Director Michael Bay Reveals Why Making 'Transformers' Was 'Scary' For Him

Michael Bay has opened up about working on action sci-fi movie, "Transformers," and how scary it was to make the first installment in 2007.

"It was scary. Because if the robots didn't look dead real, [the movie would not have worked]," Bay told Yahoo! Entertainment in an interview published over the weekend. "But we broke a lot of visual effects ground on that."

The 57-year-old director went on to explain how his friend -- who is not part of the movie industry -- helped him gain confidence in making the movie.

"I surround myself with normal people, people not in the business," Bay said before adding, ""[My friend Mike] goes, 'Bay, I don't know about that Transformer thing. We're having a beer, I'm like, 'Yeah, I know. It's a little scary.' Then I showed him the first scene, Scorponok jumping out of the desert, right behind Tyrese."

"I showed it to him," he added. "He goes, 'Oh, OK. Alright, I get it now.'"

"Transformers" became a box office success, as it earned $709 million worldwide. The success of the first installment led to six more sequels and spin-offs.

While the first installment was dropped in 2007, the second movie "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" was released two years later. The third installment, titled "Transformers: Dark Of The Moon," was dropped in 2011, while "Transformers: Age Of Extinction" released in 2014.

"Transformers: The Last Knight" was dropped in 2017 and "Bumblebee" in 2018. The sixth installment, "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts" is slated to release on June 9, 2023. This movie will be helmed by director Steven Caple Jr.

During the interview, the director also spoke about working with actor Shia LaBeouf, who played Sam Witwicky's character in the first installment.

"Listen, he was a kid," Bay said. "He was a kid when I worked with him. I sort of fathered him. A couple times he acted up but he's a very talented kid. He really is nice… He had a tough upbringing. But he's a fantastic actor."

Considering Bay's upcoming project, he will be directing "Robopocalypse," which is currently under development.