Mark Wahlberg To Star In Fourth Installment Of Transformers, Replaces Lebeouf

Apart from a new sequel for Ted, Mark Wahlberg, according to Michael Bay, will replace Shia LeBeouf, in the fourth installment of the Transformers robot franchise.

In expressing why Mark would be perfect for the role, Director Michael Bay of the earlier installment, said, “Mark is awesome. We had a blast working on Pain and Gain and I’m so fired up to be back working with him. An actor of his calibre is the perfect guy to re-invigorate the franchise and carry on the Transformers’ legacy.”

This development was recently announced by Bay on his blog after denying rumors that Wahlberg would take over from LeBouf in the fourth movie. He also revealed that next movie would take a whole new direction, thanks to his collaboration with veteran director and producer, Steven Spielberg, in the past few months.

The third movie, Dark of the Moon, was a box-office success in being the second-highest grossing motion picture of 2011 while the three movies released so far have fared just as well in making a whopping $2.6 billion worldwide.

The fourth installment begins shooting in next spring and is scheduled to be released June 27, 2014. The earlier three movies, which were directed by Michael Bay, featured the talent of Peter Cullen as the voice for the Autobot leader Optimus Prime.

On the other hand, Ted, a Seth McFarlane comedy, which starred Wahlberg, topped both the US and UK charts this year. A sequel is also in the works as announced by Universal Pictures.