Michael Bay Talks TRANSFORMERS 4 And I Talk TF3D Ride At Universal!!

I just experienced the TRANSFORMERS 3D Ride at Universal and WOW - thrilling! I had a Front Of The Line pass so I was able to see it multiple times and it never got old. One scene in particular involving a floor of a building (if you've seen it you know what I mean) is just jaw dropping. I won't say more! See it for yourself!!

And a great way to break into a post about the movie franchise too! With Michael Bay's recent muse Mark Wahlberg (PAIN AND GAIN) joining him, Michael Bay is coming back to his Transformers franchise in a different way with TRANSFORMERS 4 kicking off a new trilogy of movies.

So where do you suppose he's going with this movie?

Here's what Bay had to say about TRANSFORMERS 4 recently:
“We’re going to start off smaller. There’s a brand new cast. To freshen the franchise we’ve redesigned everything from top to bottom. The history of the first three movies is still there, we start four years later and there’s a reason why we’re meeting a new cast.

Mark is really excited about it and it’s a great redesign. I said that 3 was going to be my last one. Paramount was letting me do PAIN AND GAIN and the Transformers ride was opening at Universal and it was bittersweet to think of passing it off. I wanted to set it up on a really sure footing and to bring someone else in on that, it would have been overwhelming.

We keep the Transformers the way they were, it’s just four years later. There’s a reason the Transformers are redesigned. We’re trying to broaden the franchise and give it more places to go.”

Sounds great to me. I'm all for the continuation of such a visually rich franchise with some fresh content brought in. I'd like to see some solid storytelling in there too of course.

Source: Forbes via Collider

Mark Wahlberg Looking Solid For TRANSFORMERS 4

A while ago, Michael Bay quickly dismissed rumors about Mark Wahlberg being considered for TRANSFORMERS 4 but apparently those very same rumors got Michael Bay thinking about actually using Wahlberg for the the movie.

That, or the original rumors were true. Doesn't really matter though - the end result is that Bay is indeed thinking very seriously about Wahlberg and it looks like it will happen.

Hit the jump to read what Bay had to say on the matter:


"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."

So yes it does look like this casting will happen. I have to say, I like it. Wahlberg brings an entirely new dimension to the franchise and hopefully they can feed off of his innate acting realism.

Then, again - maybe Mark will be so upset that Michael can't spell his last name he won't sign on... :-)

TRANSFORMERS 4 is slated for a June 29, 2014 release.

Sources: CBM | MichaelBay

Update On What We Know About Michael Bay's TRANSFORMERS 4

Michael Bay finally got to complete his "small" film PAIN AND GAIN after years of trying to get it done and now is transitioning back to what I like to call "BLOCKBUSTING".

TRANSFORMERS 4 has been moved to Bay's front burner and getting full energy from his production company. He recently spoke out about the movie and what to expect, namely: It WILL NOT be a reboot...

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.

So without as much of a human focused story, will the autobots be going to space?

I think so, yeah, a little. That feels like the way to go, doesn’t it? I want to go a little off but I don’t want to go too sci-fi. I still want to keep it grounded. That’s what works in these movies, that’s what makes it accessible.

It looks like TRANSFORMERS 4 will cost about $30m less than TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON so what does Bay have to say about budgeting?

Here’s the thing, it’s tough to find someone who’s done these kind of movies and to have the complication of creating the new stuff that needs to be in this movie – not just characters but a new type of action, I hope – and that’s a lot for someone new to bite off. And so after this one I will leave it in the best hands possible. That’s the plan.

TRANSFORMERS 4 is slated for a June 2014 release with an entirely new cast. No word on whether TF4 will follow TF3's stereoscopic epicness, but one would certainly assume so.

Source: LATimes