Shia LaBeouf: I’m done with big-budget studio movies

Actor Shia LaBeouf appears to have turned a major corner in his career. In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the star of mega-budget spectacles like Michael Bay's "Transformers" trilogy and Steven Spielberg's unfortunate "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" now says that he's "done" with the studio system and will instead focus on making indie movies instead.

That probably rules out a cameo in "Transformers 4."

"There's no room for being a visionary in the studio system. It literally cannot exist," LaBeouf told THR. "You give Terrence Malick a movie like 'Transformers,' and he's f--ed. There's no way for him to exist in that world."

See also: Shia LaBeouf returns to Cannes with more pride

As much as we'd like to see a Malick-directed "Transformers" movie, it's hard to argue with LaBeouf (a sentence this writer never thought he would write). With remakes, reboots, and sequels dominating the release calendar, it's easy to argue that Hollywood is essentially creatively bankrupt. Still, it's a little odd to hear such harsh words coming from someone who owes his career to the Hollywood machine, since the massive success of LaBeouf's movies is what has allowed the actor to swear off the system in the first place.

Full credit to LaBeouf, though, as the "Wall Street 2" star is putting his money where his mouth is. In addition directing a short film with Marilyn Manson and going full frontal in Sigur Ros' latest music video, the actor will next be seen in the indie crime drama "Lawless" from director John Hillcoat ("The Road").

See also: Shia LaBeouf's shocking full-frontal performance in Sigur Ros music video

After that, LaBeouf will star in Robert Redford's political potboiler "The Company You Keep," Frederik Bond's "The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman" and Lars von Trier's "The Nymphomaniac." When asked why he wanted to work with the controversial "Melancholia" director on his racy new film, LaBeouf was frank.

"He's dangerous," he told THR. "He scares me. And I'm only going to work now when I'm terrified."

Von Trier has made light of the fact that "Nymphomaniac" will be extremely explicit in its depiction of sex, so expect to see even more of LaBeouf's "Optimus Prime" than you did in that Sigur Ros video.

"Lawless" hits theatres on Aug. 31.