An L.A. Times article spotlighting Steven Spielberg has subsequently revealed that the sequel to the summer blockbuster "Transformers" is scheduled for a summer 2009 release.

The article actually spotlights Mr. Spielberg and his supposed discontent with how Viacom, Inc. (Viacom is the parent company of Paramount Pictures) has handled their business with him since they purchased his co-founded studio DreamWorks SKG.

While this date is not surprising, it may not be healthy for many fans to start getting happy.

The reason? Well, it has been revealed before that the sequel - what I'll call "Transformers 2" - is coming due to "Transformers"' awesome success at the box office this summer. Peter Cullen signed a three movie deal and had been told to keep the next year open. Meanwhile, both Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox have both been signed for a sequel.

However, Producer Don Murphy (who, according to Director Michael Bay, was not much of a producer, but that's irrelevant on this topic) has written that Paramount is waiting out the strike that might be the plight of Hollywood come June of next year.

Mr. Bay himself has also been quoted as saying that the "people at the studio have been dragging for the last two months," even though he is "itching" to work on something. He has said that he may "jump ship" to another project and/or studio until this strike mess is resolved.

So while Mr. Spielberg and Mr. Bay are both signed onto a sequel, and it's scheduled for sumer 2009, it doesn't mean that it will happen in 2009.

Say they do wait out the strike and it does not actually take place, pre-production still needs to take place. Not to mention if Mr. Bay plans to outdo "Transformers," the CGI process for "Transformers 2" will take longer than the year it took for the original.

Also, if Mr. Spielberg does jump ship once his contract with Viacom runs up, what will happen to the executive producer position?

There are just too many equations that need to be factored in for the sequel to actually start running on full. While the magic may somehow run its course on "Transformers 2," it's just a better plan to deploy the strategy that Paramount Pictures is supposedly using for the strike: wait and see.