Michael Bay has signed a two-film deal with Paramount Pictures, but only one of the films will feature Autobot leader Optimus Prime.
Rumors have been percolating of late that Michael Bay would direct Transformers 4 and Transformers 5 for Paramount Pictures, shooting the big-budget action extravaganzas back-to-back. Those rumors have turned out to be only partially true.
The confirmation that Bay had signed on to direct Transformers 4, and only Transformers 4, came from Toy Fair 2012 yesterday when producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura shared the news in an interview with MTV. Bay then took to his official website a little later to set the record straight, directly telling his fans that he had signed a deal with Paramount to direct Pain and Gain next, followed by Transformers 4. His original note has since been replaced with an official press release.
Pain and Gain is a low-budget (in Bay’s world) project that the director has been trying to get made for years. Being the cash cow that it is, the Transformers franchise has sucked up more than half a decade of Bay’s time, making it hard for him to focus on anything else.
While filming Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Bay made it clear that this would be his final turn directing the Autobots and Decepticons, and he would get Pain and Gain made. It looks like Paramount was able to persuade Bay to return to the Transformers world by allowing him to tackle Pain and Gain first.
In Pain and Gain, Bay will direct Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Mark Wahlberg playing bodybuilders who get caught up in kidnapping, extortion and murder in Florida. The film is based on a true story and will be shot for a modest $25 million. Production is scheduled to get underway this spring.
Transformers 4 has been given a release date of June 29, 2014. Rumors are already being thrown around that this fourth installment will be a reboot of the franchise that could star Jason Statham, though it’s too early too early to know for sure at this time.
