So yesterday, people were giving credit to Michael Bay (director of Transformers) for “standing up to Paramount” after their decision to back HD DVD instead of both Blu-Ray and HD DVD. He was quoted as saying “I want people to see my movies in the best formats possible. For them to deny people who have Blu-Ray sucks! They were progressive by having two formats. No Transformers 2 for me.”
In the blink of an eye, he’s done a 180 and retracted the statement above. His latest blog entry says:
Last night at dinner I was having dinner with three Blu-Ray owners, they were pissed about no Transformers Blu-Ray and I drank the kool aid hook line and sinker. So at 1:30 in the morning I posted – nothing good ever comes out of early am posts mind you – I over reacted. I heard where Paramount is coming from and the future of HD and players that will be close to the $200 mark which is the magic number. I like what I heard.
As a director, I’m all about people seeing films in the best quality possible, and I saw and heard firsthand people upset about a corporate decision.
So today I saw 300 on HD-DVD, it rocks!
So I think I might be back on to do Transformers 2!
Michael Bay
Something must have happened between now and then, and I really don’t think it was simply the fact that he saw 300 on HD DVD and it rocked. Considering how much money he got paid to direct Transformers, I don’t think he’d really want to miss out on Transformers 2. Either that or someone that’s above him put him in line.
Unfortunately for Bay, he just made a complete fool out of himself. This is one of those instances where it would have been wise if he had thought this through before he went and took a stand and said there would be no Transformers 2. And all this happened in less than 24 hours. Yikes!
I guess Mr. Bay forgot that money talks very loudly!
It sure does. But i have to say paramount’s decision surprises me
Is there going to be a Transformers 2? I know diehard Transformers fans that hated the movie, so I just figured it was a flop (but I could be wrong).
Money rules the world.
I was very upset when I read this news in the morning. So much for Michael Bay sticking up for the consumer and going against Paramount. I wonder how much of that $150 million Paramount/Dreamworks gave him. Michael Bay went down a few notches in my book.
Yes, I heard that Hollywood had a terrible shortage of directors who could produce a sequel to a mindless summer blockbuster about fighting robots and that Michael Bay’s refusal to do Transformers 2 would have doomed the project forever.
As the bald guy in Top Gun would say, “Son, your ego’s writing checks your body can’t cash.”
Yeah I was surprised also at Paramount’s decision.
I think it was a success considering it has made more than 4x what it cost to make the video.
I agree with you Max…I thought he was pretty cool for standing up against the big wigs, but now it goes to show that he’s got a pricetag.
I’m actually surprised that there are diehard fans that hated the movie. I hadn’t heard anything but praises! Go figure…
In related news, Engadget made a ‘wuss’ tag just for Michael Bay!
[engadget.com]