FROM THE NEWS ARCHIVES OF CINEMA CONFIDENTIAL

Michael Bay to direct "The Transformers"
POSTED ON 04/06/05 AT 9:00 A.M.
BY ETHAN AAMES

It's official: Michael Bay will be directing a live-action film based on "The Transformers."

Variety announces today that the "Bad Boys" and "Pearl Harbor" director will direct the feature for Dreamworks, with Steven Spielberg serving in an executive producer role and Alex Kurtzman and Robert Orci penning the screenplay.

"The Transformers" were a pop culture phenomenon in the 1980s which originated as warring toy robots that morphed into bigger bots. The toys later spawned several cartoons and even a 1986 cartoon movie.

"The Transformers" movie is expected to be CGI heavy with lots of visual effects. The project is slated for a Thanksgiving 2006 release.