While Mark Wahlberg’s current A-list standing makes him a lucky get for nearly any director working in Hollywood, it turns out there was no convincing needed to get him on board for “Transformers 4.”
“Convincing Mark Wahlberg was easy, because he was the one asking me,” said Bay during a recent chat with HitFix’s Gregory Ellwood. “He was like ‘dude, I gotta get on in that franchise.’ And I said, ‘well, interestingly enough, I’m actually rewriting it for a brand new cast.’ He goes, ‘god, I want a franchise, I want a movie that I can show my kids.'”
Given his franchise aspirations, Wahlberg was lucky to land a lead role in “Pain & Gain,” which gave him unfettered access to the superstar director at a time when his search for a new leading man was just getting underway. Of course, with the smashing success of last summer’s “Ted” the actor now has two franchises on his resume, but chances are he probably won’t be bringing his kids to see the foul-mouthed sequel to that film.
Also set to star Jack Reynor and Nicola Peltz, “Transformers 4” had previously been rumored as a reboot before Bay put that talk to rest by stating that the film would in fact take place four years after the events of 2011’s “Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” albeit with a largely new cast. It’s currently slated for release on June 27, 2014.
You can check out all of Bay’s “Transformers” comments in the video above.