Paramount have grabbed a pitch for Michael Bay and his partners at Platinum Dunes – with Bay possibly set to occupy the director’s chair, while wearing his producer’s cap once again.
The project is being written by Tom Wheeler (Puss In Boots, The Cape, Empire) and his colleague, Robbie Thompson (Supernatural), and is, as yet, untitled. Though the pitch in its entirety is tightly under wraps, The Hollywood Reporter states its premise as being a “science fiction adventure thriller with an undersea component.” Admit it – you’re thinking of The Abyss right now, aren’t you? Well, he does like his big budget behemoths, and if anyone were to tackle that kind of story again (other than James Cameron), it would be Bay.
On the other hand, there is almost a symmetry to this new film premise – since 2013’s Pacific Rim is clearly a direct descendant of Bay’s 2007 film, Transformers, and ticks all of the boxes necessary for a project of this kind. Hopefully there will be a little more originality on display than that, though.
With this mysterious adventure still very much in the embryonic stage, Michael Bay still has time to put the finishing touches to one of this year’s biggest tent-poles – Transformers: Age Of Extinction. Returning to his most lucrative franchise for the fourth time, Bay and screenwriter Ehren Kruger have attempted to breathe new life into the proceedings with fresh characters and a different setting. Starring Mark Wahlberg, Nicola Peltz, Stanley Tucci, Titus Welliver, T.J Miller and Kelsey Grammer, the new storyline sees a mechanic and his daughter make a discovery that puts them between the Autobots, the Decepticons and a paranoid government official.
As we wait to see if his new Paramount project will have any signature Michael Bay robot action in it – undersea or otherwise – Transformers: Age Of Extinction is released in the US on June 27, and in the UK on July 10.
