Mark Wahlberg confirmed for `Transformers 4`

Los Angeles: Academy award nominee Mark Wahlberg has been roped in to play the main lead in Michael Bay`s highly anticipated directorial venture ‘Tranformers 4’. He replaces Shia LaBeouf who played the main lead in the last three films. The duo is reuniting after their upcoming ‘Pain And Gain’, and Bay is looking forward to working with Wahlberg. "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 calibre is the perfect guy to re-invigorate the franchise and carry on the legacy of `Transformers`," Bay said in a statement. ‘Transformers 4’, the latest in the popular sci-fi action series, will hit theatres June 27, 2014. The shooting will begin in spring 2013. To be produced by Paramount Pictures, a division of Viacom, Inc., the movie will be distributed in India by Viacom18 Motion Pictures. Bay`s first ‘Transformers’ film was a box office sensation in 2007, as it earned over $700 million worldwide. Second instalment titled ‘Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen’ (2009), grossed more than $830 million worldwide. And in 2011 came third movie in the franchise. Titled ‘Transformers: Dark Of The Moon’, it grossed over a billion dollars. IANS