Malkovich needs new house, McDormand a new car??? A Mega-ton paycheck for TRANSFORMERS 3!!!

John Malkovich must need some cash to buy a new home, or maybe a hair transplant or, well; maybe he spent a fortune on Christmas presents for Tiny Tim last year when it looked like a big money deal was coming his way to play The Vulture in Spider-Man 4. Malkovich, who in four months hence will be seen hamming up some devilish villainy in Jonah Hex (a well paid Warner Bros. blockbuster), has now lost any shred of dignity by agreeing to star in Transformers 3. Yup. MichaelBay.com announced the casting this morning with a certain sense of glee. According to a Mike Fleming follow-up story, Malkovich will play "The Boss" of Shia LaBeouf's Sam Something-Or-Other character in the annoying, completely out-staying it's welcome, loud, brash and pointless chunk of metal series. (read on to find out which Oscar winner is also guilty of the paycheck offer. Hint: We tell you in the post title)... I know, I know what you're thinking. Malkovich has never shied away from a paycheck he didn't like, right? (He's got Jonah Hex upcoming as we mentioned, Eragon, Beowulf, Mutant Chronicles, Johnny English) and his diary formerly read "Summer 2010: Make tons of money as superhero villain for Sony", but Transformers 3? Really? Didn't the series just win a Razzie for Worst Picture of the whole of 2009, even beating out All About Steve, Old Dogs andImagine That!, why are they making more? OH, that's right - $836 million worldwide. Malkovich is not alone in the brainwashing/money-baiting stakes. Bay has also convinced Oscar winner (& 4 times nominated overall) Frances McDormand to fill the role of National Intelligence Director. For McDormand, usually so picky and smart with her filmic choices, it's only her second paycheck gig after 2005's Aeon Flux. Ken Jeong, the comedy Asian stereotype actor also joins the cast and hopefully he won't become the butt of Michael Bay's blatant racism. His addition however isn't all that suprising as he is appearing in everything right now. These days it's only newsworthy if he is NOT appearing in a movie. Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson and John Turturro are all expected to return. That is unless they got killed off in the last movie, I didn't see it, so I wouldn't know. Michael Bay once again directs, this time from a solo Ehren Kruger ("Scream 3", "The Skeleton Key") screenplay (i.e; without the "Star Trek" guys Orci & Kurtzman). So it's gonna be even worse than usual. Shooting locations for Bay's ridiculous global blockbuster include Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Florida, Texas, Africa, Moscow and China. Transformers 3 opens July 1st 2011.

Editor-in-chief
Editor-in-chief

Matt Holmes is the co-founder of What Culture, formerly known as Obsessed With Film. He has been blogging about pop culture and entertainment since 2006 and has written over 10,000 articles.