Paramount Pictures has confirmed the release date of Transformers 5, the fifth installment to one of the most successful movie franchises in terms of earnings. Already, there were speculations that Mark Wahlberg, the hero in The Transformer: Age of Extinction, and Shia LaBeouf of Transformers 1, 2, 3, will return to reprise their lead roles.
Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner reportedly commented, "Our plan with the studio and filmakers you may have heard some writers being hired and we have in fact brought in Akiva Goldsman to lead a group of writers to really create a strategic plan around Transformers. We think there are any number of stories to be told from the brand that has been around for 30 years with amazing canon and mythology. We would expect the sequel to the Transformers movie [TF4] to happen in 2017."
According to Screenrant.com, Paramount has originally announced a 2016 release for Transformers 5 but producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura dismissed the news and said there were still plenty of works to be done before shooting starts. Wahlberg added to the excitement when he earlier said that filming for the Transformers sequel would start soon.
An interesting bit of information is the rumored return of Michael Bay to direct a new trilogy. Bay made a pronouncement after the Transformers: Age of Extinction that he won't be returning to direct another Transformers movie. Transformers 4, and to some extent Bay, drew heavy flak from critics, and described the movie as the worst despite being a huge blockbuster that earned more than $1 billion and was the highest-grossing movie in China.
The Bay directed Transformers movies collectively earned $3.8 billion worldwide with the Transformers: Age of Extinction cementing Wahlberg's capability to generate viewers, said Yibada.com.
The report added that director/producer Akiva Goldsman has revealed that Transformers 5 will be divided into several sequels, and additional spinoffs from the main franchise. Goldsman will be joining Bay and di Bonaventura to develop ideas for the sequels and the spinoffs.
These latest development allows for Wahlberg and LaBeouf to reprise their lead roles as the new film is expected to explore multiple timelines.
In a separate report, VCPost claimed that Paramount and the producers of the Transformers franchise are also facing some challenges with the cast as well as Bay who had earned the ire of some of the film's cast.
Bay had a much-publicized spat with Megan Fox who portrayed Mikaela Banes in the first two Transformer movies. Fox described Bay as "Hitler" because of his grueling work schedule that resulted to her "firing" by Executive Producer Steven Spielberg.
Fox and Bay have later patched their differences with Bay casting Fox in the live action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles where she played April O'Neil."
According to the report, Fox declared she would only return to Transformers 5 if LaBeouf is also casted.
This pose another problem as LaBeouf, who played Sam Witwicky in the first three Transformers films, already said he was not interested in the franchise. He told the Hollywood Reporter, "Bumblebee never sounds real, it's just a f**king name. The name alone you can never make real, no matter how much you put into it, because on the other side you have a director who doesn't believe it either."
Bay, who has submitted his resignation papers after the Transformers 4, is being wooed by Paramount Pictures to return. Paramount has asked Bay to work as a in the "writers' room" that will develop the sequels and the spinoffs.
