Denis Makarenko / Shutterstock.com
The ink’s barely dry on the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger, and the newly formed Skydance is already putting a massive franchise back in motion. Steven Spielberg is set to produce the next Transformers movie, and according to recent reports, Michael Bay is in early talks to return as director.
Skydance has made clear that Paramount and Warner Bros. will keep operating as separate entities despite the merger. Transformers belongs to Paramount, and the studio has now brought Spielberg back in a primary creative producer role — basically overseeing the creative direction of the project. Bay, meanwhile, is circling a return to the director’s chair he occupied for the franchise’s first run.
This isn’t new territory for either of them.
Bay directed the first five Transformers films, starting with the original in 2007 and running through 2017’s Transformers: The Last Knight. Spielberg was involved too, serving as executive producer across those same movies before stepping back.
Steven Spielberg has signed on for a primary creative producer role on the next Transformers movie, with Michael Bay in early talks to direct
The timing lines up with a much bigger corporate story. Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery announced their roughly $110 billion combination back on Oct 2, with the deal officially closing Tuesday, October 6. Paramount CEO David Ellison has been adamant that both studios will retain their own identities under the Skydance umbrella — not exactly a surprise, given how much brand value sits in each name.
Jason Fuchs — who co-created HBO’s It: Welcome to Derry — was brought on in June to write the next chapter. It’ll pick up from where 2023’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts left off. That movie ended with Anthony Ramos’ character, Noah Diaz, landing a job offer from G.I. Joe, setting up a crossover that fans had been buzzing about.
That crossover isn’t happening anymore, though.
Instead, G.I. Joe is heading in its own direction entirely. Danny McBride is writing and directing a new project in that universe, with Bradley Cooper attached to star. Whether this changes anything about the Transformers’ direction remains to be seen, but it does suggest Paramount is treating these as separate properties again rather than building toward a shared universe.
The numbers behind the Transformers franchise are hard to ignore. Since the series kicked off in 1986 with The Transformers: The Movie, the theatrical releases have pulled in over $5.4 billion globally — and that’s not even counting toy sales, which have historically run just as strong, if not stronger, for this particular IP.
Transformers isn’t the only franchise getting a second wind under the new regime. Paramount is also reviving World War Z, with Conclave director Edward Berger signed on for a sequel. Brad Pitt is expected to reprise his role, continuing a trend of studios digging back into dormant franchises now that merger dust is settling and fresh capital is flowing.
