Could Mark Wahlberg Star In 'Transformers 4'? (Update: Michael Bay Says No)

Michael Bay and Mark Wahlberg just finished working together on Pain and Gain, Bay's "little movie" based on a true story about psychotic gym rats in Miami who get into kidnapping and murder.

And now there's a chance that Bay will turn to Wahlberg for the fourth Transformers film. While that would seem to fully put to rest rumors that Transformers 4 would feature a female protagonist, (Wahlberg has had many high-profile female co-stars, but you'd think he'd play the protagonist in T4) but recent casting breakdowns suggest otherwise. So will we see Wahlberg in an important supporting role in the movie?

Twitch reports that Wahlberg is in "early conversations" with Bay to do the film. The site has been on the money with scoops in the last year or so, and that's reason to credit this as a report that is likely on the money.

But then there's the recent casting breakdown, which said,

The female lead role is an 18 year old or above who can play high school senior age, and the male lead is an early twenties Texas race car driver who plays the female lead's boyfriend. Shooting will take place in various locations beginning in April or May of 2013.

Now, that could have been misdirection, or this report could be wrong. But I'd expect both are correct: we'll see a T4 with young leads to make sure the kids show up (as if giant robots didn't already do that) and a few actors like Wahlberg to get the adults interested. Or Ehren Kruger's script could involve a totally different set of characters and ideas. Not that it'll matter much either way, if the previous three films are any indication of what we can expect.

Update: Michael Bay took to the forums on his own site, as he often does when rumors crop up, to explain the situation:

The Mark Wahlberg T4 rumor is just a rumor. Mark and I are talking about another film project. -Michael

Now, whether you take that at face value or not is up to you. Bay has denied T4 "rumors" before, such as the fact that he would be making a fourth film in the series. So if the Wahlberg rumor turns out to be true after all, it won't be too surprising.