4th ‘Transformers’ shapes up for Bay to direct

AP photo

In this photo provided by DreamWorks-Paramount a still image from the movie "Transformers" is seen. Hasbro is banking that the upcoming release of the movie "Transformers" - based on Hasbro's "robots in disguise" toys introduced in the 1980s - will herald a new era for the company that in the past few years has remade itself from a toy maker to an entertainment company.

LOS ANGELES — Director Michael Bay plans a fresh take on shape-shifting robots with the fourth installment in his “Transformers” franchise.

Paramount Pictures announced Monday night that Bay will return to direct the next chapter in the blockbuster sci-fi series, due in theaters June 29, 2014.

Bay’s third movie based on the Hasbro toy line, “Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” came out last summer and took in $1.1 billion worldwide.

The studio’s announcement said the next “Transformers” will be a new take — which probably is necessary since star Shia LaBeouf said last summer that he would not return for a fourth movie.

The “Transformers” sequel is part of a two-picture deal for Bay at Paramount. First, he’ll direct Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne Johnson in the crime tale “Pain and Gain.”