The Worst Transformers Movie Was Shot Without A Script?
Transformers 2 was done without a script, as the Writers Guild of America was on strike during its filming.
After the success of Michael Bay’s Transformers, a sequel was inevitable. Unfortunately, the second movie was also made during the Writers Guild of America strike, leaving it without a script going into the filming process. Shia LaBeouf gave some insight into the experience saying “We were given a date, we were given a bunch of money, we were given a bunch of toys, and we had no script.” (via SlashFilm)
While many people found the first movie enjoyable and entertaining enough, Transformers Revenge of the Fallen took a noticeable nosedive in quality. It does make more sense that the film was such a critical failure when you know they had no script to help guide them. Of course, this didn’t stop the money from coming in, leading the franchise to get plenty more sequels coming down the pipeline.
The Transformers franchise never really recovered critically, with all the following movies getting bad reviews from critics and audiences alike. Finally, the franchise got back on track with the soft reboot Bumblebee which starred Hailee Steinfeld. Both fans and critics enjoyed Bumblebee and it did well at the box office, so faith in the franchise has been semi-revived.
So much so that we’re getting another entry to the franchise in 2023 with Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. This movie will adapt the fan-favorite Beast Wars storyline from the cartoons and toy line and will see Creed II director Steven Caple Jr. taking the reins. The live-action cast will include Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback with Peter Cullen, Ron Perlman, Peter Dinklage, Pete Davidson, and Michelle Yeoh lending their voice talents to the machines.
In February of this year, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts was announced to be the first of a new series of three films in the franchise. Clearly, the franchise is as strong as ever and they have plans to make more films well into the future. It’ll be interesting to see if they can right the ship and recapture the magic of that first film.
While the first Michael Bay Transformers wasn’t a cinematic masterpiece by any means, it was entertaining and wasn’t nearly as convoluted as future entries to the franchise. It seems like they’ll be resetting things with the storyline after Bumblebee, so this new trilogy won’t necessarily have the baggage of previous movies tied to it. The movies almost always make money, so it’s no surprise that the studios are wanting to keep trying to bring the toy franchise turned film franchise to theaters.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is set to hit theaters this coming summer and actually has a script, which should help the movie have a little more structure than Revenge of the Fallen. Joby Harold, Darnell Metayer, Josh Peters, Erich Hoeber, and Jon Hoeber all worked on the screenplay with a story by Joby Harold. Along with the Autobots, the film will also have Maximals, Predacons, and Terrorcons among the featured machines.
We’ll have to wait and see if Transformers: Rise of the Beasts can be a return to form for the franchise. After so many misses, fans might be a little wary about the new film. You can see the film on June 9, 2023.
