinel Prime, etc)
Just because there's a huge well of mythos doesn't mean they have to adapt it all. It's actually more true to TF history to go original with concepts instead of lift them wholesale.
Metroplex79
-If this mythology is so rich, why have the movies been so poor about it?
-Yes, there's been "an enormous number of characters", when are they going to show up?
-"in the business of making it bigger and bigger"….I definitely see the human cast getting bigger and bigger.
Haloid1177
Yep. I'm not even getting excited about a changing of hands this time around.
03Mach1
And Michael Bay wasn't coming back for a 4th movie, either. In a year and a half we'll be talking about TF5 directed by Bay. I'm not losing and sleep over it.
Chris James
I'm hoping for 2016. I don't want to have to wait 3 years between movies again.
SPLIT LIP
As it should be.
Nothing in that article discredits the idea of an overarchign story. Simply that nothing is set in stone.
thunder117
Too bad Paramount already announced TF5
Sky-Byte
Wow, I think is is terrible news. Especially in light of the fact they you know there's gonna be a 5 and 6. One of the things that was giving me hope for 4 was that they were going to have an interesting overlying story arch, instead of the 3 separate blockbusters that the first 3 films were. This is quite deflating.
Omegashark18
Why do these types of franchise's always have to be the cautious ones? While the animated ones from the likes of Pixar and Dreamworks, plan sequels almost immediately. Unfair if you ask me.
Omegashark18
This movie is obviously going to be a success. I hope there is TF5 and 6.
Griffin73
They are smart to hedge their bets. They'd be smart to go in a different direction before it gets stale.