Transformers

Just a quick 10-minute cab ride from the Alamo Drafthouse off Route 183 in Austin, Texas sits Pinballz, a massive arcade that specializes in — make sure you’re sitting down for this one — pinball. They’ve got old machines dating back decades, and new ones from just the last few years...

10. That’s the number of years we have left in the Transformers franchise…for now. This year, Paramount and writer / producer Akiva Goldsman recruited a brain trust of writers to formulate plans for Transformers sequels, as well as potential spinoffs and animated projects. Their work yielded plans for Transformers 5, as well as an animated origin story prequel. But how many more films are in the works? Rumor has it they have plans for at least five.

After months of brain-storming, the Transformers writers room has finished their work…for now. Writers room head Akiva Goldsman is officially scripting Transformers 5, with Mark Wahlberg confirmed to return and Michael Bay in talks to return to the director’s chair after declaring he was finished with the franchise. In addition, that previously rumored animated spinoff is officially happening with the writers of Ant-Man.

If you’ve been putting off watching The Hunger Games, World War Z or the Rocky movies on Netflix, now would be the time to take advantage of them as the company’s deal with Epix is coming to an end. Netflix has opted out of renewing their contract with the premium cable service, just as they previously did with Starz. As a result, several major films will disappear from Netflix in September.

In the tradition of ScreenCrush series like You Think You Know Movies, You Think You Know TV, and Post Credits comes a brand new YouTube series: Top 5! Each week (or so; look we’re busy guys), ScreenCrush editor and critic Matt Singer will count down a particular topic from the world of movies (and probably write these introductory posts in the third person).

Just when you thought Akiva Goldsman’s Transformers writers room was complete, he goes an adds someone else to the staff, collecting writers as if he’s picking up Pokemon. The latest addition to the writers room is former Daredevil showrunner Steven DeKnight, who joins fellow TV pro Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead) in a room that’s looking more and more promising. Surely with so many smart, talented people, they can roll out a few good Transformers movies, right? Right…?

With Michael Bay behind both the Transformers franchise and the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies, you would think he’d be mighty tempted to orchestrate some sort of crossover. And you would be right — sort of. A fan spotted a pretty neat little Transformers cameo (okay, more like an easter egg) on the set of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2, which should make Bay’s Baes (that’s what I’m going to call Michael Bay fans from now on) pretty happy.

As the new creative director/writers room head for the Transformers franchise, producer Akiva Goldsman’s job is to collect a group of talented and diverse writers and oversee future projects for the franchise, including sequels and spinoffs. Goldsman has just added two more writers to his room, which is apparently now fully-staffed and ready to roll out their mission. But…what is that mission, exactly? Goldsman was kind enough to share.

Last month, Paramount and Michael Bay selected producer and writer (and notorious Winter’s Tale director) Akiva Goldsman to head up their new Transformers franchise brain trust, giving Goldsman the power to form a writers room and steer the creative future of the series. Goldsman recently hired his first writers, who were — unsurprisingly — all men, but in case you were worried that his writers room was a real sausage fest, he just hired a couple of women.

The Transformers franchise has grossed more than $3.7 billion worldwide. So you and I and all rational thinking people might think they’re terrible, but from a financial perspective, they’re definitely working. But you know that old expression in Hollywood: If it ain’t broke, break it into its component parts, and then turn each of those component parts into its own spinoff franchise to maximize revenue. I think Thomas Edison is the first guy who said that one.