There have been previous reports that apart from Mark Wahlberg, Megan Fox will be returning to the fifth installment of the “Transformers” franchise.
The name of Megan Fox was floated following the takeover of the director’s chair by Jonathan Liebesman for “Transformers 5” when Michael Bay decided to leave as director following the release of “Transformers: Age of Extinction” last year.
Liebesman happened to be the director of the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” reboot movie last year that also had Megan Fox on it. So having her in “Transformers 5” might be her sort of reunion with Director Liebesman.
When asked however for confirmation if she plans to return to the “Transformers” franchise, Megan Fox said that she will be interested to reprise her role in the movie if her original co-star Shia LaBeouf will also return, reports Enstarz.
Not returning
But it seems that Shia LaBeouf is not interested in returning to the franchise. Not only was he uninterested, he also said a negative mouthful about the franchise, on working with Michael Bay, and even poked fun at Bumblebee, who is his role’s main protector in the first two “Transformers” movies.
In a recent interview while promoting a documentary he produced, Shia LaBeouf said that Bumblebee never sounds real. Just the name alone does not say that it’s real. He added that even the director does not believe it either so it’s no use working in an alternative universe.
LaBeouf only reiterated in his latest interview his pronouncements last year that it was highly doubtful if he would return for another film in the series.
By logical deduction, it follows therefore that Megan Fox is unlikely to return to the fifth installment of the “Transformers” franchise, which is being targeted for a 2017 release.
Expanding the Transformers cinematic universe
Meanwhile, Paramount Pictures is reportedly eyeing to expand the cinematic universe of the very successful robot film franchise.
Consistent with what DC and Marvel are doing over the past couple of years, Paramount Pictures wants to capitalize on the success and continued popularity of the film franchise by producing more sequels and possibly spinoff movies too.
The studio has in fact taken on Oscar winning director-producer Akiva Goldsman to work with “Transformers” franchise director Michael Bay to make things happen for Paramount Pictures.
It has already been reported that after directing all the past four “Transformers” film, Michael Bay will no longer be directing the next sequel since he said he wanted to move on already.
However, there have been reports of late that Michael Bay is confirmed to return for “Transformers 5.”
Now it is becoming clear that Michael Bay will return to the “Transformers” franchise as consultant to Paramount Pictures for possible sequels and spinoffs while Jonathan Liebesman will direct the next sequel.