Michael Bay Talks ‘Transformers 4’: The Bots Are Headed to Outer Space

Things are just moving along nicely with the fourth installment in the Transformers franchise. Who knew it would become the huge franchise that it is today when the first movie hit last 2007, starring a then-unknown actor named Shia LaBeouf?

Five years later, we're back to the drawing board, and Shia is no more. Neither is Megan Fox, who exited the franchise after the second movie. So what can fans expect from the fourth movie that's set to hit theaters on June 27th, two years from now?

Director Michael Bay spoke with The LA Times when Transformers: The Ride-3D opened at Universal Studios in Hollywood. He revealed a lot of juicy details about the upcoming movie's story line, main players, and budget, explicitly stating that it wasn't going to be a reboot even though the film will feature an all-new cast.

It's not a reboot. That's maybe the wrong word. I don't want to say 'reboot' because then people will think we're doing a 'Spider-Man' and starting from the beginning.

We're not. 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... We're moving on to something different.

-- Michael Bay

Bay says the production budget for the movie has been scaled back to around $165 million, which is $30 million less than the budget he had for 2011's Transformers: Dark of the Moon. He adds that the script currently being penned by Ehren Kruger isn't final yet and also he hints that the entire gang might find themselves in outer space. He also

 That feels like the way to go, doesn't it? I want to go alittle 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.

-- Michael Bay