Earlier today, the Wrap reported that Gemma Arterton of Clash of the Titans, Prince of Persia and Quantum of Solace was the front-runner to replace Megan Fox in Transformers 3.
Not so fast says Nelson, spokesperson for Michael Bay on his official website. Nelson stopped by Transformers 3 producer Don Murphy’s message board to offer the following, “No Gemma Arterton in TF3. She wasn’t even close.” Murphy then sprinkled salt on the wound with this gem, “The Wrap is run by a lady who got everything wrong when she worked at the NY Times. Her site loses money hourly. Be careful where from you quote.”
It’s safe to say you can cross Gemma’s name off the list which leaves pretty much every young actress in Hollywood with a clear summer schedule still in the running. By now, odds are strong that Bay and company have someone in mind and are already negotiating to bring her on board as quickly as possible.
As for why Megan and Transformers have parted ways, Murphy quickly swept one of the rumors off the table. “Megan’s comments had NOTHING To do with the departing,” he said, referring to Megan’s verbal attacks on Bay that compared him to Hitler. Meanwhile, Fox’s rep told People magazine that it was the actress’ decision to leave and not the studio’s. Will we ever know the truth?
Oddly enough, Michael Bay has yet to publicly comment.
