‘Transformers 4’ will have new cast, may be set in space

Director Michael Bay has confirmed that Transformers 4 will have a new cast and said that it will be taken in a different direction from the first three films.

Bay spoke about the film in an interview with the L.A. Times. He confirmed reports from earlier this year that said none of the main cast would return. Shia LaBeouf and Josh Duhamel had already confirmed that they would not be in the new film.

Despite the new cast and new story line, Bay said that the film would not be a reboot. Instead, the fourth film will build on what happened in the first three.

“We’re taking the story that you’ve seen — the story we’ve told in three movies already — and we’re taking it in a new direction. But we’re leaving those three as the history. It all still counts.”

Bay, who plans to meet with the film’s writer next week, said that taking the story outside of Earth was a possibility.

“That feels like the way to go, doesn’t it?” he said. “I want to go a little off but I don’t want to go too sci-fi. I still want to keep it grounded. That’s what works in these movies, that’s what makes it accessible.”

The franchise’s most recent film, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, is the fifth highest-grossing film worldwide at the box office.

Bay plans to make the fourth installment on a budget of about $165 million, $30 million less than Dark of the Moon had, according to Complex.

Like he said while making the previous two films, Bay says Transformers 4 will be his last of the franchise.