Michael Bay

Born 1965 · American film director and producer

Michael Benjamin Bay is an American film director and producer. He is best known for making big-budget high-concept action films with fast cutting, stylistic cinematography and visuals, and extensive use of special effects, including frequent depictions of explosions. The films he has directed include Bad Boys (1995) and its sequel Bad Boys II (2003), The Rock (1996), Armageddon (1998), Pearl Harbor (2001), the first five films in the Transformers film series, 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016) and Ambulance (2022). Armageddon and Pearl Harbor each received four Academy Award nominations, the latter winning for Best Sound Editing. His films have grossed over US$6.6 billion worldwide, making him the sixth-most commercially successful director in history.

Michael Bay, in order

1. 1991 Love Thing (short film): directed
2. 1995 Bad Boys: directed · critics 46%, audiences 78% · streaming on Apple TV
3. 1996 The Rock: directed · critics 76%, audiences 85% · streaming on fuboTV
4. 1998 Armageddon: directed, produced, acted · critics 42%, audiences 73%
5. 1999 Mystery Men: acted · directed by Kinka Usher · critics 58%, audiences 57% · streaming on Prime Video
6. 2000 Coyote Ugly: acted · directed by David McNally · critics 23%, audiences 71%
7. 2001 Pearl Harbor: directed, produced · critics 23%, audiences 66% · streaming on Netflix
8. 2001 Zigs: acted · directed by Mars Callahan · streaming on Starz
9. 2003 Bad Boys II: directed, acted · critics 23%, audiences 78%
10. 2003 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: wrote, produced · directed by Marcus Nispel · critics 37%, audiences 58% · streaming on Prime Video, Philo, AMC+
11. 2005 The Amityville Horror: produced · directed by Andrew Douglas
12. 2005 The Island: directed, produced · streaming on Kanopy, Hoopla
13. 2006 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning: produced · directed by Jonathan Liebesman · critics 17%, audiences 53% · streaming on Philo, AMC+
14. 2007 The Hitcher: produced · directed by Dave Meyers
15. 2007 Transformers: directed, acted · critics 58%, audiences 85% · streaming on Paramount+, Kanopy, Hoopla
16. 2009 Friday the 13th: produced · directed by Marcus Nispel · critics 27%, audiences 47% · streaming on Philo
17. 2009 Horsemen: produced · directed by Jonas Åkerlund · critics 17%, audiences 25% · streaming on Roku Channel, Hoopla, Tubi
18. 2009 The Unborn: produced · directed by David S. Goyer
19. 2009 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: directed · critics 18%, audiences 57% · streaming on Paramount+, Kanopy, Hoopla
20. 2010 A Nightmare on Elm Street: produced · directed by Samuel Bayer · critics 14%, audiences 43% · streaming on Philo
21. 2011 I Am Number Four: produced · directed by D.J. Caruso · critics 32%, audiences 57%
22. 2011 Transformers: Dark of the Moon: directed, produced
23. 2013 Pain & Gain: directed, produced · critics 50%, audiences 47% · streaming on Paramount+, Philo, Starz
24. 2013 The Purge: produced · directed by James DeMonaco
25. 2014 Black Sails (TV series): produced · directed by Neil Marshall and Sam Miller
26. 2014 Ouija: produced · directed by Stiles White
27. 2014 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: produced · directed by Jonathan Liebesman
28. 2014 The Last Ship (TV series): produced · directed by Brad Turner and Jack Bender
29. 2014 The Purge: Anarchy: produced · directed by James DeMonaco
30. 2014 Transformers: Age of Extinction: directed, acted · critics 18%, audiences 50% · streaming on Paramount+, Kanopy, Hoopla
31. 2015 Project Almanac: produced · directed by Dean Israelite
32. 2016 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi: directed · critics 51%, audiences 83% · streaming on Paramount+, Peacock, Tubi
33. 2016 Ouija: Origin of Evil: produced · directed by Mike Flanagan · critics 82%, audiences 58% · streaming on Netflix
34. 2016 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows: produced · directed by Dave Green
35. 2016 The Purge: Election Year: produced · directed by James DeMonaco
36. 2017 Transformers: The Last Knight: directed · critics 16%, audiences 42% · streaming on Prime Video, fuboTV, MGM+
37. 2018 A Quiet Place: produced · directed by John Krasinski · critics 96%, audiences 83% · streaming on fuboTV, MGM+, Paramount+
38. 2018 Bumblebee: produced · directed by Travis Knight
39. 2018 The First Purge: produced · directed by Gerard McMurray
40. 2019 Six Underground: directed, produced · critics 36%, audiences 60% · streaming on Netflix
41. 2020 A Quiet Place: Part II: produced · directed by John Krasinski
42. 2020 Bad Boys for Life: acted · directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah
43. 2020 Songbird: produced · directed by Adam Mason
44. 2021 The Forever Purge: produced · directed by Everardo Gout
45. 2022 Ambulance: directed, produced · critics 68%, audiences 87% · streaming on Netflix
46. 2024 A Quiet Place: Day One: produced · directed by Michael Sarnoski
47. 2024 Apartment 7A: produced · directed by Natalie Erika James
48. 2024 Transformers One: produced · directed by Josh Cooley · critics 89%, audiences 97% · streaming on Netflix, Prime Video, MGM+
49. 2025 Drop: produced · directed by Christopher Landon
50. 2025 We Are Storror: directed
51. 2027 A Quiet Place: Part III: produced · directed by John Krasinski
52. Robopocalypse: directed