Michael Bay will direct Transformers 4

Back in December, there was talk that Michael Bay would be returning to direct Transformers 4, but the explosion-loving director didn’t seem so sure at the time. Now it’s official.

Bay announced over on his website that he will, in fact, be returning to direct Transformers 4 as part of a two-picture deal with Paramount Pictures. Additionally, Bay revealed that Paramount is aiming for a June 2014 release date for the film.

Don’t expect Transformers 4 to be exactly like the previous films, and not just because Shia LeBouf is apparently “adamant” about not doing another Transformers film; producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura told MTV that Transformers 4 will be a reboot of the franchise–or, as he puts it, an evolution.

“I think the challenge there is that we are really going to do a reboot and what that’s going to be, we don’t even know yet,” di Bonaventura told MTV News.

“Again, it’s a hybrid because it’s a funny thing. I’m not involved with ‘Spider-Man,’ but what I perceive ‘Spider-Man’ to be is just a redoing of the whole thing. [‘Transformers’ is] not. It’s an evolution. There’s still continuity that’s going on, yet there will be a lot of new cast,” he said. “Whether there’s anybody from the first cast, we don’t even know yet. The trust is it’s going to be a whole new story. The characters that would certainly come along are Optimus and Bumblebee, I’m sure.”

Before Michael Bay can get started on Transformers 4, he’s working on ‘Pain and Gain‘, starring Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne Johnson. The film, based on a true story, tells the tale of a group of bodybuilders who take to using their muscle to kidnap, torture, and murder.