michael bay pain and gain

Last week Michael Bay said that he has a small Pulp Fiction-type of movie before returning for Transformers 3. Guess what? We received a tip over to the weekend revealing everything. Want to know what Bay’s small movie project will be about? Full details after the jump.

For the past decade, Michael Bay has been itching to make a feature film adaptation of a Miami News article. Described as “a mixture of Fargo and Pulp Fiction” or “Point Break with bodybuilders”, Pain & Gain tells the true story of a couple of Florida steroid-abusing knucklehead bodybuilders who become criminals involved in an extortion ring and a a kidnapping plot that goes horribly awry.

And as Bay hinted at in the MTV interview, the story is more of a character piece than anything else, real dark comedy. There isn’t even room for an action scene aside from one car crash. The film was originally set up at Paramount with screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, the team that worked on The Chronicles of Narnia films and The First Avenger: Captain America for Marvel. Bay also called the project untitled, which means they might be going in a different direction for the film’s title.

You can read the entire 8-page article, which was published in December 1999 on the Miami New Times website.

  • Sounds like it could be interesting. I feel like I'm the only film geek on the planet that cheers Bay on. He knows what he's good at and he does it very well. But going for something like this, I at least applaud him for trying something that isn't his usual bag. And hopefully that means that Transformers 3 will have 5 times the fighting robots. :P
  • No you're not the only one that likes Bay. There are just a lot of people out there living in denial.
  • What he said, except... there are moments when I would like to torture him
  • I'm definitely interested, I'll be looking out for more news bits.
  • Kelt
    /Bay

    not that I am complaining!
  • Markgoug
    Wow. This is going to be TERRIBLE!
  • XCVBN
    I think pain and gain is a cool title. it makes sense. I don't reckon they'll end up changing it.
  • Well at least he's trying new things.
  • Sounds pretty interesting to me. I'll definitely give this one a chance.
  • This sounds very different from anything Bay has ever done before... perhaps we will finally see if there is anything more to Bay other then cliche love plots and explosions
  • I love Michael Bay. He knows who he is, he knows what he can do and he's not trying to do something for any sort of recognition or clout amongst a certain group of people.

    I especially gained a new level of respect for Bay after reading an interview with Tarsem (for the Onion A.V. Club I believe). Tarsem talks about how he and Bay were in the same film school classes and how Bay really stays true to himself. I think that's great.
  • gah
    Im really interested because this film can tell us what he can really do minus all the 'splosions.
  • freemachine
    The word "small" isn't in Bay's vocabulary. Can Bay even function at the sub-100-million dollar range? (His last 6 features had budgets well in excess of 100 million) I can just see him on the set going through withdrawals (complete with DTs) after only a few days. Nah, I don't think this is possible.
  • His first couple movies were made for well under 100 millions. I think Bad Boys was done for only 20 millions.
  • Eric
    Bad Boys was done for $9 million.
  • freemachine
    @ asianrage, @ Eric

    If you bothered to pay attention, you'd note that I stated that HIS LAST SIX FEATURES had budgets over $100 million. Let's count them (budgets from IMDb):

    1. Transformers 2 ($200 million)
    2. Transformers ($150 million)
    3. The Island ($126 million)
    4. Bad Boys 2 ($130 million)
    5. Pearl Harbor ($140 million)
    6. Armageddon ($140 million)

    His first (Bad Boys) and second (The Rock) are irrelevant in this discussion, because he was still establishing himself as a director. If Bay could have made Bad Boys for $100 million, he would have.
  • starscream9289
    All you people KNOW you love Michael Bay. Admit it!
  • Palmer
    That actually sounds like something he'd do.
  • Palmer
    That actually sounds like something he'd make.
  • The thing about people like Bay is they have to "announce" when they do stuff like this because they do feel they have to prove to people something about themselves. Do I think he can pull it off? No.

    Should have just worked on this project without pre-facing it with "Pulp Fiction-type". Because now he's going to have to work to get to that achievement. He should just stick to what he knows and keep doing what works for him.
  • gah
    I like Bay, I just hate his penchant for casting douchey actors. Who's with me on this? i think he'd gain alot more credibility if he cast better people.
  • We shall see what happens. I remain speculative but you never know with Bay.

    I'm sure that "one" explosion/action sequence in the film will be the loudest,largest,Bayplosion that man will probably ever witness.

    I don't think Michael Bay can hold off for very long without shooting something fiery and "awesomely old school".
  • jason B
    no matter what the announcement or script was gonna be - bay will never get a fair deal on the internet. peter defends him, and there are a few people on the talkbacks who do look objectively at his films, but the overwhelming majority of folks have their blinders firmly set in place.
  • Juan
    I look forward to seeing what he can pull off with a character driven script. And then I look forward to the big budget amazing spectacle that will be Transformers 3. Give us the transforming aircraft carrier please.
  • feline
    Wasn't he supposed to destroy Thundercats next?
  • Pain & Gain has been something Bay had wanted to do since after Pearl Harbor, I think. It does sound Pulp Fiction-y, only in the sense of being a story with some outrageous characters doing extremely abnormal things to survive...

    Well, I'm a Bay fan. So my interest in this story is piqued.
  • Can't ruin an already craptastic series.
  • So they surf, rob banks, and bodybuild?
  • Go Bay, good for you on doing something new.
  • Sounds alright...
  • bodybuilders involved in criminal activities? lol this sounds so fucking retarded.
  • hear, hear.
  • lol, so true.
  • This should prove interesting. If only because it takes Bay outside of his usual domain of directorial confidence (loud action pieces). I sort of get the impression that this is a personal pet project.. or at least as personal as we're going to get from Bay.
  • whoa can Bay actually make a movie without AWESOME EXPLOSIONS??
  • Bren
    Smaller budget, smaller action scenes (I'm sure he'll put it one for old times sake).. But what's the payoff? Bigger actors! I love how he has to compensate for the lack of explosions by using bodybuilders. Such a Bay thing to do! By the way, I'm an MB fan.
  • That sounds like a good story, hope it works out. I couldn't find the second part though I wonder what his revenge was.
  • Hope he goes ahead with this one so he can finally have a recognizable box office bomb next to his name. Bay, get it out of your system then get on with doing what you do best - blowing shit up on screen.
  • steve holmes
    Well, you can love him , hate him, or both, but you at least have to acknowledge that HE has acknowledged that a serious filmmaker needs to at least aspire to do more on occasion than just blow things up. As long as the adaptation is well-written, (the source material is rich) I say give Bay a chance!

    To discuss this and similar topics with like-minded individuals in real time, tune in Tuesday evenings from 9-10PM Eastern Time to WIFI1460AM.com for the Reel Brothers Radio Show - call-in number 609-447-0236!!
  • If you read the full story, it will be amazing! This might not be best done by Bay. The guy who did The Departed would really make this awesome.
  • I wonder why he would decide to do this movie? I figure he wants to try his hand at the smaller films but so far, this only sounds good because Bay's attached to direct, which isn't a good thing for a small budget.
  • Ken
    The Rock is suppose to play Danny, but I say give the persona a better actor. A jesuit up bringing means something
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