As you've no doubt heard, explanations differ for Megan Fox's dismissal from the Transformers franchise. Some say Bay booted the starlet for sassing him in public, while Camp Fox has argued that she walked away, fed up with Bay's "abuse." Ninety-five percent of the world couldn't care less about this particular pissing contest, but this latest rumor -- that Fox reported to work alarmingly underweight -- adds a new level of "Huh?" to the controversy:
Bay gave Fox some time to pull her appearance together, but when she returned, the director expressed his displeasure in such a way that Fox walked off the blockbuster sequel, according to individuals close to the production. [...] Fox came to work as a "size 0" and Bay gave her two to four weeks to return to a "size 2 or 4" so she would have the same sexy curves that Bay's camera lingered on in the original Transformers. [...]
When Fox was unable to regain her previous physical form, Bay objected, and with that, Fox "had enough."
The report also claims that the Transformers 3 script still included Fox's Mikaela Barnes character as recently as May 17; maybe likely replacement Rosie Huntington-Whitely will just inherit the role? Anyway, there's that. Take it with a grain of salt.
Bay has apparently moved on in any case, joining up now with Paramount and Nickelodeon to co-produce the studio's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot with his partners at Platinum Dunes. As Movieline's sister blog Deadline alludes, this is the very definition of a win-win, folks:
TNMT [...] is an outgrowth of the $60 million acquisition made by Nick last October for global rights to the entire Turtles franchise. Right around the same time, Paramount made a first look deal with the Platinum Dunes partners, who will generate genre projects but also want to expand their scope.
Mission... accomplished?
· 'Underweight' Megan Fox Sparked 'Transformers' Blowup [The Wrap]
· Platinum Dunes Steers 'Turtles' Relaunch [Deadline]