When Transformers 2 was released, Michael Bay was talking about stepping back from making big blockbuster movies for a while, as they're utterly exhausting and then when you've finished, you just get metaphorically punched by the critics. However it seem that the success of the giant robot film has given him his mojo back, as he's now ready to talk story ideas for the third Transformers flick.
Bay's official website has been updated to let us know that, "He [Bay] will be meeting later this week with Steven Spielberg, and Ehren Kruger to discuss ideas for Transformers 3. By the end of the week he should have an idea if Transformers 3 will hit your local cineplex in the summer of 2011 or 2012." It was also added that, "In the meantime Pain & Gain is looking very possible as is Bad Boys 3. Either film coming to a theater near you before or after Transformers 3."
Pain & Gain is Bay's true-story "small Pulp Fiction-like project" about a pair of bobdybuilders who get involved in a kidnapping plot that goes wrong, which he's hoping to make to show that there's more to him that just lots of things exploding, while Bad Boys 3 is at the script stage at Sony, with both Bay and the stars waiting to see whether they can get a good screenplay together before they decide whether to move forward.
The confusion over whether Transformers 3 will be out in 2011 or 2012 is down to the fact that before Transformers 2 came out, Paramount announced a 2011 release for the third instalment, but Bay quickly said that this was a mistake and there was no way he'd be able to get such a big film ready in time, especially just after the massive job of sorting out the second movie. However it sounds like now that he's had a couple of months to relax, a 2011 release is back on the cards. We'll just have to wait and see.