Paramount Pictures announced on Monday that director Michael Bay will be back to direct the fourth film in the blockbuster series “Transformers,” set to hit theaters June 29, 2014.
The “Transformers” movies have raked in $1.6 billion since its start in 2007, reports Yahoo Movies.
Although the film’s star, Shia LaBeouf, declined to return for a fourth installment, Bay plans on creating a whole new story. Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura told Yahoo Movies that, “There will be a lot of new cast. Whether there’s anybody from the first cast, we don’t even know yet.”
Though there are rumors that Jason Statham will replace LaBeouf as the new star, Bonaventura said that it is too early in the process to even think about casting. “No, it’s so silly. We have to get a story first,” he told MTV News. “You can’t pick characters if you don’t have a story.”
The “Transformers” sequel is part of a “two-picture deal for Bay at Paramount,” reported the Associated Press. Before beginning the next chapter, Bay will be directing Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne Johnson in the crime tale, “Pain and Gain.”
With the series heading in a new direction, questions about original cast and storylines returning continue to linger. However, Bonaventura guarantees that the movie will have continuity, despite the changes ahead.
“Whether there’s anybody from the first cast, we don’t even know yet,” said Bonaventura to MTV. “The trust is it’s going to be a whole new story. The characters that would certainly come along are Optimus and Bumblebee, I’m sure.”