It's been only a couple of weeks since Mercedes unleashed the AMG GT R, and the track-ready coupe has already booked a leading role in the next Transformers flick, one of the most anticipated films of 2017. The news comes straight from director Michael Bay, who posted a photo of a GT R with a special paint job on his blog. The picture was captioned "Drift," which suggests that the AMG GT R will play the role of Autobots member Drift.

There's no additional information about the movie-prepped GT R outside Bay's image, but the car appears to sport the standard features save for the two-tone livery. Finished mostly in black, the sports car has bright-red stripes on its lower body, as well as red accents on the front bumper, front fenders, side mirrors, rear wing, and wheels.

Drift will join other confirmed vehicular cast members, including Hound, Crosshairs, Sqweeks, Barricade, and Bumblebee. The AMG GT R is also the sixth vehicle confirmed for the upcoming Transformers and joins the Oshkosh Defense Medium Tactical Vehicle (Hound), Chevrolet Corvette Stingray (Crosshairs), a Vespa scooter (Sqweeks), Ford Mustang police car (Barricade), and, of course, a yellow-and-black 2016 Chevrolet Camaro as Bumblebee.

Filming for the Transformers: The Last Knight movie started earlier in the summer and is scheduled to hit movie theaters on June 23, 2017. It's the fifth installment in the franchise series and it could be the last to be directed by Michael Bay.

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Why It Matters?

While I wasn't expecting the AMG GT R to nail an important role in the new Transformers movies, Bay's announcement is far from surprising given the car's aggressive stance. It appears as if the GT R was specifically designed for this movie. Let's face it, that menacing body kit makes AMG's latest creation perfect for the Transformers franchise and, as far as I'm concerned, it makes the Bumblebee Camaro look rather bland. And, with 577 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque at its disposal, the AMG GT R will make for a mean and fast Drift character. Actually, there's more to the GT R than power and speed and you can find out more about it in my "5 Reasons The Mercedes-AMG GT R Is A Cool Alternative To The Porsche 911 GT3" article.

Mercedes AMG GT R

Read our full review on the Mercedes AMG GT R here.