Megan Fox Cut From Transformers 3

Variety is reporting that Paramount is parting ways with Megan Fox on Transformers 3.

A studio spokeswoman disclosed Wednesday that Par's decided against picking up Fox's option to star as Mikaela Banes in the third installment but declined to elaborate.

Sources close to the production indicated that Par and director Michael Bay want to take the story line in another direction and plans to cast another actress as the love interest for star Shia LaBeouf, who plays Sam Witwicky. Those sources indicated that Fox's ouster was unrelated to a September interview with a British magazine in which Fox compared Bay with Adolf Hitler.

Bay's directing from a script by Ehren Kruger with the storyline kept under wraps. Working title is "Transformers 3" and shooting's expected to start this summer in a variety of U.S. locations.