The Transformers franchise continued its box office success with its most recent installment 'Age of Extinction', the fourth movie of the big robot action series. As with the previous installments in the franchise, the fourth movie grossed over $1 billion in the box office, this time buoyed by a massive $300 million take in China alone.

The success of the 'Age of Extinction' can be attributed in large part to the efforts of the production team in tailoring the movie for the Chinese audience. The movie featured scenes shot in China and even involved Chinese characters in critical portions of the movie. This strategy was also used in past blockbusters such as 'Iron Man 3', and given the also impressive box office take of the movie, such a strategy will undoubtedly continue to be used by other blockbusters in the future.

It should come as no surprise that a 'Transformers 5' will be coming to theaters in the near future, sometime in June 2016 to be exact based on producer intimations. What remains to be seen, however, is director Michael Bay's involvement with the movie. He is listed as a producer for the fifth installment, but, as he has continually suggested in interviews, is unlikely to return as director.

Bay also recently produced the recent blockbuster 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles', a franchise that itself is quite similar to the Transformers series. It seems that he is content with the role of producer and is saving his directing skills for other projects.

Meanwhile, the full cast for the fifth movie has yet to be revealed, though lead star Mark Wahlberg has already been confirmed to return in his starring role as Cade Yeager. Rumors of a potential Megan Fox return to the franchise has likely stemmed from the Michael Bay-Transformers-Ninja Turtles connection, and while anything is possible, her character from the original trilogy was attached too strongly to the departed Sam Witwicky character played by Shia Labeouf. Consider the rumors as nothing more than speculation at this point.

As for the 'Transformers 5' storyline, there remains plenty of plot points from 'Age of Extinction' that could potentially be followed up on by the sequel. The finale for that movie showed Optimus Prime returning to find the Autobots' creators to know more about their origins. These Creators are a strong bet to be featured in the sequel, but as hero or villain is still unknown at this point.

Other potential story beats include the ever present Galvatron and his continuing quest to destroy the Autobots and the continuing adventures of Grimlock and the rest of the Dinobots.