Michael Bay is faces a second extortion attempt while filming in Hong Kong for Transformers 4.
The last time it happened, Michael Bay explained how he fought off a guy who wanted money to stop throwing bricks at the set, and it took 15 policemen to take him down. Bay’s account even had product placement (“He actually bit into one of the guards Nike shoe, insane. Thank god it was an Air Max.”).
Today, there’s news of yet another extortion attempt. Who knew Hong Kong had so much organized crime?
A suspected triad member was in police custody last night after being arrested on suspicion of attempting to extort money from the crew of the fourth Transformers movie in To Kwa Wan.It was the second attempt in five days to blackmail the Paramount Pictures crew during filming in Hong Kong. The incident was “ridiculous” and “more unusual than getting a jackpot”, said Hong Kong Directors Guild president Derek Yee Tung-sing.
Police are looking for three other racketeers in connection with the latest case, which happened on the roof of a residential block in To Kwa Wan Road at about 2.30pm on Tuesday.
According to police, the four men allegedly approached and demanded money from the crew, who were checking the site at the time of the incident. The crew immediately called police.
Officers arrested a 35-year-old Hong Kong man but the other three men escaped. A police source said the man was a suspected triad member.Yee, of the directors guild, said he hasn’t heard of any blackmail cases in the past few years.
Decades ago people would try to get money by throwing objects from a height during filming, he recalled. But after an attack on an auxiliary police officer during the filming of an RTHK production the police made a series of arrests and snuffed out similar crimes [SouthChinaMorningPost]
That sounds like one helluva experience. Check out Michael Bay’s account of what happened:
I’m here to set the record straight again . . . my crew and I have been having a great time in Hong Kong despite what you may have read about us being “rocked by a second extortion attempt.” Totally untrue. A few bad dudes have definitely not ruined the experience. We shoot from sun up to sun down, and the local HK crew have become part of our on-set family. We’re in the middle of busy streets, in businesses, and even in people’s homes, and everyone we’ve met has been very accommodating and generous. It’s been a once in a lifetime experience we’d all consider doing again.
Michael Bay
