He swore he’d never go there again, but Michael Bay is indeed back for Transformers 4, and the film is currently slated for a June 2014 release.
Before the robots start smashing and bashing each other again, Bay’s smaller film, Pain and Gain, starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Mark Wahlberg, hits theaters on April 26, 2013.
Pain and Gain has been described as a dark comedy along the lines of Pulp Fiction or Fargo, about two muscle-heads who get caught up in a kidnapping plot. Whether the critics and the public will accept Bay’s attempt at a smaller film where he’s not blowing sh*t up every ten seconds remains to be seen. However, if you want to see Bay in action as he helms Transformers 4, there’s a way that can be arranged…
As the Hollywood Reporter tells us, Bay is setting up a contest with Doritos called Crash the Superbowl. The gist of the contest is if you can create a great, homemade Doritos commercial, two of the finalists will air during the Bowl in January. This will definitely be a hell of a big break if you’re an aspiring filmmaker, although Bay promised he’s a “tough judge,” so you better be at the top of your game.
Then it will be up to USA Today’s Ad Meter, where the public gets to vote, which of the two finalists is the best commercial, and the winner of the top spot will work with Bay on Transformers 4. This may not be such a prize, because Bay is known to be a loud taskmaster on the set. The director himself admits the shoot won’t be a day at the beach, but it should really pay off for the next Spielberg in training.
Bay told the Reporter he did a similar mentoring / hazing job with a kid at a local Starbucks, and now that kid is a director, although Bay didn’t name names. The kid tried to duck out early, but Bay told him, “You are not quitting. This is the best education you are going to get.”
Bay also admitted, “When I was a film student, I would have killed for this kind of opportunity,” and indeed, the best way to learn filmmaking is to work on a movie in whatever capacity you can. Working with Bay will definitely be a trial by fire, but like when Sam Raimi shot Evil Dead, the hardest feature shoot of his life was the first one, and everything after that was much easier in comparison.
