Kurtzman And Orci Definitely Not Returning For Transformers 3; Script Duties Are All Ehren Kruger's

Producer Don Murphy maintains a pretty lively website and forum that was crashed for a bit this morning when Roberto Orci confirmed in a forum post that he and Alex Kurtzman would not return at all for Transformers 3, leaving script duties entirely in the hands of Ehren Kruger. (Well, not entirely, as Michael Bay will have his input.) This is no surprise to anyone who's been following along over the past couple months.

One poster asked today if 'Bob and Alex' really weren't returning for the next film, to which Orci responded "It's true." Back in March, Orci had intimated, also on Murphy's forum, that the pair would not return to write the third Transformers film. "Time for fresh blood!" Orci said . "The main reason we would move on is because we risk getting stale and comfortable. If you only sing one song for too long, you miss the opportunity to sing news songs. We'll see." Since then, the screenwriting name bandied about with respect to the film is Ehren Kruger, who also worked on Revenge of the Fallen.

I'm no great fan of Kruger's, and many peg the writer's work with Michael Bay as being the source of the 'humor' in Revenge of the Fallen that many found juvenile and terrible. (And, judging by the box office numbers, more found delightful. Go figure.) Can we expect more of that funny stuff in the third film? Seems reasonable to assume so at this point. The most interesting post from Orci, however, was one concerning the crude humor of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. One post brings up anecdotal tales about parents not taking their kids to see the second film because of the humor, to which Orci responds, "I can't blame them."

Meanwhile, we know that Bay has a story in mind and is already beginning work on the third film for that 2011 release date that Paramount announced and Bay originally renounced.