Believe it or not, but it’s been almost two decades since Michael Bay directed a relatively straightforward theatrically released actioner that plays to his strengths as one of the industry’s foremost auteurs of practically-staged destruction and explosive set pieces.
That was 2003’s Bad Boys II, which remains the pre-eminent example of big screen Bayhem. Since then, he’s tackled plenty of sci-fi via The Island and his five-film stint on the Transformers franchise, while he mixed things up with black comedy crime caper Pain & Gain and war story 13 Hours, before 6 Underground went straight to Netflix.
However, he’s looking to make up for lost time with the high concept Ambulance, which has Jake Gyllenhaal and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II on the run from the authorities after a heist gone wrong. The movie was initially scheduled to hit theaters in February of next year, but it’s now been pushed back two months to April.
Fingers crossed that we’re not in the midst of yet another domino effect that sees countless titles delayed further into next year, but fellow Universal film Fast & Furious 10 has already been moved, although it could be a show of confidence on the studio’s part to pull Ambulance out of the February dead zone and into the more lucrative spring.