In a welcome surprise, director Michael Bay has confirmed on his message board that he has cast Aussie soap actress Isabel Lucas (TV's "Home and Away") for the role of "Alice" in the upcoming "Transformers" sequel.

Lucas name was first rumored last week after appearing on an online casting database. As two previous casting rumors were shot down by Bay in the previous fortnight, many wondered if the Lucas casting would turn out to be another bit of speculation (myself included).

Turns out the talk was correct and Lucas is in. Meanwhile the film has been added to a list of upcoming 3-D releases for next year in the latest issue of the Dolby newsletter. The problem though is one of availability of 3D screens with "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" already locking up a lot of the Digital 3D screens available in the marketplace.