When Will the Hiatus End?

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen has ended its first half of shooting. A planned hiatus was built into the schedule but when it ends is not known. My best guess is early October. Here is my reasoning.

Part of the reason for the hiatus was because of the probably SAG strike that is coming around July 8th. Even if a miracle happens (say firing SAG President Alan Rosenberg) so an agreement can be reached, the month of July is wash. Whether the strike lasts a day or an agreement is reached before the 8th, all the studios pretty much operated on the assumption that no work would occur for the month of July.

This brings us to August. Same reason, the strike might be long so no point in scheduling things then either. There are other reasons too though for skipping August. The main one is most of the filming is expected to occur on the West Coast in Arizona, at Holloman Air Force Base, Edwards Air Force Base and so forth. Since some of those locations are desert and a lot of the action is going to be outdoors just like in the first movie, it’s safe to assume its going to be very hot. Filming actors sweating through their costumes and looking like they are going to pass out in the heat is probably not the heroic image Bay would be looking for. Another reason is they would have to stop production again anyway for Shia LaBeouf.

Now to September. On September 26th, Shia's next movie, Eagle Eye (trailer below) is scheduled to come out. It also stars Michelle Monaghan, who I have a bit of a crush on. Anyway, assuming the strike is over, Shia will be spending pretty much the entire month promoting the movie so he will not be available for Transformers. Also, Josh Duhamel is currently filming "When In Rome" (with Kristen Bell and Alexis Dziena, the lucky ...) so unless his role is really small, he may still have to complete his commitment to the film. It doesn't make sense financially to start production, stop it, start it, and then stop it again. It is better to stop, wait until all current commitments are complete and then start up again.

That leaves October. Also, regards to shooting at Holloman Air Force Base, "Fall" is the repeated time frame and October fits in nicely for that. Hopefully I am wrong but we shall see. I just hope between now and then some character design sheets and the like are leaked for us to enjoy.

Eagle Eye Trailer