“Transformers: Age of Extinction” promises a lot of special effects, but the attack on director Michael Bay on Thursday while filming in Hong Kong was very real. A man whom the director likened to a zombie from Brad Pitt’s hit movie “World War Z” rushed onto the set and swung an air-conditioning unit at the director’s head.
Earlier in the day, Reuters reported that two brothers confronted Mr. Bay and demanded $100,000, even attacking police officers who came to the director’s aide. Paramount’s issued a statement calling the report “erroneous,” and asserted that the director was not hurt during the altercation.
Two brothers, surnamed Mak, aged 27 and 28, and another man surnamed Chan, were arrested at the scene, Reuters reported. Mr. Bay’s statement, released later in the day on his official website, cited an unnamed fourth individual who was also taken into custody.
The account of the attack reads:
“Hi, it’s Michael.
Yes, the story is being passed around is not all true! Yes, some drugged up guys were being belligerent [expletive] to my crew for hours in the morning of our first shoot day in Hong Kong. One guy rolled metal carts into some of my actors trying to shake us down for thousands of dollars to not play his loud music or hit us with bricks.
Every vendor where we shot got paid a fair price for our inconvenience, but he wanted four times that amount. I personally told this man and his friends to forget it we were not going to let him extort us. He didn’t like that answer. So an hour later he came by my crew as we were shooting, carrying a long air conditioner unit. He walked right up to me and tried to smack my face, but I ducked threw [sic] the air unit on the floor and pushed him away. That’s when the security jumped on him. But it took seven big guys to subdue him. It was like a Zombie in Brad Pitt’s movie World War Z — he lifted seven guys up and tried to bite them. He actually bit into one of the guards Nike shoe, insane. Thank god it was an Air Max, the bubble popped, but the toe was saved.
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.
After that, we had a great day shooting here in Hong Kong.”
“Transformers: Age of Extinction” is scheduled for a June 27, 2014, release date.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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