Source: ShootForTheEdit.com

Well, it looks like Michael Bay‘s desire to push Transformers 3 back to a 2012 release date instead of 2011 won’t be fulfilled after all. According to Mr. Bay himself, the third movie in the Transformers franchise is already in its early planning stages, set to be released in 2011 after all!

In the last few months since Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen hit theaters, director Michael Bay has stated that he wanted to take a year off and focus on a smaller film entitled Pain and Gain and not work on Transformers 3 until that was finished, which would have pushed the third Transformers movie back to a 2012 release date. Things have now changed and they already have a story for the third movie which Bay has confirmed for July 1, 2011 – Paramount and Dreamworks’  original release date for the film.

Here’s what Michael Bay had to say on the forum of his official blog:

Well its official: We have a great Transformers 3 story. The release date is now July 1st 2011. Not 2012. Today is Day One. This morning started with an ILM meeting for five hours in San Francisco. Currently I’m flying with writer Ehren Kruger to Rhode Island to talk to Hasbro about new characters.

Michael Bay will begin working on his smaller film, Pain and Gain, after the completion of Transformers 3. For me, this is great news!