It was confirmed yesterday that Paramount Pictures have signed a "Cooperation Agreement" with the China Movie Channel and Jiaflix Enterprises for the production of Transformers 4.  The basic summary is that they will help finance / produce the movie which will include shoots in China and most likely feature some Chinese actors / actress in some portions, or extended portions, of the film.  Here is a copy of the press release.

Los Angeles, CA – April 2, 2013 – Paramount Pictures, China Movie Channel and Jiaflix Enterprises announced today that they have entered into a Cooperation Agreement regarding the production of “Transformers 4” in China. The Cooperation Agreement was signed on April 1, 2013 in Beijing and Los Angeles.

Pursuant to the agreement, China Movie Channel, under the State Administration of Radio Film and Television (SARFT), will cooperate with Paramount in broad-based support of the production of the film in China. “Transformers 4” is expected to be released in China on or about June 27, 2014. The parties also intend to cooperate in a number of other areas related to “Transformers 4,” including the selection of filming sites within China, theatrical promotion, and possible post-production activities in China as well as casting of Chinese actors and actresses in the film.

This agreement represents the first time that China Movie Channel will work with a western studio in the production of a major motion picture.

The unprecedented agreement followed a meeting with Mr. Tong Gang, Vice Minister of SARFT with the Transformers 4 production leaders including director Michael Bay, producer Lorenzo DiBonaventura and Paramount Vice Chairman Rob Moore, along with Jiaflix Chairman Sid Ganis and President Marc Ganis at SARFT’s official Reception Hall in Beijing. Minister Tong expressed support for the newly formed China Movie Channel/Jiaflix cooperation with Paramount.

The “Transformers” movies are among the most popular films ever released in China, and Michael Bay is among the most popular directors with Chinese audiences. Transformers 3, Dark of the Moon, released theatrically in 2011, grossed $165 million in China and over $1.1 billion worldwide.

“I’m proud and honored by how ‘Transformers’ has been embraced by Chinese audiences,” said Michael Bay. “I look forward to working with China Movie Channel and Jiaflix Enterprises to help reach more people here and deepen their passion for this ongoing story and its characters.”

“China Movie Channel and our official movie web site M1905.com have been long term trusted partners with Jiaflix,” said Yan Xiaoming, Chairman of China Movie Channel. “We have been working together in the field of importing Hollywood movies for Chinese television and internet, including Paramount movies, as well as introducing Chinese movies to the North American market and are very delighted with the results we have accomplished together.”

“This is the beginning of a new era of collaboration with the Hollywood studios,” Mr. Yan continued. “We are very confident that the China Movie Channel/Jiaflix cooperation with Paramount will result in the famous Transformers brand being an even bigger success.”

Jiaflix, through its partners, Sid Ganis, Marc Ganis and Kenneth Huang, was the driving force in bringing the new arrangement to fruition. Said Sid Ganis, Chairman of Jiaflix, “Paramount was the first major studio to officially join with us for the distribution of its films over the Jiaflix platform in China, so we are delighted to join our partners at China Movie Channel together with Paramount on this groundbreaking initiative. ‘Transformers 4’ are paving the way.” Jiaflix has recently entered into a long term agreement with Paramount, under which Paramount will supply more than 250 films a year to the new video streaming partnership between Jiaflix and M1905.com, a unit of China Movie Channel.

“We are excited by and grateful for the opportunity to work with China Movie Channel and Jiaflix Enterprises on the production and promotion of ‘Transformers 4,’” said Paramount Vice Chair Rob Moore. “We see this relationship as a reflection of the global power and appeal of both this unique franchise and Michael Bay’s talents as a filmmaker.”

Paramount Pictures have begun casting for the new lead roles in Transformers 4 which is currently being referrered to simply as the "Untitiled Transformers Sequel" by studio representatives.  Filming for Transformers 4 will begin in April / May 2013 with an aim for a June 27th 2014 release. The casting call being published over on acting-auditions.org.

The casting call asks for a lead female role (18 or over) who can play "high-school senior age" as well as a male who will play her on screen boyfriend who is a Texas race car driver in his early 20s.

The screen play is once again by Ehren Kruger (Revenge of the Fallen and Dark of the Moon).

Paramount Pictures granted a license to developers who plan to create a theme park in north Kent here in England which, at £2bn, is aimed to rival Disneyland Paris.  The Paramount Pictures themed park could include a copy of Transformers: The Ride, if it goes ahead - Read more on the BBC.

Los Angeles Times have posted a video with British model turned actress Rosie Huntington-Whiteley regarding the chances of Transformers 4 and whether she thinks that Shia LaBeouf could be pursuaded to return.
"We'll see about that," Huntington-Whiteley told Los Angeles Times, Monday at the Hollywood Awards, seemingly doubtful about LaBeouf's statement. Asked if the actor could be persuaded to return for another "Transformers," she replied: "I think so. He'll kill me for saying that."
You can view the video below.

According to Box Office Mojo, as of yesterday Transformers: Dark of the Moon has now grossed an incredible $982,892,000 at the box office.  This figure is split $337,892,000 within the US and $645,000,000 around the world and makes it the 10th highest grossing movie of all time!

With the world's press all reporting that the latest Harry Potter movie has now taken over $1 billion, attention as moved firmly away from the latest Transformers film which has continued to draw in a bucket load of cash.  The three live action films have now collectively taken $2,528,899,008, that's 2.5 billion dollars and so you can be sure that Paramount Pictures will want to keep the franchise running especially considering each that revenues have increased with each movie instalment.

Stay with us as if Transformers DOTM breaks the $1 billion mark then we will let you know

We are pleased to once again be able to run a competition for one lucky visitor to our website to win a pair of tickets to the exclusive FDA screening of Transformers: Dark of the Moon at the Odeon in Leices­ter Square, London, England on Monday the 27th June 2011. The screening takes place at 6:30pm with the doors opening at 5:45pm.

To enter the competition all you need to do is to click the +1 (plus one) button at the end of this news article and then enter your email address when prompted. You must have a Google account to enter as we are using the Google Plus one system to help us collate the entries and stop duplication. The winner, who will be picked at random, will be announced on Sunday evening and will need to collect the pair of tickets directly from us on the day. Unfortunately the tickets only arrived today so we have been unable to run this competition earlier.

Good look everyone.

­We've received a few reports that Burger King Transformers: Dark of the Moon promotion appears to have finally started in Burger Kings. Previously many stores either just had the poster in the window or didn't even have that.  You can view an image of the poster thanks to a Tweet to us by Neurie.

If you are looking forward to Transformers: Dark of the Moon, but do not want to wait until the end of the month to see the film, then stay with us as we will have some news to excite you later in the evening.

Another decent quality Transformers: Dark of the Moon TV Spot has aired and has subsequently been posted on YouTube.  You can view the spot below.

Another TV spot for Transformers: Dark of the Moon has now aired and has also been published to YouTube by Paramount Pictures.

Paramount Pictures have produced some more teaser images from Transformers: Dark of the Moon which you can view below.

­­­­­­­

Paramount Pictures have issued the following press release:

TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON PRESENTS LINKIN PARK - LIVE IN MOSCOW ON JUNE 23RD IN SUPPORT OF MOVIES WORLD PREMIERE IN RUSSIA

May 23, 2011

HOLLYWOOD, CA (May 23, 2011) – In celebration of Paramount Pictures’ TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON, Linkin Park will perform a special outdoor concert at Vasilyevsky Spusk of the Red Square in Moscow – with the Kremlin and St. Basil’s Basilica as the backdrop – on June 23rd at 9PM. The 3D Michael Bay film will open the Moscow International Film Festival on the same night.

Linkin Park will perform several of their hit songs including the single, “Iridescent,” which is the end title song in the upcoming third Transformers film. The movie opens worldwide beginning June 29th. Stars from the film are scheduled to attend, along with director Michael Bay. Tickets for this free concert will be available beginning June 1st through June 21st, to learn more about obtaining ticket information go to http://www.energyfm.ru or http://www.linkinpark.com beginning June 1st.

One of the most successful collaborations between music and film, the previous Linkin Park singles to appear in the first two Transformers films, “What I’ve Done” from the first Transformers film, has sold over 4 million downloads worldwide, and “New Divide” from 2009’s Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, crossed the 3 million mark. Both songs were top selling singles for the band, and went to #1 on the modern rock radio charts (with “New Divide” spending 14 weeks there). The special show in Moscow is produced by Live Nation and will occur during Linkin Park’s upcoming European tour, which begins June 11th in Austria with stadium, festival or arena shows in the UK, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Finland, France, Switzerland, Italy & Belgium.

Linkin Park European Tour Dates:
June 11 Nickelsdorf, Austria @ Nova Rock Festival
June 12 Donington, UK @ Download Festival
June 14 Stockholm, Sweden @ Ericsson Global Arena
June 16 Helsinki, Finland @ Kaisaniemi Park
June 18 Leipzig, Germany @ Festweise
June 19 Oberursel, Germany @ Hessentag
June 21 Hamburg, Germany @02 World Arena
June 25 Munich, Germany @ Messegelaende Riem Stadium
June 26 Imola, Italy @ Sonisphere Festival
June 28 Arendal, Norway @ Hove Festival
June 30 Werchter, Belgium @ Rock Wercher Festival
July 1 Arras, France @ Arras Main Square Festival
July 2 St. Gallen, Switzerland @ OpenAir Festival
July 4 London, UK @ iTunes Festival


TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON is the third film in the Transformers franchise and the first shot in 3D. It is directed by Michael Bay, written by Ehren Kruger and produced by Don Murphy & Tom DeSanto, Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Ian Bryce. The executive producers are Steven Spielberg, Michael Bay, Brian Goldner and Mark Vahradian. The movie opens in the United States on June 29, 2011. ©2011 Paramount Pictures Corporation. All rights reserved.

HASBRO, TRANSFORMERS and all related characters are trademarks of Hasbro. ©2011 Hasbro. All Rights Reserved.

Credit to Snakas for the news

Paramount Pictures Japan have teamed up with Pepsi Nex (Pepsi Max) to run a promotion of Paramount Pictures themes Be@rbrick figures which includes a Transformers Movie Bumblebee.  You can see an image of all of the Be@rbrick's below.

Credit to Snakas for the report.