'Transformers 5' Release Date, Cast and News: Filming Starts in May, Plot Following Cartoons More Closely

Feb 02, 2016 01:19 PM EST

Those waiting for more concrete news of "Transformers 5" can now rejoice. A new report reveals that the fifth installment of the motion picture franchise already landed a May 2016 filming start date. 

Release Date

When it comes to its official release date, fans need to wait some more to know this. Slated for a summer 2017 release, My Entertainment World revealed that "Transformers 5" will begin principal photography in May this year. This is a month earlier than the previously speculated date of June.

Director and Cast

Michael Bay returns to the director's chair for this installment. Mark Wahlberg is also playing the lead role again. When it comes to the plot, however, fans can expect big changes. 

Plot and Script

If avid fans of the first four installments already got used to the Autobots playing a secondary role to the humans, then they will be in for a surprise on "Transformers 5." According to Crossmap, "Transformers 5" will be following more closely to the cartoons, wherein the robots take center stage.

Where the movie will be shooting is still undisclosed. What is currently known is that it will have a script crafted by the combined efforts of several screenwriters from Paramount's "Transformers" writing group. Included in this group of writers are Akiva Goldsman, who wrote "I am Legend," and Ken Nolan, who worked on "Black Hawk Down."

As early as last year, Goldsman also provided comprehensive details on how they will go about creating the plot, in an interview with Deadline.

"We will look at the toys, the TV shows, the merchandise, everything that has been generated by Hasbro, from popular to forgotten iterations, and establish a mythological timeline. It has been designed with a lot of visual help, toys, robots, sketches, and writers and artists. After that supersaturation, the writers will figure out not one, but numerous films that will extend the universe," he said. "If one of the writers discovers an affinity for Beast Wars, they can drive forward on treatments that will have been fleshed out by the whole room."

However, other details remain unclear. Nonetheless, fans have high hopes that this installment will top "Transformers: Age of Extinction," which was the highest-grossing film of 2014. Since "Age of Extinction" also garnered a lot of praises for its visual effects and action consequences, " Transformers 5" has a lot to live up to.