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After weeks of rumor mongering about Mark Wahlberg being in talks to star in ‘Transformers 4’ then having Michael Bay squash the rumors on his blog, followed by a week later stating that he is considering the idea, the director has finally made a decision and it is now official: Marky Mark will now definitely star in ‘Transformers 4’! Wahlberg had just finished working with the director on his latest film ‘Pain and Gain’ and while resistant at first, it seems that Bay’s reasons for reconsidering signing Wahlberg on for the film may have been due to the tremendous support the idea got over the internet:

I squashed a rumor that was on the internet last week. It was about Mark Wahlberg. Mark was rumored to be staring in Transformers 4. We are working on another movie together, not T4. I had such a great time working with Mark on Pain and Gain, and he gave such a great performance – well let’s just say that very internet chatter gave me some ideas. We are at the inception of our story process right now on T4. Let’s say some ideas are gaining traction with me and my writer – so I’m here to say thanks internet chatter.

In a press released given by Paramount, the director states:

“Mark is awesome. We had a blast working on “Pain and Gain” and I’m so fired up to be back working with him. An actor of his caliber is the perfect guy to re-invigorate the franchise and carry on the Transformers’ legacy.”

Along with the casting announcement came the reveal of the film’s logo:

No subtitle was provided but that may be because Ehren Kruger , who wrote the last 2 ‘Transformers’ films, is still writing the script. Since Bay has admitted that he reads the internet, this may be a good time to pitch some story ideas to the man!

In past interviews Bay states that ‘Transformers 4’ will be taking the franchise “in a new direction” with Kruger also commenting that it will have a more serious tone and be more grounded than the other films. Wahlberg is the first announcement of this new cast and new robots that will be in the movie.

Filming is scheduled to begin in the spring with the film to be released on June 29, 2014.

What do you think? Is Wahlberg the right guy to take this franchise forward?