Because, really, who else could direct a "Transformers" movie?
Michael Bay may have thought that he was done with "Transformers," but "Transformers" is apparently not done with him, according to Vulture.
Bay, who directed all three films in the mega-popular series, is in final negotiations to direct a fourth giant robot smack-down. Now that Bay's long-gestating passion project, "Pain and Gain," is finally coming together, he's apparently much more receptive to signing on for another "Transformers" movie with Paramount.
"Pain and Gain," for which Bay is courting both Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne Johnson, is based on a three-part story published in the Miami New Times about the infamous Sun Gym Gang, a group of Miami bodybuilders who kidnapped, tortured and robbed a businessman but got their comeuppance when their left-for-dead victim hired a private eye to hunt them down. Bay has been trying to get the project off the ground since optioning the story in 1999.
Meanwhile, details on the fourth "Transformers" film are being kept under wraps, though it's apparently not a prequel and will delve deeper into the franchise's canon to mine older characters and lore. Hmm... could the Dinobots be a part of this new adventure? Or -- dare we dream -- the planet-munching Unicron?
If all goes according to plan, Michael Bay will begin shooting "Pain and Gain" in early spring and will segue into "Transformers 4" by winter 2012.
