Start oiling those gears, folks, and get ready to do the robot: Transformers is back!
Michael Bay has filled up his directorial dance card and is set to helm a fourth Transformers movie that'll hit theaters in June 2014, Paramount Pictures announced.
But in a curious twist, Transformers will be transformed: Producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura reveals that the franchise will be rebooted to allow for an "evolution" of the storyline.
Wait! Does that mean no Shia LaBoeuf or Rosie Huntington-Whiteley?
In an interview with MTV, Di Bonaventura says that the franchise's creative team plans to overhaul the story, but that the sequel's characters have yet to be determined and that no casting decisions have been made.
"We really are going to do a reboot there, and what that's going to be we don't even know yet," the producer explains. "It's a hybrid...It's an evolution. There's still continuity that's going on, and yet there'll be a lot of new cast.
As for the original castmembers?
"We don't even know yet," he says, adding that they need to nail down a story first before zeroing in on characters. "But the characters that would certainly come along would be Optimus and Bumblebee, I'm sure."
The latest Transformers flick is part of a new two-picture deal for Bay at Paramount. First up for the director will be Pain and Gain, a real-life story about a group of bodybuilders who get caught up in Florida's criminal underworld.
Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson have signed on to star, and production is expected to begin this spring.
Then, it's on to Transformers 4.
Don't get your hopes up to see LaBoeuf buckle up for another go-round, though: Last year, the actor practically exited the series, telling MTV, "I just don't think right now there's anywhere to take [his character] Sam…I love working with Michael. I would do any movie Michael wants to do. I just don't think there's anywhere to take it with Sam."
As for the series' original hottie, Megan Fox? Don't expect her to get a return ticket any time soon after she compared Bay to Hitler and subsequently got fired from the third Transformers film.
May we suggest the CGI team build a 'bot version of Megan Fox, instead? Maybe its character will be less…robotic.