Megan Fox will not return to star in “Transformers 3.”

Paramount has not picked up her option for the sequel, which began shooting this week in Los Angeles and will shoot in various locations across the U.S.

While there have been reports of friction between Fox and Michael Bay, the director of the “Transformers” movies, it is unusual to eliminate an actor or actress so closely associated with the movie, not to mention a key character in the movie, just as the movie begins production.

The move is also unusual since word around agents was that Bay and writer Ehren Kruger were planning on creating a female nemesis for Fox.

Bay and company now plan to take the story “in another direction,” according to insiders, and will cast a new love interest.

The third installment of the popcorn blockbuster had been amassing a higher level of actors, with John Malkovich, Frances McDormand and Patrick Dempsey being new additions.

This article originally appeared in The Hollywood Reporter’s Heat Vision Blog.