After every Transformers film, Michael Bay says ‘never again’, and then a few months later he’s signed on the dotted line to make another. After Transformer 3, he once more said he was done, but now Paramount has announced he’s coming back for Transformers 4, but the studio will let him make Pain & Gain first, a smaller movie Bay’s been developing for years, but which he’s kept putting back so he can make giant robot flicks.
Based on a true story, Pain and Gain follows a group of bodybuilders who engaged in a campaign of kidnapping, extortion and murder in Florida. First told in an article from the Miami New Times, the movie will star Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. Shooting is expected to start in early spring.
Following Pain and Gain, Bay will go back to the Transformers franchise as he begins production on the fourth installment in the hit series, which has now been set for release on June 29th, 2014. There’s no news on a plot or stars, but as things stands, Shia LaBeouf won’t return.
“Michael has been working on Pain and Gain for a number of years but has patiently waited for the perfect casting to trigger a start,” said Adam Goodman, President of Paramount’s Film Group. “Clearly his patience has paid off as we couldn’t be more excited about this combo. His passion for this project is just awesome.”