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Michael Bay, best known for bringingTransformers(2007) to life, detailed his career and the chances he had to take to get this far in Hollywood in an exclusive interview with EW in April last year.
Bay, prior to his filmmaking career, had a year and a half worth of experience in the industry working on commercials and videos. Inspired by James Cameron, he started his journey with the most risky project.
Bad Boys(1995), starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, was his debut film that pushed his career to great heights. It also saved Will Smith’s career, as he put it.
The film was co-distributed by Columbia and Sony Pictures, and the latter put a lot of roadblocks in the making of the film. If not forBad Boys,Smith’s career may not have been the same; it earned $141 million in global sales.
Read more:“Two black actors don’t sell overseas”: Michael Bay’s ‘Epiphany’ Made Will Smith Hollywood’s Most Bankable Star After Sony Had Given Up All Hopes on $141M Movie
Michael Bay’s Iconic Shot Saved Will Smith’s Ailing Career
Fans of Bay’s work know how he loves to get creative with the camera work in his films. His most recent –6 Underground(2019),starringRyan Reynolds, was a great example of that.
Given his experience and Sony Pictures’ reluctance to distribute the film,Michael Baysaid to EW that he came across an idea for a scene that became his trademark eventually and saved Smith’s career.
“I’m like, ‘This is going to be the trailer shot.’ For some reason, I just came up with this shot as we were driving. And I said, ‘Where’s the circle trolley? Get the circle trolley.’ And we made this round move and… it became a very famous shot. People attempt to imitate it, but it was a seminal moment.”
Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, the men behind the success ofEddie Murphy’sBeverly Hills Cop(1984) aided Bay with this one.
Read more:“He used to be a friend”: Ryan Reynolds’ First Superhero Movie Was Such A Disaster The Director Hired Biker Bodyguards To Protect Him From His Co-Star
Sony Pictures Gave Michael Bay A Hard Time
According to Bay’s interview, Sony Pictures wasn’t sold on the project from the get-go. The director didn’t have big format filmmaking experience prior to this andWill Smithhad been a rapper turned actor who had moderate titles to his name, likeThe Fresh Prince of Bel-Air(1990) andSix Degrees of Separation(1993).
“Sony didn’t believe in the movie, because two Black actors don’t sell overseas. They had no faith in it. I was watching James Cameron’s ‘True Lies’ and I’m like, ‘Oh, my God, this guy has so much money. I have only $9 million.’ And they shut me down, literally. They shut the power off. That’s how rude they were in this movie.”
Suggested:“I felt I would be doing a rerun”: Working With Will Smith Made Heat Director Give Up $213M Leonardo DiCaprio Movie, Chose to Work With Tom Cruise Instead
Nonetheless,Bad Boyskickstarted Will Smith’s career as a high-octane action star and set Michael Bay as one of the most visually inventive directors in Hollywood.
Bad Boys for Life,the threequel, starring Will Smith andMartin Lawrencecan be streamed on Netflix; it was released in 2020.
Source:Entertainment Weekly
Ojaswi Chaudhary
Articles Published :265
Extremely passionate about a great story since the little guy was 8. He has lived through nothing short of almost 300 of Hollywood’s finest pieces of work, and is now creating some of his own here at FandomWire. He loves to make time for a good book and a good meal.
