By Jeff Rosz | January 8th, 2013  Michael Bay is hard at work on prep for the next Transformers movie, and today some major news has come through on the casting front. The mega-blockbuster has found its second lead via Jack Reynor, an Irish actor who is a complete nobody. Bay found him in an indie film from across the pond called What Richard Did (the trailer for which is posted below.) The director made the announcement earlier today via his personal blog at which point he reasserted that this is NOT a reboot, and it will feature a ‘very natural transition’ storywise. At the same time, he does acknowledge that Transformers 4 will feel different as the production unit begins work on a ‘new trilogy.’
Unfortunately, there is no word at this time concerning how much screen time Reynor will receive (Josh Duhamel level?,) but judging from the statements made by Bay, one could imagine that the split storytelling could subside in favor of something more along the lines of a centerpiece tale. That’s a good thing people! Michael Bay’s words following the jump.
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By Jeff Rosz | November 12th, 2012  Just last week, word broke that the lead for Transformers 4 would be none other than Mark Wahlberg. While people were instantly rejoicing that Shia LaBeouf was indeed out (something we previously heard, but were never exactly sold on,) there remained huge questions about the direction of the Hasbro-spawned franchise. Naturally, Michael Bay is on top of it as he is one of the most transparent big budget directors in Hollywood. Continue Reading
By Jeff Rosz | November 7th, 2012 
Update 11/7: Maybe Michael Bay fanboys know the director better than he knows himself. According to his latest blog post, they have given him some ideas in tangent with his fondness for Wahlberg’s work on Pain and Gain. He does caution it is still early on in the story process, but it is hard to imagine he would say something if the actor’s presence was not being seriously considered. Here is what the Armageddon helmer had to say.
I squashed a rumor that was on the internet last week. It was about Mark Walhberg. Mark was rumored to be staring in Transformers 4. We are working on another movie together, not T4. I had such a great time working with Mark on Pain and Gain, and he gave such a great performance – well let’s say that very internet chatter gave me some ideas. We are at the inception of our story process right now on T4. Let’s say some ideas are gaining traction with me and my writer – so I’m here to say thanks internet chatter.
Michael
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By Jeff Rosz | June 22nd, 2012  Today brings with it some Michael Bay news that has nothing to do with Ninja Turtles or his currently-in-development passion project Pain and Gain starring Dwayne Johnson. Instead, it has much to do with the state of things regarding Transformers 4 and its quasi-reboot nature. Ever since the director revealed that tidbit about the upcoming fourth installment of Paramount’s series, the press has been wondering what it all means and thankfully Bay saw fit to clarify things to the LA Times.
“It’s not a reboot, that’s maybe the wrong word. I don’t want to say reboot because then people will think we’re doing a Spider-Man and starting from the beginning. We’re not. We’re taking the story that you’ve seen — the story we’ve told in three movies already — and we’re taking it in a new direction. But we’re leaving those three as the history. It all still counts. I met with the writer before I went off to do ‘Pain and Gain’ and we talked about a bunch of ideas. We let that simmer for a bit. He’s been thinking about stuff and now we’re getting back together next week to see what we’ve got and to see if it gels.”
Of course, we already pretty much jumped to the conclusion that this was not a reboot, but people were still up in arms about some comments he made about ‘new designs’ which likely will come in the form of new characters. What we can take away thought from Bay’s recent comments though is that he has not exactly settled on a plot yet other than the fact that things will be a bit different thanks to Shia LaBeouf’s departure.
Bay also said some things alluding to a more Asgardian vibe ala Thor by saying he would be cool with spending more time in space, but he backed off almost immediately by saying it is important to remain distant from the sci-fi genre with Transformers. Ultimately, I would venture a guess that he is not really attached to the idea of spending more time in space and more so this was a baited response from the press.
Stay tuned for more on Transformers as Michael Bay turns his attention back to the Hasbro-spawned property which is expected to have its fourth installment landing in theaters two years from now on June 27, 2014.
By Jeff Rosz | June 6th, 2012  Today brings with it some new information on the next Transformers movie, and it is very much of the ‘we already knew that’ variety. Continue Reading
By Jeff Rosz | February 14th, 2012 
Update @ 9:19 AM, ET: Apparently, Paramount is rather peeved that this is how the information about Transformers got out as the studio was still prepping a press release at the time of the MTV interview with Lorenzo di Bonaventura. Nothing he said was wrong though. Studios just like to issue press releases so they can control the first free publicity that their feature is going to get.
Upon this development, Paramount released some new information that was not detailed in the interview. Transformers 4 and 5 will not be shot back-to-back which was previously believed to be the case. With an new cast at the center of their blockbuster franchise, who could blame them for not wanting to double down right away on something that could potentially end up as a disaster?
Original: Transformers producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura spoke with MTV recently where he divulged a few details that many movie-goers would be interested to hear about. He confirmed that Michael Bay would indeed be directing a fourth installment (which is pretty much something we already knew), and he also revealed the release date that is being targeted for the next effort in the series: June 29, 2014. This would mean three years between franchise outings which would be the largest gap between Transformers flicks to date.
By Jeff Rosz | January 1st, 2012  2011 was not as bad for Hollywood as box office reports would have you believe. Despite contracting 4% in revenue domestically, the year did play host to three movies that grossed in excess of $1 billion globally. This compares favorably to 2010 which only had two films in the 10-digit club between Toy Story 3 and Alice in Wonderland. Neither of which went far beyond the mark.
The movies at the top of the heap worldwide in 2011 were all sequels. The Harry Potter finale took top honors with over $1.3 billion followed by Transformers: Dark of the Moon’s $1.1 billion and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides’ $1 billion and change. While the first was a no brainer in terms of anticipated performance, the latter two had a difficult road to passing the milestone as both had relatively weak domestic showings (by franchise comparisons) and foreign audiences ultimately had to pick up the slack. The entire industry performed 6-8% higher abroad last year so that certainly was not an uncharacteristic thing to see.
2012 might be a little more difficult egg to crack as the favorites to join the billion dollar club are The Dark Knight Rises and The Hobbit Part I. There are certainly some dark horse blockbusters that could exceed the milestone; however, it might be a stretch to assume that The Avengers and/or The Amazing Spider-Man can go the distance. The Marvel offerings are certainly capable though if superhero fatigue does not win out. Among the non-franchise flicks, Snow White and the Huntsman which stars Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Kristen Stewart (Twilight), and Charlize Theron (Young Adult) could be a surprise billionaire judging from the reception of the film’s first trailer. The Hunger Games has a lot of buzz as well, but given its very young target demo it would be shocking if the movie does significantly better than an edition of Twilight.
By Jeff Rosz | December 7th, 2011  After all the hub-bub about Michael Bay’s exit from the franchise after his trilogy was complete, the director looks poised to get back on the saddle for another go around and helm Transformers 4. So what happened? Bay really wanted to make a different film, but Paramount is essentially saying, “Okay, but only if…” Continue Reading
By Jeff Rosz | October 18th, 2011 Transformers are back in the news this week after it was reported on Monday that Hasbro, Paramount, Michael Bay, and Steven Spielberg were all in deal mode concerning a fourth movie in the franchise. The story is developing very fast and it now looks like the next Transformers outing will be a two-part affair as shooting four and five back-to-back is in the cards. Continue Reading
By Jeff Rosz | October 17th, 2011 Hasbro’s CEO Brian Goldner has gone on record saying that the toy company is in talks with Paramount, Michael Bay, and Steven Spielberg right now for production of a fourth Transformers movie. This is very interesting stuff because the last we heard Michael Bay was done with the franchise. Maybe this is for an executive producer role for the director, but it sounds like audiences are getting that second Transformers trilogy a lot sooner than expected. Continue Reading
By Jeff Rosz | June 17th, 2011  I saw this one posted on Movieline earlier today, and thought I would pass it along. Here is the newest music video trailer for Transformers: Dark of the Moon. The movie hits theaters on June 29, 2011, and the song is called Iridescent by Linken Park. Continue Reading
By Jeff Rosz | June 3rd, 2011 Today, a featurette was released for the third Transformers movie, Dark of the Moon. The Michael Bay film releases in theaters on June 29, 2011 in the United States. Continue Reading
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