Transformers director Michael Bay may return to helm a "new version" of the franchise after leaving Netflix crime thriller Fast and Loose

Transformers: The Last Knight — (Image credit: Paramount Pictures)

Director Michael Bay has stepped away from Fast and Loose, the Will Smith-starring crime thriller that he was set to helm for Netflix, according to Deadline. The film was due to start shooting this October.

Fast and Loose was intended to be a reunion between Bay and Smith, who first worked together on 1995's Bad Boys. The plot of the new film hinges on Smith's character, an amnesiac who learns that he has been living a split life as a criminal mastermind and as an undercover agent for the CIA. According to Deadline's report, Bay wanted to dial up the action in the film, while star Smith was keen to push the comedy further.

Netflix's loss may well be Transformers fans' gain, however. Bay is currently in discussions with Paramount about returning to the giant robot franchise that he launched back in July 2007. In total Bay directed five movies in that series over 10 years, ending with Transformers: The Last Knight in 2017.

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Recent films in the franchise have been helmed by different directors, with Travis Knight handling 2018's well-received Bumblebee, which we described in our Bumblebee review as a "fresh, breezy franchise reinvention." Steven Caple Jr. was behind the most recent entry, 2023's Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.

Bay is also potentially set to direct an in-development adaptation of racing game OutRun which will star Sydney Sweeney. According to Deadline, Netflix will attach a new director to Fast and Loose quickly, in order to hit the planned October start date.

For more, roll out into our guide on how to watch the Transformers movies in order. Then, discover what other movie release dates you have to look forward to in 2025.

Will Salmon is the former Streaming Editor for GamesRadar+. He has been writing about film, TV, comics, and music for more than 15 years, which is quite a long time if you stop and think about it. At Future he launched the scary movie magazine Horrorville, relaunched Comic Heroes, and has written for every issue of SFX magazine for well over a decade. His music writing has appeared in The Quietus, MOJO, Electronic Sound, Clash, and loads of other places too.