While Bay is coming back, series star Shia LaBeouf is sticking by his claim that Dark of the Moon would be his last turn as stammering Autobot ally Sam Witwicky, leaving the creative direction of the franchise unsure. Though he uses the term "reboot," di Bonaventura apparently has more of a sequel in mind.
“Well I mean again it’s hybrid. It’s not the way—I’m not involved with Spider-Man but what I perceive Spider-Man to be is a redoing of the whole thing, [Transformers 4] is not," he explained. "It’s an evolution. There’s still continuity that’s going on, and yet there’ll be a lot of new cast. Whether there’s anybody from the [original] cast, we don’t even know yet. But the truth is, it’s gonna be a whole new story. The characters that would certainly come along would be Optimus and Bumblebee I’m sure.”
With the cat out of the bag, Paramount Pictures took the opportunity to formally announce not only the return of Bay and producers Steven Spielberg, Brian Goldner, and di Bonaventura, but to drop a formal release date for the fourth Transformers via the official press release below:
HOLLYWOOD, CA (February 13, 2012) – Paramount Pictures announced today that director Michael Bay has signed a two-picture deal with the studio, which will commence this spring with the filming of “Pain and Gain,” and will be followed by the next installment in the hit “Transformers” franchise.
Based on a true story, “Pain and Gain” follows a group of bodybuilders who engaged in a campaign of kidnapping, extortion and murder in Florida. First told in an article from the Miami New Times, “Pain and Gain,” will be directed by Bay and will star Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Expected to begin production in early spring, the movie’s producers include Bay, Donald De Line and Ian Bryce.
Following “Pain and Gain,” Bay will bring audiences a new take on the “Transformers” franchise as he begins production on the fourth installment in the hit series of movies based on the best-selling Hasbro toyline. The third, and most recent installment of the franchise, “Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” is the fourth highest global grossing film of all time with 1.24 billion dollars of worldwide box office success. Directed by Bay, the movie will re-unite the filmmaking team from the hit franchise, including producers Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Don Murphy, Tom DeSanto and Ian Bryce; and executive producers Steven Spielberg, Bay, Brian Goldner and Mark Vahradian. Paramount Pictures will release the film on June 29th, 2014.
“Michael has been working on PAIN AND GAIN for a number of years but has patiently waited for the perfect casting to trigger a start,” said Adam Goodman, President of Paramount’s Film Group. “Clearly his patience has paid off as we couldn’t be more excited about this combo. His passion for this project is just awesome.”
It would seem that Paramount and Bay worked out a "one for me, one for you" deal in order to get Pain & Gain running for Bay and another massively profitably Transformers in development for the studio. Pain & Gain, which is based on a true story set within the world of competitive bodybuilding, is said to be a dark comedy involving kidnapped, extortion, and plenty of violence. With a tone akin to Pulp Fiction, it will be the smallestfeature budget Bay has worked with in at least fifteen years, if not ever, with reports that it will cost in the range of $20 million. Principal photography is tentatively set to begin in Florida this April with Wahlberg and Johnson starring.
So, Transformers 4 now has a June 29, 2014 release date despite having no apparent story and a director who is deep in pre-production on another film.
