Mark Wahlberg Confirmed for Transformers 4 – Film Will Pick Up Four Years After Dark of the Moon

After swirling rumors that Academy Award nominee Mark Wahlberg would be the lead in the next Transformers installment, director Michael Bay has confirmed the news via his personal blog.  This comes as no surprise considering that Bay and Wahlberg have just recently wrapped on the action comedy Pain and Gain.  Bay has also confirmed that the story will not be completely rebooted, but will pick up four years after the events of Transformers: Dark of the Moon.  Hit the jump to read the press releases.

Michael Bay issued a press release via his personal blog on November 8th, 2012 regarding the casting of Mark Wahlberg:

HOLLYWOOD, CA (November 8, 2012) – After an exceptionally successful collaboration on the upcoming “Pain and Gain,” Michael Bay has cast Academy Award®-nominee Mark Wahlberg in the highly anticipated “TRANSFORMERS 4.”  The film will hit theaters June 27th, 2014.

“Mark is awesome.  We had a blast working on “Pain and Gain” and I’m so fired up to be back working with him.  An actor of his caliber is the perfect guy to re-invigorate the franchise and carry on the Transformers’ legacy,” said Bay.

Bay will direct the next installment in the “TRANSFORMERS” series, which begins shooting next spring.  From Paramount Pictures, a division of Viacom, Inc., in association with Hasbro, the film will be produced by Don Murphy & Tom DeSanto, Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Ian Bryce, and executive produced by Steven Spielberg, Bay, Brian Goldner and Mark Vahradian.

Bay’s first “TRANSFORMERS” film was a box office sensation in 2007, opening at #1 and earning more than $700 million worldwide.  His second installment “TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN” in 2009 grossed more than $830 million worldwide.  In 2011, “TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON” was an even bigger hit worldwide, grossing more than a billion dollars to become the 5th highest grossing film of all time.  To date, the franchise has earned more than $2.6 billion worldwide.

From acclaimed director Michael Bay comes “Pain and Gain,” a new action comedy starring Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson and Anthony Mackie.  Based on the unbelievable true story of three personal trainers in 1990s Miami who, in pursuit of the American Dream, get caught up in a criminal enterprise that goes horribly wrong.  Ed Harris, Tony Shalhoub, Rob Corddry, Rebel Wilson, and Bar Paly also star.  The film is based on magazine articles by Pete Collins, with a screenplay by Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely and produced by Donald DeLine, Michael Bay and Ian Bryce.

“PAIN AND GAIN” opens in theaters everywhere April 26th, 2013.

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In a conversation with TMZ, Bay revealed that Transformers 4 would pick up four years after the last film:

“The Movie is will continue four years from the attack on Chicago, which is in the last movie.  So it’s still going to have the same lineage, but it’s going in a full new direction and it actually feels natural going in that direction.”

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Transformers 4 is set to hit the big screen on June 27, 2014.

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