Despite being one of the more underwhelming films released this year (though not as bad as Need for Speed), the fourth Transformers movie made a lot of money.  Like, over $1 billion worldwide a lot.  Needless to say, Paramount Pictures will be making Transformers 5; that much was never in doubt.  What is up in the air is whether Michael Bay will return to direct.  Paramount and the producers will be doing everything they can to get Bay back (after all, under his stewardship this franchise has made them insane amounts of money), but Bay has yet to officially commit to returning.  He recently entered talks to helm 13 Hours, a film about the embassy attack in Benghazi, but the filmmaker has yet to announce his next movie.

Though Bay may or may not be back, it appears that the franchise’s new star, Mark Wahlberg, will indeed be returning for Transformers 5, as the actor revealed in a new interview that he’s committed to doing “a couple more” entires in the franchise and could even start filming T5 soon.  More after the jump.

Speaking with MTV, Wahlberg said he expects he’ll be returning for another Transformers movie:

“I committed to doing a couple more.  I can’t speak for Mr. Bay but something tells me we’ll be on the set soon.”

It’s unclear what Wahlberg means by “we” here.  Is he talking about himself and Bay, or is he simply referring to the production team at large?  Regardless, movie studios are in the business of making money, and whether or not Bay returns, Transformers 5 will exist.  With Wahlberg likely signing a three-picture contract, that means he'll be in it as well.

What do you think, folks?  Would you like to see Bay back in the driver’s seat for Transformers 5?  If not, who do you want to see replace him?  Is there any hope at all for this franchise to be good anymore or have we passed the point of no return?  Sound off in the comments below.