Ten years ago, Paramount and Michael Bay unleashed their live-action version of Transformers upon the moviegoing masses and in doing so, spawned one of the most lucrative – and, frankly, critically derided – franchises in all of Hollywood.
And so, after the Fallen staged their revenge – after Bay courted viewers to the Dark of the Moon, and after the relatively short-lived Age of Extinction – we’re now teetering on the verge of Transformers: The Last Knight, the fifth entry into Paramount’s effects-laden juggernaut that looks set to signal the end of Michael Bay’s involvement in the series. You know, providing the director doesn’t pull yet another U-turn over the coming weeks and months.
Regardless, if previous Transformers movies dabbled with alternate timelines – think of how the first movie incorporated the Hoover Dam into its plot, or the fact that Revenge of the Fallen laid waste to the Pyramids of Egypt – The Last Knight is poised to journey all the way back to Arthurian legend, where Liam Garrigan will be the one brandishing the famous Excalibur. There’s a reason for that time-jump, too: Transformers: The Last Knight is set to shed light on how Earth’s history and those robots in disguise are inextricably linked, and up above you’ll get to see Anthony Hopkins’ wise old professor offering up a much-needed history lesson.
“For a thousand years, we’ve kept it hidden – the secret history of Transformers.” Originally penciled in for launch on June 23rd, it’s understood Paramount has reshuffled its deck ever so slightly, meaning that Transformers: The Last Knight will be with us on June 21st. That gives Michael Bay’s blockbuster more than enough time to make a significant dent at the international box office, but can it trump the $1.10 billion haul of Age of Extinction? Time will tell.
