Reports circulating around the internet today which suggested that there was an incursion by interlopers onto the hot set that is Transformers: Age Of Extinction have proven to be greatly exaggerated.
Deception-like dispatches from the far-east reported (with absolute certainty) that while production resumed yesterday on the Hong Kong set of Transformers: Age of Extinction, some unscripted action occurred between director Michael Bay and a pair of irate local businessmen who were demanding to be compensated monetarily due to the fact that the production was “impeding upon their business.”
Now, courtesy of simultaneous press releases which were just issued by both Paramount Pictures and Michael Bay, we can tell you that nothing could be further from the truth and that the entire incident has been blown out of proportion (which is apropos on a Michael Bay film).
According to Paramount’s version of events, Bay did not receive injuries due to any sort of physical altercation on the set. But their press release does divulge some beguiling insight into what actually occurred:
“The production company did have a bizarre encounter with a man (allegedly under the influence of a narcotic substance) who was wielding an air conditioning unit as a weapon. The man, who had earlier accosted several other crew members, rushed onto the set in Quarry Bay and swung the air conditioning unit directly at Bay’s head. The director ducked and wrested the air conditioner from his attacker, preventing what could have been a serious accident. The company’s security team quickly stepped in and subdued the assault. The police, who also scuffled with the assailant and two of his companions, ultimately arrested the three men. No one on the cast or crew was injured and the production immediately resumed filming without further incident.”
Not to be outdone, Bay had this to say via his official site:
“Hi, it’s Michael.
Yes, the story is being passed around is not all true! Yes, some drugged up guys were being belligerent asses to my crew for hours in the morning of our first shoot day in Hong Kong. One guy rolled metal carts into some of my actors trying to shake us down for thousands of dollars to not play his loud music or hit us with bricks.
Every vendor where we shot got paid a fair price for our inconvenience, but he wanted four times that amount. I personally told this man and his friends to forget it we were not going to let him extort us. He didn’t like that answer. So an hour later he came by my crew as we were shooting, carrying a long air conditioner unit. He walked right up to me and tried to smack my face, but I ducked threw the air unit on the floor and pushed him away. That’s when the security jumped on him. But it took seven big guys to subdue him. It was like a Zombie in Brad Pitt’s movie World War Z; he lifted seven guys up and tried to bite them. He actually bit into one of the guards Nike shoe, insane. Thank god it was an Air Max, the bubble popped, but the toe was saved.
Then it took fifteen Hong Kong cops in riot gear to deal with these punks. In all, four guys were arrested for assaulting the officers.
After that, we had a great day shooting here in Hong Kong.”
Well, I suppose it wouldn’t be a Michael Bay production without controversy both in front of and behind the cameras, right?
What do you guys think? Is on-set security going to become a hot-button issue within the Hollywood community now that it has affected someone as high-profile as Michael Bay? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
