Michael Bay is lean, walks with purpose and carries his chin and shoulders at an imperious tilt, and on a recent afternoon at his work compound in Santa Monica it was easy to envision him as some proud matador. Perhaps that’s fitting — Bay, like those bullfighters in distant Barcelona — thinks of himself as a mayhem artist in the crowd-pleasing business.

Bay is back in the ring on June 24 with his eighth film, ” Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” which many industry observers expect to surpass the first “Transformers” film, which grossed a staggering $708 million worldwide in 2007. “The pre-tracking is huge,” Bay said of surveys of audience interest in the movie that stars Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox and an army of two-story alien robots.

He rolled his eyes, though, contemplating the last-minute labor that needs to be done. “This one,” he said, “is barely going to make it to theaters. You have no idea how complicated my life is.” The 44-year-old chuckled about his stress level, which fits his industry reputation as a director who thrives on pressure and adrenaline. Bay makes huge movies with high concepts and so many explosions that you expect the filmmaker to reek of cordite when you shake his hand.