Bruce Willis Hated Working With Michael Bay On 'Armageddon' And Swore He Would Never Do It Again (but The Director Didn't Think So)

‘Armageddon’ is one of the most emblematic films of both the career of Bruce Willis like the filmography of Michael Bay. No one would have been surprised that both collaborated later, but the truth is that it never happened. The reason was discovered a few years ago when the actor came to affirm that I will never work with him again“.

Willis’ attack from behind

To find those incendiary statements you have to go back to 2007, more specifically to the months prior to the premiere of ‘The jungle 4.0’a film that was quite criticized before its release for having opted for a softer editing than its predecessors in order to avoid an R rating. It was then that The actor was asked about a possible film of said saga directed by Bayto which he replied as follows:

It would have ruined ‘The Jungle 4.0’. Few people will work with him now and I know I will never work with him again.

The most striking of all is that Willis initially made these statements anonymously, but on the AICN website it was announced that he was the one behind that account, from which he also harshly attacked the producer. Joel Silverabout which he declared this:

Fuck Joel Silver. You don’t understand my relationship with him. We’re cordial when we meet, but we haven’t worked together since ‘The Last Boy Scout.’

Bay’s response

This harsh attack by Willis reached the ears of Baywho It showed itself incredulous at the possibility that he was really the protagonist of ‘Looper’ whoever was behind it, to the point of assuring that the actor had offered to take care of ‘The Jungle 4.0’:

It’s hard to believe that it’s really Bruce saying those things on AICN. I loved working with Bruce. He gave me a big hug a month ago at the GM’s party and we talked for 20 minutes. We even talked about working together again. I mean it would be sad if he felt that way – he’s never one to hide his feelings from him – I say sad, because he wouldn’t be man enough to say it to my face. But it’s really sad that such an important actor has to hide in a small talk section. So I really don’t believe this story. I also find it totally strange that my agents at William Morris got the call from Bruce’s people asking if I’d like to direct Jungle 4.0, but I was already on Transformers.

Neither of them said anything about it again and their paths did not coincide again in any movie. Now the question is whether he was a hypocrite in his attitude with Bay or not, but what does seem quite clear is that he did not enjoy working under him at all. Hopefully one day I will know the exact reason, because the filmmaker has affirmed on more than one occasion the privilege it was to work with Willis, the last time on the occasion of the sad announcement of his retirement as an actor.