Autobots, Decepticons, and Michael Bay to explode onto the screen again

(This poster was just too funny. If you've never seen the South Park episode where they trash Michael Bay you're doing yourself a disservice.)

Well you knew this was coming. It was inevitable as...well...an explosion in a Michael Bay film. Paramount Pictures recently announced that they are going ahead with a fourth installment of Transformers and the incredible exploding director himself, Michael Bay*, will be back to helm another go round of robot mayhem. First Bay is set to shoot the upcoming film Pain and Gain with Dwayne Johnson and Mark Wahlberg, and then....it's robot time!

Paramount has already set a release date for June 29th, 2014. If it wasn't for the fact that A) I love my life and B) I want to see both Hobbit films, I'd almost wish that the Mayans' prediction for the end of the world was true, just to stop this movie from happening. Alas when a franchise has made over $1 billion worldwide, studios will ride the moneytrain until people stop coming...just ask the producers of the Saw franchise.

After Pain and Gain Bay plans to sit down with Steven Spielberg and flesh out a story that will essentially be a reboot of the franchise. That may explain why Mr. Fergalicious, Josh Duhamel (who acted in the first three films) has not been contacted. In an interview with E! Online Duhamel revealed that none of the actors have been contacted about a fourth film including Tyrese, Rose Huntington-Whiteley, or Shia Labeouf. (If I remember correctly Shia wasn't planning on returning anyway.)

My question is why reboot this franchise? Are they going to make it darker like every other superhero movie now? What is Optimus Prime going to reveal he was molested by a toaster as a kid? Get real. This is a franchise about robots blowing shit up. There's no need to reboot this film. In fact except for the almighty dollar there's no need to make another sequel either.

*Megan Fox apparently referred to Michael Bay as "Hitler" on the set in an interview. It's no coincidence that she wasn't in the third film.