Transformers is one of the most fan-favorite franchises in Hollywood. The franchise based on Hasbro’s toy line has broken some major records in the recent past. Although it can’t be said that the franchise has been flawless throughout but the fans saw a major change when Mark Wahlberg joined the franchise in the fourth movie which was originally intended for Jason Statham.
Rumors stated that Transformers: Age of Extinction will replace Shia LaBeouf with Jason Statham until they cast Mark Wahlberg as the new main human lead. Being the fourth movie in Michael Bay’s universe, the movie garnered a massive box office total even after attracting a lot of negative reviews from everywhere.
Was Jason Statham going to be a part of Transformers?
Jason Statham
The fans were surprised when the lead Shia LaBeouf and director Michael Bay both confirmed that they would not return for a fourth installment of Transformers. Amidst that, many rumors also arose that Jason Statham will join the franchise and shoot two movies back to back.
But later on, as Michael Bay finally agreed to return to the franchise, Jason Statham also denied the rumors which led Mark Wahlberg to join the cast of Age of Extinction. In an interview with MTV, the Expendables star claimed that the Transformers rumors are nothing but an internet hoax.
“You know, I don’t know how those things start. You read them. Someone told me about it. [But] the internet is a dangerous place. There’s a lot of stuff out there.”
Even after denying his involvement, Jason Statham praised Bay as a talented director. Surprisingly, the movie starring Mark Wahlberg grossed over $1.1 billion even after collecting extremely negative reviews. Unfortunately, the last movie in Michael Bay’s franchise titled Transformers: The Last Knight couldn’t replicate the success of the fourth movie and turned out to be a commercial and critical disaster.
Following the failure of The Last Knight, we got the end of Michael Bay’s era in the franchise which headed towards a new spin-off prequel series that just dropped its latest movie titled Rise of the Beasts.
How is the Transformers prequel series going?
Transformers: Rise of the Beast
The prequel series started with 2018’s Bumblebee which turned out to be the first Transformers movie not directed by Michael Bay. Instead of the director’s chair, Bay returned as a producer of the film starring Hailee Steinfeld, John Cena, Dylan O’Brien, and many others.
After the success of Bumblebee, the prequel series returned with Rise of the Beasts which follows the Beast Wars storyline. The recently released movie created quite a mixed response where the audiences are appreciating the movie more than the critics.
With Paramount’s plans to release more sequels and a possible crossover with the G.I. Joe franchise, the world of Optimus Prime can have a better future than the original franchise.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is running in theaters near you.
Source: MTV
