Depending on when and where you’re reading this, it’s June 21st, which means it’s the longest day of the year for those north of the equator – not to mention one of the most exciting, providing you’re a fan of HBO’s Game of Thrones saga.
But on the Paramount lot, June 21st is a momentous day for another reason, for today heralds the long-anticipated launch of Transformers: The Last Knight. Angled as Michael Bay’s fifth and seemingly final entry in the blockbuster series, The Last Knight signals the end of an era, though critics have been particularly damning of Bay’s last hurrah.
Paramount’s global juggernaut will no doubt continue with or without Michael Bay – a Travis Knight-directed Bumblebee spinoff has already been locked in for 2018 – but now that the filmmaker is ready to part ways with the series once and for all, we can readily expect Bay to spearhead projects that aren’t hatched as sequels within established franchises. Then again, one sequel that Michael Bay never quite got around to making was a follow-up to The Rock, the 1996 actioner starring Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage.
Per /Film, here’s how that sequel would’ve panned out:
The sequel that I have in my mind for this movie is basically after Nic Cage is married to Carla, they drive off. Nic Cage has this microfilm of all this bad government confidential [info], like, who killed JFK? The government comes after Nic Cage with a vengeance. We’re talking out to kill. It turns into more of a thriller. Nic Cage has nowhere to turn, because he’s been stabbed in the back by the government, and they’re after him. Maybe he takes Carla, I’m not sure. Maybe they separate. I’d really like to separate Nic and Carla, and have Nic try to employ the help of Sean Connery. Basically, taking The Rock off exactly where it left off.
Is that a follow-up you’d like to see take shape? Or do you believe The Rock 2 should remain in the realm of wishful thinking? As always, let us know your thoughts and suggestions below.