Michael Bay’s Pitch for Transformers 5

Listen, I’m not going to dance around the subject. We’re all here to talk about one thing and one thing only: cars that can transform into robots (that can then transform back into cars).

Obviously, the last four installments in the Transformers franchise were hugely successful. That goes without saying. Time after time, we’ve dazzled audiences by exploring the Transformers mythos in new and exciting ways. We’ve seen robots fighting against robots, robots fighting against old ghost robots, robots fighting against, well, robots again, and even robots fighting against Frasier. And while there’s a lot to be proud of in the last four entries, I think the last thing that any of us want is for this series to start feeling stale. That’s why I want to try something new. Just hear me out on this one.

Yes, we all love explosions. We all love sexy love interests. And we all love love love cars that are also robots and robots that are also cars. But this time, I want to add one more ingredient to our magical little recipe. One word: Character.

Let me paint you a portrait of Optimus Prime. Our hero is an aging robot once celebrated universally, now finding himself viciously criticized by the very people he has sworn to serve. Oh damn, you feel that? That’s called depth.

Optimus is misunderstood. He’s dedicated the bulk of his life to becoming the best possible director the Autobots could ever ask for. (Or ‘commander.” Or ‘general.” Whatever the robot word for leader is. For now, I’ll just go with director.) Optimus is a brilliant director, there’s no denying it. But how did Optimus become the robotic auteur he is today?

Back-story time. We start off with the moment Optimus’s robot parents first realize their young son is a ground-breaking prodigy among robot directors. Soon after, we flash forward to Optimus’s time at Cybertron Preparatory Academy where teacher after teacher is astounded at the visceral authenticity of Optimus’s early movies (to clarify, ‘movie” is the robot term for movement-based mission. It’s in the original series. Look it up.). Finally, we return to the present day where a perpetually tormented Optimus is now misjudged by a generation of humans too narrow-minded to comprehend the darkly subversive messages of his robot artistry. Poor Optimus. His enormous talent may be a gift, but it’s a heavy burden as well. So heavy. So, so heavy ‘

Anyway, I really want to go in a new direction here, team. I want us to build on everything that we’ve crafted over the last seven years and create a movie that’s not just fun, not just engaging, but one that’s also transcendent. If we do this right, not only with the Autobots transform this time, but the hearts and minds of every audience member in those theaters will transform as well.

Respectfully Yours,

Michael Bay

P. S. If it wasn’t already clear, I will be playing the role of Optimus Prime in this one. See below for official mockup I whipped up.