in 2007, labeouf starred in the commercially successful films "disturbia" and "surf's up". the same year he was cast in michael bay's science fiction film "transformers" as sam witwicky, the main protagonist of the series. "transformers" was a box office success and one of the highest-grossing films of 2007. labeouf later appeared in its sequels "" (2009) and "" (2011), both also box office successes. in 2008, he played henry "mutt williams" jones iii in "indiana jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull".