I don’t think it can get any more official than this as I just receieved a press release from Paramount announcing that Mark Wahlberg will be the new lead in Transformers 4, confirming speculation that was running rampant only yesterday.
MICHAEL BAY RE-TEAMS WITH HIS “PAIN AND GAIN” STAR MARK WAHLBERG FOR TRANSFORMERS 4
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.
So there you have it. Michael Bay and Mark Wahlberg developed a bromance on the set of Pain & Gain and now they’re planning on making more and more movies together a-la-Burton/Depp. I say that because they claim that TF4 wasn’t even the original project they were discussing for a future collaboration so until I hear otherwise I’m going to believe that the originally proposed project is still on the table (please God, not Ninja Turtles).
Interesting and inspiring news and I’m actually pretty happy with this casting. I think Wahlberg is one of those guys that is fairly versatile and will fit into the Transformers cinematic universe nicely. What do you think?
Via: Paramount Pictures and Michael Bay
