Steven Spielberg, Michael Bay Returning For Next Transformers Movie — Here's What That Means

Alexa, please blast “What I’ve Done” by Linkin Park at full freakin’ volume. Once upon a time, when superheroes were barely a glint in the eyes of many a studio shareholder, Michael Bay redefined the parameters of blockbuster excess with his “Transformers” films. Big explosions, hot movie stars, and (to its credit) some of the finest visual effects work we’ve ever seen on the big screen brought audiences to the theaters over and over again … until they didn’t. It seemed pop culture finally had its fill of so-called “Bayformers” over the years, culminating in the director stepping away from the IP following “The Last Knight” in 2017.

Well, everything old is new again, as Deadline reports that Bay is currently in “early talks” to make his grand return to the franchise he helped popularize in the first place. Oh, and he’s bringing along a very famous friend, too. After serving as producer and a key creative voice on the 2007 “Transformers” film (although his influence waned with each subsequent installment), Steven Spielberg has also been courted to come back in the same role for this latest entry. All we know about the script is that it comes from go-to genre screenwriter Jason Fuchs (“Wonder Woman,” “Argylle,” HBO’s “It: Welcome to Derry”) and apparently takes place in the modern day, as opposed to the period settings of recent films like “Bumblebee” and the 1990s-set sequel “Rise of the Beasts.”

You can probably hear the cash register sound effects going off all across the Paramount/Skydance lot as we speak. But what does this mean for those of us interested in the further adventures of the Autobots and those dastardly Decepticons, particularly following the great Peter Cullen’s death? That’s the question of the day.