Transformers: The Last STRAW!

Last month in my 2017 Box Office Predictions Part 2, I asked the following question:

I have just one question for Michael Bay: How the hell did he talk Sir Anthony Hopkins into starring in a goddamned Transformers movie?

Seriously. Anthony Hopkins. Winner of an Oscar™ for Best Actor, two Emmys, three BAFTAs and the Cecil B. DeMille Award. Recipient of a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame, and a knighthood granted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1993. 

And yet for some inexplicable reason he's starring in the upcoming Transformers: The Last Knight debacle.

On April 17 of this year, I said over on Facebook that I could think of three possibilities for Hopkins' presence in the movie:

A: Bay has some really big dirt on Hopkins, and blackmailed him into giving his horrible movie a much-needed touch of class.

B: They told Hopkins he's in some kind of King Arthur film, and he doesn't realize he's actually in a Transformers movie.

C: Michael Bay diverted one of the dump trucks that regularly deposits cash into his many money bins, and sent it to Hopkins' house.

Welp, in an interview this week with Event Magazine, whatever that is, Hopkins confirmed my suspicions, as the reasons for his appearance are a little bit of B (confusion) and a whole lotta C (money!).

Hopkins, who plays Sir Edmond Burton in Transformers: The Last Knight, admitted he had no idea what was going on in the movie, saying:

"You're not going to ask me to explain the plot are you? Because it's so very complicated and there's the whole mythology of four previous films that come into play. I have to admit, I don't quite get all of it."

"All I know is I play a highly educated, eccentric English lord. I had a terrific time making it. Mark Wahlberg was wonderful to work with, the locations were excellent (Northumberland, Norway, Arizona, the Isle of Skye and Stonehenge) and I showed up, put my costume on, said my lines and stayed out of trouble. That's all I ever do. It beats working for a living."

Hopkins Admits that despite his lofty credentials, he never shies away from appearing in giant summer popcorn movies. He says he's always followed the one piece of advice his father gave him: "Go where the money is."

And you know what? There's nothing wrong with that! In fact it's kind of refreshing to hear a big name, highly respected Shakesperian thespian admit he's just in it for the money.

I just think it's funny that it's not just the audience who's flummoxed by the Transformers franchise. Even the people MAKING them don't understand what the hell's going on.