Transformers 4 To Be Set Four Years Later

Earlier this week, Michael Bay reversed a previous denial and announced that Mark Wahlberg would be a part of Transformers 4. In an interview with TMZ Live, Bay confirmed his earlier assertion that Wahlberg's casting was not something that was planned, but instead was something the Internet made him do. When asked how he scored Wahlberg, Bay said, "I don't know it was just something we thought about a bit. You know, you saw the whole Internet rumor that he was on, and that wasn't really true. And we're in the inception part of the story, and just talking with Stephen Spielberg, and you know this is just a great way to really take this franchise in a different direction. We're doing a lot of things that are really going to make it fresh and feel new." After recognizing Walhberg as an Oscar nominated actor, Bay also added, "He's never had a huge franchise, so this is something that really appealed to him. He said, 'You know, I really want to show a movie to my kids.'" As far as the plot, Bay confirmed that Wahlberg is not taking over Shia LaBeouf's role. Bay also revealed that Transformers 4 won't be a reboot, but that it will be a continuation of the first three movies. Bay said, "The movie is going to continue four years from the attack on Chicago which was in the last movie. So it's going to still have the same lineage but going in a full, new direction, and it actually feels very natural how it is going in that direction. There's no way you're ever going to find out what the story is, because you're going to have to dig through my trash, but I shred my trash." Bay also gave a different release date for Transformers 4 than he initially stated when announcing Wahlberg's casting. In the Wahberg announcement, Bay gave a June 27, 2014 release date, but he told TMZ it would be released a week later on July 4, 2014.