The cast of Transformers 3 just got that little bit more serious with the announcement that actor John Malkovich has now signed on for the third instalment in the Transformers franchise.

Michael Bay announced the news on his blog recently, commenting:

Transformers 3 has been going very well. We are going to shoot in LA, Chicago, Washington DC, Florida, Texas, Africa, Moscow, and China. On the talent front, we just locked in Frances McDormand and John Malkovich.

Both amazing actors I’ve always wanted to work with. We also just got Ken Jeong, he is the super funny actor stuck in the trunk from ‘Hangover’ and the Doctor from ‘Knocked Up.’

We start shooting pre-shoots in about one month.

This is great news for Transformers 3 as Malcovich has a certain intensity that very few actors possess.

We have two pieces of great Transformers 3 news for you today. Firstly, the script is complete (which is always a good thing) and secondly, Las Vegas actor Josh Duhamel is returning as Major Lennox.

The news comes from cinemablend.com, who caught up with Josh Duhamel this week. He confirmed that the script, written solely by Ehren Kruger this time, has now been finished and that he will back to battle Decepticons once more.

The film will start shooting in a few months at locations such as Chicago in the USA, and Moscow in Russia.

It’s all systems go for Transformers 3!

How would you like to appear in Transformers 3, acting alongside Optimus Prime, Shia LaBeouf and of course Megan Fox?

You would? Thought so, luckily DreamWorks is currently advertising for extras in the film… and no experience is necessary. The advert was placed on Craiglist in LA, and it calls for people to apply to become extras on the next instalment of the Transformers movie. You don’t even have to be in the union, you can apply no matter what walk of life you come from.

Extras roles tend to pay in the region of $100 per day (but this role pays $200), but the days are very long and Michael Bay is reported to be one of the more tyrannical directors. However, for the die hard Transformers fan, this is an opportunity that can’t be passed up.

The job ad reads:

Spielberg is back to work again.

Release Date: July 1, 2011
Studio: DreamWorks Pictures (Paramount)
Director: Michael Bay
Screenwriter: Ehren Kruger
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Tyrese Gibson
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Plot Summary: Bay and Spielberg are working on the plot for the next chapter in the Transformers saga due in theaters 2011

Pre Casting Starting, ***Contact Casting 1-877-464-9526*** For Background Scene work. Extras Are needed. No Experience Req. Union and Non-Union OK.

* Location: LA
* Compensation: 200 a day
* Principals only. Recruiters, please don’t contact this job poster.
* Phone calls about this job are ok.
* Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.

According to news from the Hollywood Reporter, actor Kevin Dunn might be absent from Transformers 3. Dunn plays the role of Ron Witwicky, father of Sam – and one of the film’s comedic characters.

The reason that Kevin may miss Transformers 3 is that he is signed on for a new series with HBO, and the schedules may clash with filming of the third Transformers movie. Surely Michael Bay wouldn’t consider making Transformers 3 without Kevin? Who would say all of those inappropriate things to Shia LaBeouf?

Is there no end to Michael Bay’s ego? According to reports, Michael Bay opted to return for Transformers 3 because he wanted to save jobs in the film industry, believing his movie would make the difference in the midst of recession.

Initially when asked about Transformers 3, Michael Bay said he didn’t want to think about it and wanted to work on a smaller film first, to get a break from giant robots. However, Paramount had other ideas and while Bay was working the PR circuit for Revenge of the Fallen, they announced the release date for Transformers 3 as being June 1st 2011.

Despite being angered by this, Bay has still agreed to work on Transformers 3 because he wants to save jobs – at least according to an interview he gave to Starz.

Michael Bay commented:

The true story is we went to Vegas to celebrate [Revenge of the Fallen] crossing the $400 million mark domestic. I said, “I’m excited to do my small little movie.” They said, “Well, we’re here to talk about that.” I’ve become friends with these guys that run Paramount and they [told me,] “We’re going to get fired if we don’t have a 2011 franchise,” so I’m like you can’t let these guys down.

The economy’s been so rough, it’s kind of important. When you say yes to [a] movie like this you automatically give 3000 people jobs. 1000 for the toys. 2000 for the filmmaking. I’m going to put [the small film] on hold and do it right after [Transformers 3].

Seems Bay’s making Transformers 3 to save the jobs of those he cares most about – nothing to do with the huge pay check he will have received from ROTF as it surpassed the money made by the first Transformers.

One of the things that you can’t get away from with the Transformers movies is that they’re effects laden bonanzas. With this in mind, the most important people involved with Transformers 3 aren’t its human actors, Megan Fox and Shia LaBeouf (although they may think they are) – they’re the geniuses behind ILM (Industrial Light and Magic).

Scott Benza, the animation supervisor on the Transformers movies with ILM, recently spoke with SCI FI Wire about what we can expect from Transformers 3. He stated that we can expect to see some cosmetic changes on Bumblebee and Optimus Prime, with Prime looking more, well, Prime like (he said heroic, but we’re reading between the lines).

Scott Benza commented:

Our two lead characters, Optimus and Bumblebee, needed to be updated for the next chapter in the Transformers series. Bumblebee’s matured a little bit, so I would just say look for subtle changes to his physique that have him look more mature. We always want the robots to look cooler than they did the last time, so [Optimus Prime is] going to look a little more heroic, I would say.

We always want the robots to look cooler than they did the last time, so he’s going to look a little more heroic, I would say

Scott Farrar, visual effects supervisor on the Transformers films with ILM, added:

[Prime will have] little tiny things that maybe the average viewer isn’t going to notice but probably the fanboys will. You actually will run into pieces that are maybe always in the way, and wouldn’t it be nice if that part wasn’t there? Maybe you make a shift in the shoulder, in the chest or what have you. So it might be proportioning, but it also might be for usability, so [the animators]’ task could be easier, too.

The script for Transformers 3 isn’t complete yet, but the team at ILM are aware of some details that will impact their work – so they’re getting a head start. They also confirmed that they are working on new characters, but no mention of Dinobots yet…

We will keep banging that drum until Michael Bay listens too!

One of the main things that Transformers fans love about the robots in disguise is the wealth of mythology that comes along with them. We love the origins of the Transformers themselves, the differences between the comic and various cartoon mythologies and how the Autobot leaders of the past came to be.

One of the things we didn’t love about the movies however was the lack of depth in the characters and how there was very little history, save for one flashback sequence in the first Transformers and a rather hokey tale of the Primes in Revenge of the Fallen.

In Transformers 3, Michael Bay says he will rectify this with more details on the origins of the Transformers.

Does this mean Unicron and Primus? Probably not, but at least they’re going to try.

Brian Goldner, executive producer of the Transformers movies and head of Hasbro, enthused about Transformers 3:

You’re going to see that great core mythology brought to the fore, and Michael is hard at work at making this a reality and we’re very excited about it,” he opened up to MTV. “What we’re really doing is getting back to some of the core character development and storytelling. And I think there’s some elements of the core story that the filmmakers, Michael in particular wanted to tell.

Goldner also hinted that Bay may use some of the existing Transformers mythology in Transformers 3, which would presumably mean something about Primus:

He’s really well-versed in the Transformers lore. So I think you’ll see, you know, less bedlam, more characters.

Also back for Transformers 3 are Megan Fox and Shia LaBeouf. The film is set for a US release date of July 1st, 2011.

After having witnessed the success of James Cameron’s Avatar, it is perhaps no surprise that Michael Bay, director of Transformers and Transformers 2 Revenge of the Fallen, is considering a third movie in 3D.

According to reports, Bay is conducting tests into 3D technology to see how the Autobots and Decepticons look. Bay stated in an interview with MTV:

It’s a process we’re testing with some ‘Transformers’ scenes,” he said. “How successful it is with my movie in terms of a lot of real stuff coming out of the frame, real dirt, real complicated little particles coming towards the lens, because hopefully that process will work. I’ve seen some tests that look great on other movies. I just want to see how it looks on my footage.

Bay also said that a lot of new characters will appear in Transformers 3, though whether that means the Dinobots or not is another question. As far as locations go, Moscow and Chicago have been revealed as central locations for action sequences.

As Don Murphy announced on Facebook last night (yes, Facebook… you really should get your news from the source) Transformers 3 has been set for a July 1st release in 2011 and Michael Bay is set to return as the director.

There were false rumours flying around for some months that Bay was done with Transformers, but these were just derived from misquotes from Bay that he didn’t want to think about Transformers 3 for a while.

Well he’s thought about it and he’s happy to continue. Fans of Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox will be pleased to know that they’re also set to return.

Let’s hope that this time we get Dinobots… mmm… Dinobots.