‘Black 5’: Michael Bay Will Direct New Action Film For Sony
Michael Bayhas lined up his next directing gig.
TheTransformersandArmageddonfilmmaker will direct a new action film calledBlack 5for Sony Pictures, reuniting him with that studio for the first time sinceBad Boys IIin 2003.
Varietyreports that Bay is set to directBlack 5. The outlet doesn’t have any information about the plot or content of the movie, other than the fact that it’s supposed to be “high on action.” That’s not super helpful, since Bay has never made a movie that isn’t “high on action” except for maybePain & Gain, a lower key crime drama that still has its fair share of car chases and explosions.Ehren Krugerwrote the script forBlack 5, and he’s reuniting with Bay after writingTransformers: Revenge of the Fallen(one of the worst major studio blockbusters of all time),Transformers: Dark of the Moon(a surprisingly fun step up that sits at or near the top of this franchise’s peak), andTransformers: Age of Extinction(another dismal entry that took a monumental dive in quality from its predecessor). Kruger has also written movies like Disney’s live-action remake ofDumbo, the Scarlet Johansson version ofGhost in the Shell, and the Ben Affleck crime thrillerReindeer Games. But he also wrote the paranoia dramaArlington Roadand the American remake ofThe Ring, so there’s a flash of promise in there somewhere.
Bay is currently in post-production onSix Underground, Netflix’smost expensive original movieaside from maybeThe Irishman; the final budget of Scorsese’s upcoming film has not yet been confirmed.Six Undergroundstars Ryan Reynolds and was written byDeadpoolandDeadpool 2writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, and that film centers on “six billionaires who fake their own deaths and form an elite team to take down bad guys.” Weirdly, a rumor was once floating around thatSix Undergroundwas actuallya secretThundercatsmovie, but that was quickly debunked by Reese and one of our own sources close to that film’s production.
Variety reports that Bay plans to begin shootingBlack 5in early 2020, as soon as he’s completedSix Underground. The question now is: will Bay continue this descending-number-themed title trend and direct the fourth entry of another franchise next?
