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Variety confirmed a report that Shia LaBeouf will star in Michael Bay's upcoming big-budget action movie The Transformers: The Movie.
LaBeouf is in final negotiations to play a lead role in the DreamWorks/Paramount live-action production. Shooting starts in late May, with a July 4, 2007, premiere envisioned.
Budgeted well north of $100 million, Transformers will star LaBeouf as the unlikely hero Sam in a story based on the comic book, cartoon and Hasbro toy line that was popular in the 1980s. The movie centers on the central saga of the Autobots vs. the Decepticons. The rest of the cast is expected to be finalized shortly.
Tom DeSanto, Don Murphy and Lorenzo Di Bonaventura are producing the film, with Steven Spielberg and Hasbro's Brian Goldner executive-producing. Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci penned the screenplay.