Transformers 3 gets going in May?

Way back before TRANSFORMERS 2 stomped on brains and box office figures, Paramount had already pulled the trigger on a July 1, 2011 release date for TRANSFORMERS 3: MEGA METAL ROBOPOCALYPSE.

Mayhem master Michael Bay initially put the brakes on that, saying he needed an extra year away from ‘bots (and planned to make a “smaller” movie in between), but clearly the decibel level of the almighty dollar won him over.

And now as claimed by Deadline Hollywood, star Shia LaBeouf will “likely start work in May on TRANSFORMERS 3”. (I would wonder if there was a script ready, but I don’t think it matters.) No official word yet from Bay on his site, other than the previous snap at his mouthy female star.

The question remains as to whether it will be TRANSFORMERS 3-D. Bay has previously dismissed the format as a “gimmick” (as opposed to movies about toys from the 1980s), but his exec producer Steven Spielberg was dazzled by AVATAR, and nobody can argue with the receipts from that movie.

Thrice-dimensionalized or otherwise, the project would have to start powering forward if they want to make next summer’s biggest weekend, as they’ll need sufficient post-production time for the process of digitally creating gigantic fighting contraptions and erasing Megan Fox’s tattoos.