Michael Bay Re-Teams With His ‘Pain & Gain’ Star Mark Wahlberg for Transformers 4

A new logo for Michael Bay‘s Transformers 4 has hit, which can be seen above. I would describe it as functional rather than spectacular, but it does manage to combine the Transformers symbol and the number four, so it seems to work. If they are really smart they could call the movie Trans4ormers. See what I did there?
In other Autobot-inspired news, Mark Wahlberg has now been confirmed to star in the fourth installment of this successful franchise. Marky Mark roll out! Bay released this statement on his official website:

Mark [Wahlberg] 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.

Getting Wahlberg on board is a real coup for the robo-franchise, especially considering the charisma vacuum that is Shia Labeouf is reportedly wanting $18 million (seriously!) to return.
Filming on the movie is set to start in early spring, with a release date of June 27, 2014 penciled in. If you can’t wait that long to see Marky Mark and some Bayhem-style shit-blowing-up-at-sunset, then body-building action-comedy Pain and Gain hits theaters April 26, 2013.

 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.
SEE THE FULL ANNOUCMENT HERE: www.MichaelBay.com