Michael Bay‘s Transformers 3, starring Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, Kevin Dunn, Julie White, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich and Ken Jeong, will reportedly start filming in Chicago on July 4th and the shoot is expected to last seven weeks.

From Reel Chicago:

Chicago Film Office director Rich Moskal calls the upcoming big-budget shoot “a blockbuster in every sense of the word; in terms of economic impact, stunts and special effects.”

They will shoot along Michigan Avenue and throughout the Loop.

Starting May 10 “T3” will work out of Chicago Film Studios Chicago (the Ryerson steel plant), occupying 300,000 sq. ft. for offices, stages, construction, wardrobe, transportation, etc., according to studio manager Alex Pisseos.

“T3” will shoot in six other world cities in the continuing saga of the admirable Autobots and dastardly Decepticons, who disguise themselves by transforming into everyday machinery.

Transformers 3 is slated to hit theaters on July 1, 2011.