February 13, 2012 — Paramount announces Michael Bay has signed a deal to make a fourth Transformers film.[1]
June 6, 2012 — During Transformers: The Ride – 3D coverage, LA Times reports Michael Bay as saying the film will have a whole new human cast and redesigned robots.[3]
June 21, 2012 — In another LA Times interview, Bay reveals that the film will not be a reboot as previously stated.[4]
October 18, 2012 — The logo is revealed at a Paramount presentation.[6]
November 8, 2012 — After a number of rumors suggest it, Bay casts actor Mark Wahlberg in the film.[7]
December 15, 2012 — Wahlberg confirms that filming of Transformers 4 will commence in May 2013. [8]
January 8, 2013 — Bay casts Irish American actor Jack Reynor in Transformers 4. [9]
March 20, 2013 — The Michigan Film Office announces the film series will return to Detroit,[10] and reveals plot details which are later debunked by Paramount Pictures.[11]
March 26, 2013 — Nicola Peltz is confirmed as a cast member via Bay's website.[12]
May 1, 2013 — Kelsey Grammer joins the cast as the lead villain named "Harold Attinger".[14]
May 6, 2013 — The Wrap confirms that Sophia Myles will play a scientist.[15]
May 18, 2013 — The name of Mark Wahlberg's character is revealed to be Flynn Vincent (This was later either changed or misinformation).
May 20, 2013 — Chinese actress Li Bingbing joins the cast.[16]
May 28, 2013 — Actor-Comedian T. J. Miller joins the cast as a mechanic who is the best friend of Wahlberg's character.[17] Filming begins at Monument Valley[18] and the alternate modes of two new Autobots are revealed on Michael Bay's website: a C7 Corvette Stingray[19] and a Bugatti Grand Sport Vitesse.[20]
When having one's midlife crisis, it's not unusual to get a souped-up alternate mode.
May 29, 2013 — Optimus Prime's new alternate mode is officially revealed by Michael Bay as a custom-built semi-truck.[21]
May 30, 2013 — Bumblebee's new alternate mode is revealed on Michael Bay's website as a highly modified 1967 Camaro SS.[22]
May 31, 2013 — Hound is revealed as a new character for Transformers 4, transforming into a Medium Tactical Vehicle.[23]
June 7, 2013 — Another new vehicle for the film is revealed as a Lamborghini Aventador.[24]
June 12, 2013 — The Sonic RS Rally Car is revealed for the film.[25]
June 25, 2013 — The Pagani Huayra is revealed to appear in the film.[26]
June 28, 2013 — A Freightliner Argosy cab-over truck is revealed for the film.[27]
July 2, 2013 — A second alternate mode is revealed for Bumblebee in the form of a 2014 Concept Camaro.[28][29]
July 14, 2013 — Chinese actor-musician Han Geng is announced as being part of the cast.[30]
July 25, 2013 — After being spotted in Texas in June, actor Titus Welliver officially joins the cast.[31]
July 27, 2013 — The S.S. Columbia and the S.S. Ste. Clair have been spotted to be featured in the film.[32]
July 30, 2013 — Wahlberg's children have been cast.[33]
September 3, 2013 — Lorenzo di Bonaventura confirms the presence of Dinobots in the film.[36]
September 3, 2013 — The film's title, Transformers: Age of Extinction, is officially announced and the first teaser poster is revealed.[37]
October 17, 2013 — Director Michael Bay is assaulted on the set during filming in Hong Kong by two locals demanding money. Bay receives minor injuries, but plays the incident off on his blog. [38][39][40]
October 22, 2013 — Four additional locals approach a member of the crew and demand money; one of the four is later arrested by police. [41]
October 28, 2013 — Director Michael Bay plays down the extortion attempts in an interview with the South China Morning Post. He notes that the locals were apologetic over what took place, and that he wanted to film more projects in Hong Kong. [42]
Michael Bay uses his legendary charm to get the very best performance out of his actors.
November 25, 2013 — Age of Extinction features in Empire magazine, showing Optimus Prime's new look on the cover. Inside are on-set photos of Michael Bay and the film's human cast in action.[43]
December 10, 2013 — M1905 publishes a series of interview with cast and crew in which a plethora of information, mainly regarding the film's human characters, is revealed.[44]
December 17, 2013 — Producer Allegra Clegg visits Durfee Elementary-Middle School as the result of a competition, and answers questions and shows three minutes of footage from the film.[45]
January 7, 2014 — Following an on-stage snafu at a Samsung presentation, Michael Bay announces on his site that a special presentation including Transformers 4 footage would be touring to promote Samsung's new line of curved TV screens. [46]
January 16, 2014 — The new Lucasfilm facility in Singapore opens, with some ILM work on Age of Extinction to be done there.[47]
January 17, 2014 — Steve Jablonsky confirms in an interview with JoBlo that he'll be providing the score for Age of Extinction.[48]
January 20, 2014 — Late script changes result in Bay and his crew returning to Chongqing for a week reshooting a scene.[49]
"Get me closer! I want to hit them with my sword!"
February 18, 2014 — In an interview with Nerdist, Titus Welliver said the film would be darker and "not a kid's movie".[50]
February 28, 2014 — Following a storm of online discussion regarding his previous statement, Titus Welliver issues a new statement to the effect that Age of Extinction is in fact a kid's movie and he meant to say it would expand the audience. Relax, it's totally fine to take your kids to see it.[50]
March 3, 2014 — The first of a series of character posters is revealed.[51]
March 12, 2014 — An IMAX poster for the movie is released.[52] MTV UK reports it features "Nightship".[53]
March 13, 2014 — CinemaCon announce that Nicola Peltz and Jack Reynor will receive the Rising Stars of 2014 Award for Transformers 4.[54]
March 24, 2014 — On the first day of CinemaCon, Paramount shows off 15 minutes of footage from the film.[55] Mark Wahlberg promises the movie will be the biggest of the year.[56]
May 8, 2014 — The robot voice cast is revealed on michaelbay.com.[57]
May 15, 2014 — The second trailer is released on YouTube and iTunes.
