Although Michael Bay has not yet confirmed whether he’s interested in working on a fourth Transformers film or not, the studio execs behind the scenes have interest in moving on regardless of his decision.
Due to the continuing great success that is Transformers: Dark of the Moon, they’re decidedly in support of making another film with or without their popular, explosion-loving director. It’s understandable considering Hollywood’s decline over the recent years, with the recession and everything. They’re never willing to let a popular property fade into oblivion.
New rumors from Showbiz-Spy suggest that the studio is also interested in moving the plot forward with a new leading man – which could end up being Mechanic star, Jason Statham. This would mean that Shia LaBouef would no longer be reprising his starring role next to Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. Though it makes sense for Statham to move in considering his real-life romantic connections to the young actress, it’s still somewhat shocking news.
“It’s clear the franchise still has huge potential but with a new leading man capable of taking Transformers in a new, darker direction. Jason could be just the man to do that and his relationship with Rosie would be an added bonus in marketing the movie.” This statement comes from a source close to the entertainment website.
Statham has previously had important roles in the Crank series, The Expendables and The Transporter films. He’s one of Hollywood’s go to guys for action films and he’d likely do well in the Transformers series.
Whether they reboot the series or not is still up in the air but as it stands, I’m behind the choice of Jason Statham for the role. Besides being all macho and tough, he’s not a bad actor and almost always gives enjoyable performances. See Snatch or The Bank Job for some of Statham’s best work if you’re not yet familiar with him.
If he does indeed join, it will be interesting to see which route they go with the franchise, in terms of reboot or sequel. It sounds like Rosie is going to stay on board which means that the next film would likely be a sequel, although that conflicts with previous reports of the next film in the franchise being a reboot.
We likely won’t know for a while whether Statham officially joins and whether the studio goes for reboot or sequel but either way, we’ll keep you updated on how thing pan out.
Jason Statham can be seen next in the upcoming action flick Killer Elite.