What set Michael Bay off, who gets more screen time, and those spin-off details

Michael Bay is furious. On hot asphalt under a baking sun outside Michigan Motion Picture Studios in Pontiac, Michigan, he is filming a big action sequence for Transformers: The Last Knight in which a military cotillion led by soldier Josh Duhamel bursts out of a crashed Osprey with civilians Mark Wahlberg, Laura Haddock and Isabel Moner in tow. They are fending off an attack from unseen forces, and the sounds of machine and assault gunfire rips the air as explosions rock the set. Six cameras cover the action. After he cuts, the director, famed for his outbursts, examines some of the guns, as half of them have not gone off. He is further incensed by the fact that he has placed dud weapons in the hands of real-life Navy SEALS hired for the film.

"This is unacceptable!" he roars, examining one of the weapons. Then he asks for a show of hands of whose gun did not go off. He counts four or five. He further castigates the crew then storms off the set, then quickly turns back and rolls his eyes. "We've had problems with these guns, and I've never worked with these gun guys before," he admits. "I've worked with a gun rental house, I've done war movies. This is the worst group of guns with a SEAL team, and these guys are real deal."

As of our visit to the set last summer, the production was about 50 days in with about another 85 to go. The movie had already shot in Phoenix and Cuba, and they venture to England (filming on Downing St.) and Iceland after this. Bay says they have broken his record for setups in a single day, clocking in 90 or more -- twice. He shows us a photo of himself running, megaphone in hand, past a helicopter doing an aerial shot; he's already racing to his next setup. The director shaved 20 days off of the production schedule because he felt it was too much. Sometimes he adds new elements to a scene the day it is being shot. It is a nonstop roller coaster ride for everyone involved.

1. The story, new characters and new villains – and who gets more screen time

Following the events of the fourth installment, Transformers of all kinds are considered a global threat after the carnage generated in Age of Extinction. An angry Optimus Prime has gone off to Cybertron to confront the Creators. Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg) is on the run and still aligned with the Autobots, while the Transformer Reaction Force hunts them down.

Journeying from the deep sea to deep space, The Last Knight will delve deeper into the mythology of the Transformers, exploring the concept of “Transformers through time” and even touching upon the Primes other than Optimus. We'll glimpse the Knights of Cybertron in medieval times (could the three dragon heads in recent promotional banner art be related?). Grimlock will get noticeable screen time in the beginning of this installment. Hot Rod gets introduced; he transforms from a Lamborghini. A new villain will emerge. Stunt coordinator Mike Gunther says that the fifth Transformers movie will include “a Braveheart sequence" and "a Saving Private Ryan sequence." He adds: "He’s blending different things, like a huge horse battle and then a huge war battle, and now in the city huge car sequences.”

Di Bonaventura reveals that a writers’ room with top names generated mythology-expanding and spin-off ideas. Bay hints that someone came up with a good R-rated idea for the upcoming Bumblebee spin-off but adds nothing further. Both di Bonaventura and Bay wave off rumors of crossover potential in The Last Knight with other Hasbro properties like G.I. Joe, Micronauts and ROM.

"He’s always giving me s*** about something." -- Josh Duhamel, on director Michael Bay 

2. What sets Michael Bay off

Besides those nonfiring guns, other things set Michael Bay off – but the people on set understand.

"He’s always giving me s*** about something," admits costar Josh Duhamel (Lt. Colonel William Lennox). "The first day, we’re up in this submersible, this little mini submarine that goes down to this ship that we find. And we’re on this gimbal up on top, there’s green screen in the background, and it’s hot as balls up there. And we think we’re done, and he’s like 'Okay, now we’re gonna go to this part.' And I go, 'F***.' And I didn’t realize he had the ear buds on. And he’s like 'What was that? What did you say?' I said, 'No, nothing.' He’s like, 'I thought I heard you say "F***." You got it real tough up there, don’t you? You actors got it real tough. Look at the guys around you. They’re all SEALs.’ And he’s like, 'Why don’t you tell those guys how tough your job is?' So that was the first day. It’s always stuff like that."

3. Meet the civilians and a new Transformer

Isabela Moner plays a homeless teen named Izabella who lost her family in the battle of Chicago in the third film, Dark of the Moon. "She’s a tomboy, she’s spunky, she’s homeless, and she joins Mark and the team in defeating the Decepticons," Moner says. "She also has her own little sidekick named Squeeks, who is a mini-Transformer Vespa, supercute. He says 'Chihuahua,' that’s like the only thing he says. She’s a little bit Latina, so that’s good. You’ll find me speaking Spanish a little bit throughout the movie. I love that because I’m throwing it back to my heritage."

The original plan was to have Squeeks be entirely CGI, but when Moner suggested it would be really cool to have him built for her to interact with, Bay and the producers were down with the idea. So the scrappy little Transformer, who due to some damage is unable to fully transform, became a regular set presence, manually controlled by someone who stands behind him.

Laura Haddock portrays Vivian, a woman who gets whisked away by her Transformer car to a castle where Cade Yeager is. "I’m told I am somebody who they need to save the world,” she says. Vivian and Cade do not quite understand each other, which gives the actors some fun on-screen banter. Haddock adds that working with Bay has certainly pushed her. "Bay throws the actors in as much as he throws the stunt doubles in, [so] you better be prepared physically and mentally to do it."

4. How the military is now involved

On the flip side, Santiago Cabrera suits up as a mercenary out to get all Transformers, which leads to a major, potentially fatal run in with Cade. He also has a scrap with Bumblebee and becomes the guy you love to hate. "It’s orders really, it’s orders," Cabrera says of his character's motivations. "He’s sort of an antagonist at the beginning because of his orders, and then he realizes there’s history behind it all."

Cabrera's character is a retired SEAL contracted by the TRF [Transformers Reaction Force] to fight all Transformers. "I don’t care if they’re Autobots or Decepticons, we gotta stop this war," he says. "I’m a team leader and I’ve come with my team to fight them and when I see Cade Yeager is harboring them he becomes the enemy basically."

 

The actor also expressed respect for his military costars. "They’re great guys, these SEALs," he says. "They’re amazing and so down to earth and really you can see there’s a lot of respect between them. That’s great and something I’m always trying to bring out as much as I can."

Josh Duhamel's character, which appeared in the first three films then was absent from the fourth, used to work with the Autobot-friendly organization NEST, but no more. "There’s a question as to whom I’m working for," he tells us. "Am I with the U.S. military, the Army, or am I working with a group that’s trying to eradicate all Transformers? Not just Decepticons, but all of them. There’s a bit of a struggle between myself and Santiago Cabrera, and then we’re also working against Wahlberg’s character because he’s definitely working with the Autobots.”

5.  Amazing waterworks

Behind the gunplay and explosions we witnessed on set, a recent stunt that the filmmakers executed involved a long platform that looks to be approximately 50 to 60 feet long raised up at a 23 degree angle (with a riskier take at a 45 degree angle yet to happen), with water running down it and humans holding on for dear life. The actors were actually tethered so they would not get washed away and injured in the subsequent flooding.

"There’s this giant gimbal with these hydraulic pumps underneath it, built with these giant I-beams forming underneath that will be the side of a ship," explains Duhamel. "And there’s three 20,000 gallon drums that they dump to make it look like there’s a giant wave coming up. First of all, it’s dangerous, but fun. It’s like a giant water park. And just the ability to design this thing without it breaking… you dump 20,000 gallons of water on anything, that’s a giant force of nature. And to see it withstand it, take it, and still move up and down. Imagine what it’s gonna be when it’s all done."

Watch the first U.K. teaser below:

 

Fandango contributor Bryan Reesman's new book Bon Jovi: The Story is available now through Sterling Publishing.