Christ, I'd back that just to watch the internet kids have mental meltdowns.

He's really stupid for saying this because by the time Transformers 2 comes out on the exclusivity deal will already be over.

And what makes people think that they won't do whatever they can to resume this 'exclusivity deal' if it does well enough? I think that there's certainly a bias involved here. We obviously can't view some of his other films on HD-DVD because they're exclusive to Blu-Ray. Yet Transformers ends up being HD-DVD exclusive, and he wants to throw a fit over it. It just doesn't make any sense.

I thought Paramount already asked him to direct the sequel after the first weekend the movie was released.

Maybe he's pissed because he could have made more money if it was also released on Blu Ray.

You're doing a what if. I'm not. I'm strictly saying by the time that movie comes out to home video that the deal will already be over. I can't go into the future and say that the deal will be renewed and neither can you.

You have a point there but you can't make any assumptions in the other direction based on the same logic.

My main point I wanted to bring out though was Michael Bay being dumb enough to complain over Transformers exclusivity when his other flicks are already exclusive to one format. I want to see opinions from people in the industry as time goes on, but those opinions mean absolutely zilch in the end when they're complaining about something their work has already been involved in.

That's my main argument here.

Funny story. I don't really believe it though. As for a Transformers sequel, I don't really see it working without Bay. It was pretty much the quintessential Michael Bay movie.

He's obviously being facetious. The only story here is that Michael Bay is an internet nerd.

I believe he said it, I don't really believe it'll happen though. A lot of game developers face the same problem, they really want everyone to be able to play their games but, it doesn't always work out that way. In the end, if it sells well enough, more will come.

He was clearly joking people....

I should probably admit that Armageddon is one of my favorite movies.

But I still think he's a shitty director... and no those statements are not contradictory.

Same here...

Michael Bay in Blu-ray fray
Studios' HD-DVD choice miffs director
By DANIEL FRANKEL

The decision by Paramount and DreamWorks Animation to exclusively back HD DVD may have garnered the studios financial incentives valued at a reported $150 million, but it seems to have irked at least one high-profile filmmaker in the process.

"No 'Transformers 2' for me!" wrote helmer Michael Bay in a post on his personal Web forum (headline: "Paramount pisses me off!") that was widely circulated Tuesday. "I want people to see my movies in the best formats possible. For them to deny people who have Blu-ray sucks!"

By the end of the day, however, Bay had softened his stance after speaking to Par brass and taken down his original post, replacing it with the following:

"Last night at dinner I was having dinner with three Blu-ray owners, they were pissed about no 'Transformers' Blu-ray and I drank the Kool-Aid hook, line and sinker. So at 1:30 in the morning I posted -- nothing good ever comes out of early a.m. posts mind you -- I overreacted. I heard where Paramount is coming from and the future of HD and players that will be close to the $200 mark which is the magic number. I like what I heard.

"As a director, I'm all about people seeing films in the best quality possible, and I saw and heard first-hand people upset about a corporate decision.

"So today I saw '300' on HD, it rocks!

"So I think I might be back on to do Transformers 2!"

Bay was unavailable for comment.

Other directors have expressed a preference for Blu-ray, the format with which Par and DreamWorks officially cut ties Monday. Notable in the studios' announcement was fine printexempting Steven Spielberg's films from HD DVD exclusivity.

"Steven is a supporter of Blu-ray, but he is not exclusive to either format," said DreamWorks marketing exec Marvin Levy, who has worked extensively with Spielberg in the past. Still, Levy confirmed that Spielberg has blessed Sony's 30th anniversary release of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" on Blu-ray.

In February, the HD DVD Promotions Group issued an apology for listing three of Spielberg's films as upcoming HD DVD releases.

Adding additional support for Blu-ray has come from Jerry Bruckheimer, whose first two "Pirates of the Caribbean" installments have already been released in the format.

Bruckheimer, commenting recently on the Blu-ray cheerleading blog Hollywoodinhidef.com, noted the format's "flawless presentation of picture and sound that far surpasses any other format."

Notwithstanding the myriad allegiances, incentives and grudges that motivate Hollywood, consumer electronics analyst Richard Doherty says Blu-ray's larger disc capacity is the key reason for the technology's greater traction among filmmakers so far.

"For directors who are always vexed by the question, 'How do I get this down to two hours?,' having that extra disc capacity creates a lot of peace of mind," said Doherty, who added that helmers covet those extra megabytes to deliver reams of extra linear footage in high-def.

HD DVD backers, meanwhile, tout their format's superior ability to provide interactive applications. But studios also like it because the manufacturing costs are lower.

Paramount and DreamWorks were reportedly inspired to go HD DVD-only after following the commitment of promotional considerations that totaled $50 million for Par and $100 million for DreamWorks, although neither studio would confirm these dealings.

"It could be a commitment to purchase X number of 'Shrek 3's for an Xbox promotion or a special holiday Toshiba promotion," Doherty said. "For DreamWorks, $100 million is a sizable shot."

$150 Million seems a small drop in the bucket of movie sales overall. There's got to be something that hasn't been reported.

Mucho talk about this already in the HD Forum.

$150M of pure profit for doing less work (only one production & distribution chain versus 2). Bay is a pussy though. I can see a director being pissed that his film won't be as widely available because it is limited to one format, but when most dual-releases are bit-for-bit identical video and audio encoding, there is no quality difference.