Michael Bay insists he will not be helming Transformers 4 or 5 for Hasbro.

As TG Daily previously reported, Hasbro, which owns hundreds of toy and game licenses, recently confirmed it was in talks to produce several more films based on various franchises, including Transformers 4 and 5.

Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner indicated the company was planning to speak with Michael Bay, the director of the first three Transformers films, and Steven Spielberg, the producer of the films, about returning to the franchise.

Goldner made his comments despite Bay’s insistence that Transformers 3 would be his last of the current franchise, a sentiment he reiterated before Transformers: Dark of the Moon – the final film in the trilogy – was even released.

But this didn’t stop a rumor from spreading about Bay being in talks with Hasbro, which seemed to indicate that he was considering a return.

In response, Bay posted a message with the subject line: “Paramount eyes back-to-back ‘Transformers’ shoots,” in which he repeated yet again that he has no plans to work on the franchise in the future.

“I am currently not talking to Paramount on T4 and T5 despite reports,” he said. “I’m looking at a lot of possibilities coming my way right now weighing options. Most likely going to be doing the low budget Pain and Gain, a true story crime thriller. It’s a very quick shoot and quite funny. Also just finishing the 3 disc set of the Transformer trilogy.”

As you may recall, Bay said months ago that he would be turning his attention to smaller projects after Transformers, and it looks like he’s sticking to that. The movie he mentions, Pain and Gain, is actually a low budget film currently in development, which will enter filming next year and hit theaters in 2014.



