The biggest story out of Hollywood today actually happened in Hong Kong, where Transformers director Michael Bay has been hard at work on the fourth film in the franchise. There were reports that Bay was attacked during a bizarre incident. Paramount Pictures finally commented on the incident, noting that no one was hurt.
According to earlier reports, two brothers arrived on the set and requested HK$100,000 from Bay. He apparently refused and was attacked by the brothers, suffering minor facial injuries.
But Paramount later sent a statement to Deadline explaining its version of what went down. The studio said that Bay was not injured, although a “bizarre encounter with a man (allegedly under the influence of a narcotic substance)” did happen. The man was trying to use an air conditioning unit as a weapon and had been annoying other crew members.
“The man, who had earlier accosted several other crew members, rushed onto the set in Quarry Bay and swung the air conditioning unit directly at Bay’s head,” the statement reads. “The director ducked and wrested the air conditioner from his attacker, preventing what could have been a serious accident.”
Security stopped the man and when police arrived, they were assaulted as well. “The police, who also scuffled with the assailant and two of his companions, ultimately arrested the three men. No one on the cast or crew was injured and the production immediately resumed filming without further incident,” Paramount said.
Bay also wrote about the incident on his blog. "Then it took fifteen Hong Kong cops in riot gear to deal with these punks. In all, four guys were arrested for assaulting the officers," he wrote. "After that, we had a great day shooting here in Hong Kong."
Transformers: Age of Extinction will star Mark Wahlberg and Kelsey Grammer and will be released on June 27, 2014. The 3D film is a Chinese co-production, as the previous Transformers films have been major successes there. There was even a reality show to pick four Chinese actors for key roles.
image: Wikimedia Commons
