Michael Bay left the following message on his official site. Sounds like nothing's as far along as we were led to believe....
Bay: "Right now I'm not decided on Transformers 4
Studio's are passing rumors but I'm not sure what I'm doing? I know I'm going to do Pain and Gain early spring but that's it for right now. I'm leaving all my options on the table. I've got several Studio meetings in the next two weeks."
Below is the original story from last night....
Michael Bay just can't quit the Autobots. After three mega successful, mega loud Transformers flicks, the director known for substituting human emotions and character development with a really good explosion decided to take a break and do something smaller. He started working on Pain and Gain, an indie crime flick(described as Fargo-esque) he's been building long before the Transformers entered his life, and pretty much bid a fond farewell to giant, city destroying robots.
Yeah right.
Vulture reports that Bay has entered talks with Paramount to direct a fourth film in the franchise, and if that sounds suspicious....well, there's a good reason for that. Apparently, Paramount is playing a bit of smashmouth football, essentially dangling Pain and Gain in front of him like a carrot. He either makes Transformers 4, or he can't complete his little indie experiment. Bay has been planning this for a long time, but he's not officially signed to direct anything. A deal is said to be close to finalizing, and when that happens he would get started almost immediately on Pain and Gain. Yesterday news broke that Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne Johnson are the chief candidates to star in the film about a pair of dopey bodybuilders who get involved with a kidnapping scheme that goes awry.
So what would a fourth Transformers film entail? Reports are it won't be a prequel, but will explore older characters and go deeper into Transformers lore. If that's the route they're taking, it sounds like the plan is to appeal more to the hardcore fan, which for a guy like me with Transformers action figures littering his room sounds pretty awesome. One thing is for certain and it's that we won't be seeing Shia Labeouf return to be the only action hero less imposing than his female co-stars.
It's kindof dickish for Paramount to do this, because Bay has earned them a buttload of money and should be allowed to make whatever film he wants. We'll see how this whole thing shakes out, but if the deal goes through Bay could begin production on Transformers 4 as early as next winter.
