Steven Spielberg is taking a hands-on role in Transformers again, and Michael Bay could be back behind the camera. According to a Deadline exclusive, Paramount has put Spielberg in charge of “all creative aspects” of the next live-action film, while Bay is in early talks to direct it. Nothing is signed with Bay yet.
The project will be the eighth live-action Transformers film. Spielberg has stayed on the franchise as an executive producer since 2007, but he was only closely involved in the creative side of the first two films. Now he’ll steer the new one alongside longtime franchise producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura. Mark Vahradian, Don Murphy, Tom DeSanto and Hasbro are also producing.
A script that won Spielberg over
Jason Fuchs has written the screenplay. TheWrap points out that his recent credits include It: Welcome to Derry. Paramount hasn’t revealed any plot details beyond the film taking place in the modern day, and no cast has been announced at this early stage of development.
Per Deadline, the push started soon after Skydance completed its merger with Paramount in August 2025. One of the first meetings Josh Greenstein and Dana Goldberg held as the studio’s new film co-chairs was with Spielberg, and Transformers was on the agenda. The studio spent the following year trying to win him over. In the end, Fuchs’s latest draft persuaded him to take on the role.
Paramount went straight to Bay to find a director. Deadline reports that he read the script and met Spielberg earlier this week, and came away keen to return. IGN stresses that nothing has been finalised, though the studio appears eager to close a deal. Page Six was first to report Bay’s possible return.
Why Paramount wants Bay back
Bay’s history with the franchise goes back to the beginning. Spielberg chose him to direct the 2007 original, and Bay went on to make the first five films, ending with The Last Knight in 2017. The series has grossed more than $5.4 billion at the global box office. Bay’s run accounts for most of that, despite plenty of criticism of the films’ plots and humour.
After Bay stepped away, Paramount released Bumblebee and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. Neither film flopped. According to Deadline, though, they didn’t match the standards of the earlier entries, and they came nowhere near the billion-dollar grosses of Bay’s biggest instalments.
Spielberg and Bay have both changed their minds since then. IGN notes that Spielberg advised Bay to stop after the third film, and Bay has since said he regrets not taking that advice. Opinion has also softened on Bay’s films. Robert Pattinson recently called the 2007 Transformers definitively 2000s, and the films’ effects work and large-scale action have been reappraised.
The new film will also have to deal with a cast gap. Peter Cullen, the voice of Optimus Prime, died in August aged 85. Paramount hasn’t said how it plans to handle the role.
Transformers is one of several franchises getting new attention at Skydance’s Paramount. Deadline recently reported that Brad Pitt will return for the World War Z sequel, with Edward Berger directing. There’s no release date or production timeline for the next Transformers film yet.
FAQs
Is Michael Bay confirmed as director of the next Transformers film?
Not yet. Bay is in early talks after meeting Spielberg and reading the script, but no deal has been announced.
When will the eighth Transformers movie be released?
Paramount hasn’t announced a release date. The film is in early development, with a script by Jason Fuchs and no cast attached.
Who will voice Optimus Prime now that Peter Cullen has died?
That hasn’t been announced. Cullen voiced the character across the live-action films, and Paramount hasn’t said who will take over the role.
