Last week, Josh Duhamel confirmed at ShoWest that he was would be returning to “Transformers 3,” and we would imagine he’s glad to get the work, and alongside the likes of Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox, the guy is practically comes off like a thespian.
Well, Duhamel will be getting some serious schooling as Deadline Hollywood reports that Michael Bay has somehow convinced John Malkovich and Frances McDormand to come aboard the third film in the bloated, stupid and loud franchise of robots beating the living hell out of each other. While Malkovich certainly hasn’t been averse to appearing in big budget fare (“Eragon,” “Beowulf,” “Jonah Hex”), McDormand has largely avoided getting lost in franchise material (and we’ll just forget “Aeon Flux” ever happened). Malkovich is set to play LaBeouf’s first boss while McDormand will play the National Intelligence Director (we imagine that character must be intentionally ironic).
Also joining the cast is ubiquitous funnyman Ken Jeong. Seemingly everywhere these days, we just hope the material he’s given is a bit more tasteful than the stuff those jive-talking robots were given to speak in “Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen.” In fact, it’s probably just better if he makes up his lines himself.
“Transformers 3” starts shooting next month in locations including Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Florida, Texas, Africa, Moscow and China. The film opens on July 1, 2011.