They can halt filming. I welcome this change if it gets rid of the bayverse.

 

I didn't have a fully formed reply. If you had wanted to continue the conversation, then I would have formed a retort.

I could have said no to what?

 

They've already spent the money on the script and sets. They might as well go forward and try to make a little bit of money off it.

 

Based on hasbro's reaction to the Jem flop I bet they aren't the type to keep sinking money on a sinking ship.

 

The movie is already started though. Now they have to continue until its released. Once its released, if it flops then they can pull it from theaters.

 

Keep telling yourself that.

 

I will. Because thats how its gonna happen, whether you like it or not.

 

Or they run out of money. I mean, Paramount doesn't have much of anything to generate revenue until the holiday season and they were already $600 million in the hole by the time TF5 hit theaters (and it's losing money).

You have to be a realist about this kind of thing. Just because they've already invested in something doesn't mean they are going to be able to finish it. It could just end up being completely lost investments and they scrap everything.

 

You could very well be right. However, it doesn't seem likely to me.

 

It stopped showing in 3D in my city after two weeks of 3D showings alongside 2D.

This is what I keep thinking; People says "Vote with your wallet", but the risk is that not only the TF movies stops, but so does the rest of the franchise as well. After all, voting with the wallet may give Hasbro the message that people are tired of everything Transformers, making Hasbro stop making more.

Sure, a reboot may fix things, but it may also show up that it was better before the reboot. That sometimes happens with brands as well. TLK had more elements from G1 than previous movies, and this alienated many people.

 

Why, thank-you.  

Yeah, my thinking on all things is very simple. I like people to be happy. I like Transformers as an overarching brand to be healthy. The movies are beloved by a ton of people, even if I'm not one of them. Therefore, I'm happy they exist for the sake of those who love them, because they make those people happy. The movies make a ton of money for the whole brand, which benefits every facet of it across the board. Therefore, I'm happy the films exist, because they benefit the whole brand lol.

Likewise... no more films, or poorly performing films, = huge loss of revenue for the brand as a whole. Therefore, I'm deeply concerned about that as a TF fan.

I don't think disliking the films and wanting them - or something in their place - to exist and thrive are mutually exclusive. It's just like the Star Trek reboots. Can't stand them. Pine for the days of the TV series with the tone and feel and philosophy, but... people love them, and it's kept the brand relevant at least, so I can't hate on that.

 

Some people hey. Transformers was around long before the bay movies, and will be long after.

 

"Be around," and, "Be around with the same quality, diversity, and frequency that we currently enjoy," are not the same thing, though. Therein lies the problem. Like it or not, the films inject far deeper revenue streams into these companies than the toylines and related properties alone ever did. Even, I would imagine at least, going back to when they were the "must have toys" of the 80s. (Would be interesting to look as Hasbro's revenue back then and adjust for inflation, and compare it to what they made during movie years...)

 

Agreed and well stated... I finally got to see TLK this weekend and wanted an IMAX encore...sadly now that won't happen.

 

Are people wishing ill on the franchise or are they wishing the films will adapt and improve and change in the ways it needs to in order to be an asset to the franchise again? I think more fans want the second than the first. It's not that people want to movies to fail, they just know they will fail if they don't start seeing value in telling a coherent story with characters that have enough screen time for people to care about them and editing that let's people understand what is happening on the screen.

 

So if Goldner was fired then somebody who actually understands how to run a toy company can be put in his place? Because to this day I don't know how he managed to get Hasbro CEO when the only thing he'd ever done, to my knowledge, was be an exec producer on the first TF film.

And I'd argue Renegades was sabotaged because they canned that super fast, way too soon for any real accurate reading on popularity with kids. Hell, I would have thought it would have been super appealing given we have stuff like Call of Duty and Battlefield these days.

Exactly. The unfortunate part is that in order to force change, the only way that can possibly happen is to wish for the line to fail, thus forcing the executives to try and change things up in order to restore profitability.

 

I can confirm that my local UK cinema have droped all 3D showings and 2D is only available for 3 showings a day.

 

Just checked my theater, TLK has 3 showings a day while Wonder Women has 7.

 

I don't think it has to be that hard-set. I do think there needs to be a downturn, but not a complete failure, in order to get the people in charge to see that change is needed. Now, if they're smart they'll notice the downturn and attempt to remedy the problem before it becomes a complete failure. If they aren't that smart, they'll ride the downturn right down to the ground and keep digging until there's no recourse but to shut the entire machine down.

I haven't enjoyed the Transformers films since the first one, and in fact gave up after DotM on them altogether. I haven't flat-out wished ill on them, though I have hoped, at some point, that we'd see a fresh take come along with a higher respect for story-telling and editing, rather than flash-bang effects and "the spectacle" of it all.

One thing I don't understand, and have yet to see addressed by the brand in general, is why the cartoon universes are almost always rebooted every few seasons because, "people (i.e. kids) will lose interest, or not be able to follow the story" if it lasts too many seasons. Why then is the same philosophy not applied to the movie franchise? I think the Bayverse movies have had a good run, but I would love to see a new storyline start. It doesn't even have to be completely removed from the current films. Maybe just start a new story, avoid stepping into any location that has already been covered, maybe give a wink and a nod to what's already been established without flat-out tying the story to the current films, and build a new Transformers universe that maintains its own consistency. That's probably a good way to maintain the fans that are still enjoying the current films, while drawing in new fans AND potentially, even bringing back some, like myself, that grew to feel burnt out on the current universe.

I know, it's likely a pipe dream. The most likely two outcomes are more of the same until the horse is well a truly dead and beaten to nothing but pulp, or just plain bowing out of future Transformers films altogether. But I think the scenario I described is a feasible work-around to the current predicament the movie-verse seems to find itself in.

Of course, I'd prefer a completely fresh start. But nobody in the corporate driven film world wants to throw away ten plus years of development time outright. The soft-reboot route is an acceptable, if messy, alternative.