Michael Bay today announced that his next Transformers movie, currently titled simply Transformers 3, will be released on July 1, 2011. It was previously unknown whether the movie would be released in the summer of 2011 or 2012.

Bay is getting started right away, stating, "Today is Day One." Apparently he has already had a meeting with Industrial Light and Magic and is meeting later today with Hasbro.

On a slightly humorous note, in his announcement Bay directly addresses Transformers actress Megan Fox, with whom the director has had some minor spats, saying:

P.S. Megan Fox, welcome back. I promise no alien robots will harm you in any way during the production of this motion picture. Please consult your Physician when working under my direction because some side effects can occur, such as mild dizziness, intense nausea, suicidal tendencies, depression, minor chest hair growth, random internal hemorrhaging and inability to sleep. As some directors may be hazardous to your health, please consult your Doctor to determine if this is right for you.

Um, I don't really get the joke, but that's okay. While Bay's most recent Transformers film did not work nearly as well as the first, I have to admit that I'm somewhat excited to get to see the giant robots on screen again sooner than later.