Why Shia LaBeouf Didn't Return As Sam Witwicky For Transformers 4

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Shia LaBeouf played the human hero Sam Witwicky in the first three installments of the Transformers franchise, but did not return for Transformers 4: Age of Extinction or its sequels — so why was this the case? The original Transformers trilogy, directed by Michael Bay, was LaBeouf's first outing as the lead of a blockbuster movie, but he was already a familiar face to audiences having starred in Disney's Even Stevens. Although he left the franchisein 2011, the Transformers films are still among LaBeouf's best performances at the box office — but the film's commercial success has not been enough to keep him interested in returning to the franchise.

The first Transformers movie saw Shia LeBeouf begin his role as the franchise's human lead, Sam Witwicky, working with the heroic Autobots to protect the Earth from being destroyed by the Decepticons. While this role would be reprised in Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen and Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon, Sam does not feature in the later sequels, which naturally raised plenty of questions as to where the character had ended up. This seemed especially weird to some audiences, as Witwicky had gone from the main character in the series, to a figure who is only briefly alluded to in Transformers 5  — and even then, only to suggest he died off-screen sometime between the films.

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However, put simply, Shia LaBeouf didn't return in Transformers 4: Age of Extinctionbecause he felt Sam's story was over with the completion of the initial trilogy. While promoting Dark of The Moon, LaBeouf confirmed (via MTV) that he was leaving the franchise, saying "I just don't think there's anywhere to take it with Sam".