"Transformers 3 Coming July 2011" = News to Michael Bay

When the news hit 24 hours ago that Paramount and DreamWorks were moving forward with Transformers 3 for a July 2011 release, my partner-in-crime here at Think McFly Think Peter Georgiou remarked, "Yeah and I'd bet dollars to donuts either Bay or Kurtzman and Orci aren't involved given the time-table to get that out!"

Now either Peter has psychic abilities or great minds merely think alike as series-director Michael Bay has come out on his forum crying foul on said news-item:

I said I was taking off a year from Transformers. Paramount made a mistake in dating Transformers 3 - they asked me on the phone - I said yes to July 4 - but for 2012 - whoops! Not 2011!!! That would mean I would have to start prep in September. No way. My brain needs a break from fighting robots.

Michael

Is it possible the studio mistakenly said 2011 instead of 2012? Certainly, but I find that hard to believe. Bay's a pretty savvy guy and knows how to play the game.

It sounds to me like Bay and Paramount/DreamWorks are playing a game of "Chicken!" waiting to see who will flinch first. Then again, maybe I'm reading too much into this.