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Transformers Gets New Life with Decade Long Production Slate

With the success of 2014's Transformers: Age of Extinction, the robots in disguise have had new life breathed into their series. Even though Transformers: Dark of the Moon made a billion dollars in 2011, Bay's oversexed, mega destructive tack with the second and third versions of the series, made Transformers seems like a typical set of sequels that lose their luster in a lather, rinse, repeat fashion. 

But when things were shaken up in the fourth episode of the series with the Transformers becoming fugitives being hunted down by the humans they protect, and a new star brought in with Mark Wahlberg, suddenly the series got more interesting.

“Well, you’re gonna see a new Transformers movie coming.We decided that we wanted to plot out the next 10 years of the Transformers franchise and so we got together in a room over a three-month period of time. Similarly, we’re doing the same in television and in digital. So stay tuned, Transformers 5 is on its way, and 6 and 7 and 8.” - Stephen J. Davis Hasbro Studios President

You'd think that Paramount would declare victory and move on, and a decade ago, that may have been the case. But then Marvel hit the scene with their Cinematic Universe concept and turned the entire storytelling world on its head. Now mature franchises like Transformers, Star Trek and even Star Wars are seeing their tentpole franchises in a whole new light, with universes, where storylines in movies, TV and even video games can impact each other in a fashion that could only be seen in comic books. 

Now everyone wants a cinematic universe, and Transformers is not different. With Optimus Prime going after this creators in deep space, things are literally looking up to the point that Paramount wants to take the series in a new direction and as such, producers Steven Spielberg and Lorenzo DiBonaventura have created a master story panel, much like Disney has done with Star Wars, and have added a bevy of A-list writers headed by Akiva Goldsman. 

They've spent nearly three months laying out a very ambitious slate of films, including animated features, that will take Transformers into theaters for the next ten years. I don't think Bay will be directing all of those, in fact, rumors have it that Bay won't be directing the next chapter. Bay has been at the helm of the franchise since the beginning in 2007, and maybe it's time to give it a fresh voice.

That's the nice thing about the MCU, is that it's had numerous voices, from Jon Favreau to Josh Whedon to the Russo Brothers to James Gunn. And all have been pushing the MCU towards it's epic conclusion with Avengers: Infinity Wars Parts 1 and 2. And there will be movies even beyond that.

The cinematic universe is the best thing to hit filmmaking since the digital revolution. It creates depth and layers to stories, where fans are starving to learn more about their favorite worlds.

I'm stoked about the Star Wars standalone series, where we'll see origin stories for our favorite characters like Han Solo, Boba Fett and Yoda. And I'd like see what happens beyond the story line of Harry Potter and that's what Fantastic Beasts will give us. Hopefully, it'll also be a hit and we'll get a Potter Cinematic Universe as well. So why not do the same for Transformers? 

Hat Tip – Collider