At first, Michael Bay thought that a Transformers movie sounded like “a dumb idea”. Then he had an epiphany . . . in Pawtucket.
What helped persuade Mr. Bay to take the first “Transformers” movie — which in 2007 took in more than $700 million worldwide at the box office, and whose sequel, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” opens on Wednesday — was a visit to the Pawtucket, R.I., headquarters of Hasbro, which creates the Transformers toys.
There Mr. Bay, 44, was given a thorough education on the narrative embedded in the 25-year-old toy line: a back story about warring factions of valiant Autobots and nefarious Decepticons, who bring their battle to Earth from their home planet, Cybertron.
An article in The New York Times examines the transformation of Hasbro under its new chief, Brian Goldner who joined the company in 2000, into a major player in the movie industry. This new sequel is pretty much review-proof; go ahead and enjoy yourselves (you know who you are). I’ll wait for Bruno, thank you.