Transformers: The Last Knight caused some controversy this past week, with the production decorating Blenheim Palace – the birthplace of Winston Churchill – with Nazi swastikas to shoot scenes featuring German tanks and extras dressed as Nazi soldiers.
As you might expect this upset a few people, with some veterans expressing their disgust at what they felt was disrespectful to Churchill’s memory, and now director Michael Bay has now spoken to the BBC to defend the decision to convert Blenheim Palace into a “Nazi HQ”.
“I just want to say, people were not fortunate enough to read the script, and they don’t know that Churchill in this movie is a big hero,” said Bay. “And Churchill would be smiling about Last Knight. They haven’t seen the movie, they don’t know the ending, and they don’t know how Churchill is a hero in this movie. So, as the staff said, ‘He’d be smiling right now.’”
“When you see the movie, you’ll understand,” he continued. “I for one, probably more than any director in the world, have shot more veterans and more active military men and women in my movies. I would do nothing to disrespect veterans.”
Plot details for Transformers: The Last Knight are being kept under wraps, but we do know that Merlin of King Arthur lore is set to appear in the film, while there’s been some speculation that Anthony Hopkins could actually be portraying Winston Churchill. If so, then presumably the film is going to feature some kind of time travel / alternate history storyline… Autobots and the Knights of Camelot vs. Nazis and Decepticons? At this point, who knows?
Transformers: The Last Knight reunites Michael Bay with franchise veterans Mark Wahlberg, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson and Stanley Tucci, while new additions to the cast include Isabela Moner (100 Things to Do Before High School), Jerrod Carmichael (Bad Neighbours), Laura Haddock (Guardians of the Galaxy), Santiago Cabrera (Merlin), Liam Garrigan (Once Upon a Time), Mitch Pileggi (The X-Files) and Anthony Hopkins (Thor: The Dark World). The film hits theaters on June 23rd, 2017.
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Originally published September 24, 2016. Updated April 15, 2018.
