Tyrese Talks "Angrier" Transformers

Dark Horizons spoke with Tyrese Gibson about Transformers 2 as he was promoting his upcoming movie "Death Race" (which looks pretty good). Tyrese elaborated more about his "more angry" Transfoermers comments and indicates where shooting will go next.

"I like doing one-offs, but I'm more excited about franchises. We're doing Transformers 2 right now. It's crazier, it's angrier, it's bigger explosions, more robots."

"The conflict between the robots and the humans [is more angry]," Gibson adds. "The stakes have been brought up to a whole nother level. The conflicts between the humans and the Decepticons and then the conflict between the Autobots and the Decepticons. It's just more angry."

"Michael Bay is just in rare form right now."

Tyrese is careful not to reveal too much. "More robots. I'm not saying bigger. You're trying to get me to give up the size." (Laughs)

What Gibson will say is that his character's role is expanded this time around. "I am at the top of my class. I am the highest-ranking officer of my class. So it's exciting. I can just say this. Michael Bay is definitely giving Epps a lot of love in this one. It's going to be special. I've been interacting with robots. Most of the conversation with robots [in the first film] was with Shia's character. I've had a few conversations [in the second film] with robots. It's real interesting."

"We rolling. I just did a night shoot. That's why I was so tired yesterday because we shot until about 6:30 in the morning. We're doing the night thing right now and then we're going back to Alamogordo, [New Mexico] white sands to do some more of that rock star stuff out there. The stakes is just a thousand times higher. Crazy."

"We've got about two and a half more months of filming. We've got to go overseas. "I'm hearing Jordan and a few other locations. It's full-throttle."

Shia Injury Effects TF2 Schedule

Varity has confirmed that Shia LaBeouf's hand injury and month break to recover has effected the shooting schedule for Transformer: Revenge of the Fallen.

A DreamWorks insider said there was no work stoppage on "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" -- a follow-up to last year's global box office hit -- but added that rescheduling has proven to be a logistical headache. Scenes featuring co-star Josh Duhamel had to be moved to this week to work around LaBeouf's absence. Another person familiar with the situation said, "Everyone had to adjust their schedule."

Despite DreamWorks' insistence that shooting was not halted, another source close to the project said at least two days of filming were lost on the big-budget tentpole.

The film's director, Michael Bay, declined comment.

I guess Varity doesn't read Bay's forums or they would know he did comment on the accident. I bet he was livid by the two day delay though. Whether you like him or not, Bay does rightfully take pride in getting his work done on time and on schedule and Shia accidentally disrupted that. Two days probably represents about a million if not more in expenses. This probably explains why it appears that San Pedro is the site of sets that look similar to Bethlehem as those type of scenes would involve Josh, Tyrese and new cast member Matthew Marsden but not Shia and Megan. Thanks to Chris for the link.

Bay Comments on Misinformation Campaign

Michael Bay back in April claimed he would initiate a disinformation campaign to confuse Transfans about the movie. This morning he posted a remark on that campaign on his message boards.

The only full script for the movie exist with me and the original writer's. A select few crew members have read parts, some of the leads have read full scripts - but the number is under ten. One person from Paramount, three from Dreamworks.

We have leaked several scripts, some treatments and various scenes that are used to mislead the internet. We have mocked up wrong schedules and call sheets with fake scenes on them. When shooting scenes we don't refer to character names and use wrong faces on the poles representing different robots that are going to be placed in - It's a lot of work but seems to have worked out because no one knows the story of the movie besides Sam going to college.

Bay

Michael Bay must think Tranfans are fools and easily tricked and I don't appreciate it. The reality is Bay's disinformation is to simply claim there is disinformation campaign.

Let's look at his so-called examples. Number of leaked scripts? Zero. If they are out there then people are keeping them close to the vest. Number of leaked treatments? One, way back in October of last year that involved a Transformer invasion of Las Vegas. The treatment was a fun read but also would have been incredibly expensive to produce. Few took it as the real thing.

Number of scenes leaked? Zero, goes back to the script idea. To leak a scene means leaking a portion of a script which hasn't occurred. Now Bay could be saying he is shooting fake scenes but I call bullshit on that. The man takes too much pride in shooting films on time, on budget, and using the money wisely. Filming fake scenes smacks in the face of all three. As for the fake head on poles thing, I have yet to read a single description online that even referred to them so if he is using them, no one but the cast and crew seems to be aware of it.

Number of schedules in the wild? Zero. Technically the call sheets could be one but at this point all "schedule" information has consisted of either information given to the press of the locations they are shooting at or "guess what I found!" moments. There has been some incorrect information in regards to shooting in New York but I think that was human error rather then Bay's work. But for giggles I will give him credit for it. One "fake" location out of dozens of accurate ones makes for pretty crappy use of misinformation.

As for the call sheets, so far only one has been leaked from Bethlehem. I think the only "fake" part of the sheet is many of the Transformers name such as Wheelie, R8, Stinger, etc which are probably placeholder names. I don't think Jetfire and Arcee are placeholders but who knows for sure. The rest of the information is legitimate.

The information contained in the call sheets has been verified by multiple witnesses in mulitple locations and with dozens of pictures. The vehicles have been spotted not only in Bethlehem but since then in Philadelphia and now San Pedro. Are we supposed to believe Bay would waste money transporting cars across the country (most of which are expensive concept cars) if they are not actually being used in the film? Please.

The sheets correctly identified the next stage of the schedule when production moved to the Steven F Udvar-Hazy Center and accurately describes seens that witnesses report seeing filmed. A scene was scheduled with a Blackbird and what do you know...a scene was filmed with a Blackbird. Cast members, such as Ramon Rodriguez, where identified as part of the cast via the sheet and he has since been seen in Philly shooting with Megan Fox. Did Bay pay the expense of flying an actor and film him if he isn't even in the film? Yeah right. Nothing about those call sheets have been contradicted and most has been verified in pictures, videos and from multiple different witnesses.

About the only thing accurate in Bay's statement is his comment on the story. Despite the many pictures and set reports over the last two months, we still have no clear idea on what the story is about and have not verified exactly what Transformers are or are not in the film (except Soundwave). All we know, thanks to direct comments from Bay, Orci and Kurtzman, is the story has Sam going to college away from home when Transformer stuff occurs. Even with the call sheets we still don't have any useful information to figure out what the story is really about, just a whole lot of guesses.

What Bay should be posting about is not his nonexistent misinformation but pride in his cast and crew. Despite hundreds of people being involved in production, many public sets, and hundreds of pictures taken of the cars and cast, we still don't know that much about the film. Just look at the cheat sheet, its littered with "rumor" notes and best guesses based on multiple car appearances, set sightings, and probability that concept car equals Transformer.

I take pride in the fact that this blog has been a source of much of the information out there about Transformers 2 thanks to site readers that have provided information and pictures over the last two months but to my knowledge none of that information has come from the cast and crew.

If there is an unofficial slogan of this website, it is "speculation is most of the fun." A genuine misinformation campaign with fake scenes, scripts and treatments would be a whole lot of fun to pick apart and discuss. I would invite such an effort. If we have one fact about this movie, it is that Bay's misinformation campaign simple does not exist.

Instead of patting himself on the back for a job not done, Michael Bay should be patting his cast and crew on the back for a job well done in maintaining the secrecy of Transformers Revenge of the Fallen.

What do you think? Discuss in the comments but please keep it civil and PG rated.

First Pic of Audi R8

Siebertron.com has scored 4 images of night shooting for Transformers Revenge of the Fallen occurring at the Long Beach docks in San Pedro, CA. The photos, taken by VonSchlitzy, show the ice cream truck, the silver corvette and what appears to be the first image of the Audi R8 that was spotted in Bethlehem. The set dressings and the like reinforce the notion that this is a continuation of the footage shot at Bethlehem Steel.


Update: Thanks to Keith (thanks!), here are some touched up photos that helped bring out some details from those night pics. As usual, click em to make bigger.

Bay Comments on Shia's Accident

Michael Bay has posted on his forums about Shia LaBeouf's accident. While Shia was driving drunk, the accident was the result of the other driver running the red light which led to injuries including one on his left hand that required surgery and will sideline the actor for the next month.

Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen :

The car crash with Shia is unexpected, but we are still filming. The movie has not shut down - there is plenty to do without Shia. The shooting is also going great - I'm having a blast making this movie! Shia will be back soon and we wish all wish him a fast recovery.

Michael Bay

I guess that means that the schedule did have to be altered to accommodate Shia's injuries. I wonder what changes where made and did any of them include stunt or slight story adjustments. I am a big fan of "Sh@# happens" but hopefully Shia will not invite greater frequency of that by driving drunk again. Thanks to Rich for the link.

The hilarious picture above is courtesy of Jester of the Motormaster, Tumbler, Trailbreaker, and Jetfire creations.

Update: It seems that despite all the teasing for Shia's drunk driving, he was behaved responsibily after the accident despite being hurt:
According to Access Hollywood, witness Brian Perrulli reports "Shia was tending to the other people in the car, signing over information, like insurance and stuff and basically, I overheard the guy tell him, ‘You should just get out of here and go,’ and Shia said, ‘Nah man. I gotta deal with this. My license plate, it’s my car. I don’t wanna go, I gotta deal with this.’” Brian claims he heard the man from the other vehicle, who has not yet been identified, say he would cover for Shia. “The guy Shia hit told him, ‘You should get outta here,’ and ‘I never saw you.’ He said, ‘I never saw you,’ and Shia said, ‘No, man, I gotta stay here and deal with this. It’s my problem”. The Brian guy went on to say Shia did not seem intoxicated, “He looked more disoriented and shocked more than drunk. I wouldn’t have thought he was drunk."

Hopefully this will be the last bit of news on the accident unless new info comes out about its impact on Transformers 2 production.

Motormaster Fan Art

Jester and Jolin have returned, this time with G1 Stunticons leader Motormaster redesigned movie style. The alt mode is a Peterbilt 389 with Trailer. I like the heft and power that is conveyed.

More on The Fallen, TF Destiny

In an interview with MTV, IDW Editor-in-Chief Chris Mowry revealed a little bit more about the five issue Transformers: Destiny series and confirmed some information about the movie including re-iterating Simon Furman's indication that The Fallen is a new character rather then a metaphor for the return of an established TF (but it can still go either way).

“[We're going to] expand on the ‘Reign of Starscream’ story that we’re doing and tie everything in to what this next movie is going to be,” explained writer Chris Mowry, who partners on the book with artist Alex Milne. “The next movie starts out with just tons of action and there’s obviously going to be a lot of questions, so we’re hoping to answer some of those beforehand.”

At the end of “Transformers,” audiences were treated to a grand speech from Optimus Prime issuing the call for his off-world Autobots to head to Earth. We also saw Starscream blast into space after the defeat of his leader Megatron. So where did he go? Mowry’s “Reign of Starscream” miniseries — currently on shelves — answers that question and leads directly into “Destiny.”

Whereas “Reign of Starscream” expanded on the first film, “Destiny” will establish much of the second before fans are introduced to an increasingly complex storyline with multiple new robots. “We’re definitely taking every character that we can from the sequel,” said Mowry. “So you’ll see some Sector 7 involvement and what really happened to them. The same thing with some of the new characters, we’ll explain how they get to Earth. Because like I said, people will be wondering ‘Hey, where did that guy come from?’”

While Mowry has yet to have direct contact with “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, he has worked closely with Hasbro to keep his story in continuity, as well as to ensure he’s not stepping on the film’s plotlines. “We had this really ambitious script done where there were a lot of fan-favorites in there. [But] some of them are going to be making an appearance in the second movie so they asked us not to use those, which is understandable.”

Two of those fan-favorite characters are Soundwave and Arcee, both of whom find themselves recruited for the sequel. “[Starscream]’s more of like a military guy. So in ‘Destiny’ we’re going to see a lot more involvement with [the backgrounds of] Prime and Megatron, [as well as] Cybertron’s history and how that affects the present day. It all centers around the plot of the sequel which I obviously can’t get into. It’ll be explained but you’ll see a lot more expansion of their characters and their motivations and their destinies, if you will.”

The main takeaway is The Fallen is the main villain in the film (who still unknown) but then the title gave that away anyway, further confirmation that Arcee and Soundwave are in the upcoming film, that Destiny will be in-continuity thanks to IDW's work with Hasbro and the movie opens right into the middle of some action (rumored to be whatever was shot in Bethlehem).

Transformers 2 Trailer With Eagle Eye?

Roberto Orci, the great teaser that he is, posted on the Don Murphy message boards regarding when the trailer might come out. "Maybe -- or maybe in front of EAGLE EYE... who knows."

Eagle Eye (out September 26th) stars Shia LaBeouf so it’s a natural fit but at this point I think the studio is aiming for bigger game by attaching it either to Harry Potter or James Bond. I bet some people are kicking themselves for getting something out in time for The Dark Knight considering that movie is on track to become the second highest grossing movie of all time.

Thanks to the site readers for the heads-up.

Furman: The Fallen In TF2

Transformers comic book writer extraordinare Simon Furman might have accidently let a cat out of the bag in an interview with Comicbook Resources on Friday when discussing upcoming comic plans including "The 13" which will finally reveal the complete origins of the Transformer race.

"It's interesting that the second movie is using this character called the Fallen, which is a character that we created back in the Dreamwave days for this big series called 'The Dark Ages' which tapped into what had gone before. So these names and institutions like The 13 are rolling on into different incarnations."

Now before you ask "How does he know?", it turns out apparently IDW was given the Transformers 2 screenplay for their movie related plans. "The cool thing about having the screenplay and being able to work farther out this time than we could last time is that we can take what's happening in movie two and not only tie it to the first movie, but also with the 'Reign of Starscream' prequel and the next prequel and really make it into one huge storyline. We could pick up on plot points from 'Reign of Starscream' and hints of what's happening in movie two and really tie it all together. Second movies are always nicer because everybody relaxes a bit on how far out they'll let you see things," IDW Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Chris Ryall said.

Can this be taken as confirmation of a major plot point? I don't know really. Furman has been in the comic industry for decades and the man knows how to keep secrets when needed and how to tease the audience to want more. Its hard to say one way or the other but for now I am leaning in the direction that The Fallen of the title is a new character and not Megatron.

Thanks to CTSABRESFAN88 for the link.

Constructicon On Set? Nope

Update: As site readers pointed out, it turns out that picture is two years old. Between the date (July 27th), the mention of San Pedro (where Bay is reported to be shooting on the same date) and the way the background "fit" Bethlehem and related sets, it seemed like the real deal. Just to be sure, the TF story had an id of 814. Story ID 815 is about Happy Feet and 812 is an interview on Snakes on a Plane so pretty clearly the egg is on me. If only I had noticed the year.

My apologies for the mistake. Thanks to those for pointing out the error. Despite this blog mostly being about speculation and best guesses I do strive for accuracy where possible. Should I delete the entire post or leave it up for posterity's sake?

Latino Review provided a set report from San Pedro and provided a picture of what could be a Constructicon crane. As reported before it appears that San Pedro is being used as a continuation of the footage shot in Bethlehem and includes many of the Transformer cars seen there and mentioned on the call sheets, one of which was identified as a "Constructicon Earth Mover."
The SUV's are probably NEST vehicles. Could the image be a shot of the Constructicon? A place holder for the CGI element that will be inserted later? Just a crane on the set where things happen? Beats me.

One source told me that the Constructicon is not one of the group that forms Devastator from G1 cartoon. He is actually a single Transformer whose alt mode is one of the world's largest earth movers. As usual, its all speculation and guesses, but then that is part of the fun.

Tyrese: TF2 "More Angry"

Reelz Channel posted a brief dicussion with Tyrese regarding Transformers 2. Thanks to Chris for the link.

What does preeminent action director Michael Bay have in store for his follow-up to last year's talking-robot sci-fi smash, Transformers? Tyrese Gibson, who reprises his role of Air Force Tech Sergeant Epps in the much anticipated sequel, told us today at Comic-Con that Transformers 2 is "crazier, more angry, (with) bigger explosions and more robots" than its predecessor.

"The stakes have been brought up to a whole 'nother level," Gibson added. "The conflict between the humans and the Decepticons -- and between the Autobots and the Decepticons -- it's just more angry."

Transformers At San Pedro (Updated)

Thanks to Gettodeath for providing the pictures below taken Saturday at San Pedro, CA where Transformers 2 was filming. They show Optimus Prime, the mysterious Ice Cream Truck, Ironhide and NEST vehicles. Gettodeath suggests that Stinger and Wheels are the two Transformers that form the ice cream truck. Since their alt modes are not even close to being verified, it’s actually a pretty good theory since both TFs are on the Bethlehem call sheet.

I am thinking the scenes being filmed are a prelude to whatever action was filmed in the interior of Bethlehem Steel. If you look at the first picture, you will notice neon Chinese signs that look very similar to signs put up at Bethlehem Steel. In the second picture, at the end of the road is a Chinese sign that looks identical to the front entrance sign that Jason took back in June, but imagine it after you drive under it and look at it from behind.


Update: Below are two additional pictures provided by Gettodeath. One is a close-up view of the ice cream truck and the second is the mysterious silver Corvette seen here and there.

Spielberg Potential Move to India

The Herald Tribune wrote an article on Spielberg's probably hop in bed with Indian company Reliance ADA Group. They wondered how money rich Hollywood or New York couldn't have simply worked out something especially since he continues to prove his ability to make money with the current box office take of $743 million for Indiana Jones 4.

One possible reason is the 20% cut he gets for his movies from the gross. That means he gets paid before expenses (cost of the movie, advertising, etc) is removed to determine profit. He must be highly motivated to want Transformers 2 out on time, probably even more then Bay is.

That expense combined with the cost of the talent, never mind the movies themselves and suddenly his projects are not as valuable to the bottom line focused studios and public companies that can not justify the expense of a Spielberg deal to their shareholders.

Another concern is DVD sales are dropping (only 3.2 percent though) which is making potential Spielberg investors think that long term return will not be as high. It use (and really still is) the case where even if a movie tanks at the box office, DVD sales can still make a film profitable. Also since Spielberg likes a mix of blockbuster (money printing machines) and prestige films (that bring in Academy Awards, but tend to lose money) makes his per movie hit profit hit rate not worth it.

As for why Spielberg may be looking overseas - control. American investors will demand a say in what films are made, better return on their money, how they are advertised and so forth. Reliance is not as likely to make demands, basically they will allow Spielberg to conduct and make movies as Spielberg has been doing over the last three decades.

A deal hasn't been signed so final determination on what, if anything, will happen with the Transformers franchise is unknown. Thanks to Charl_Huntress for the link.

Shia Injured, Arrested for DUI (Updated)

Transformers star Shia LaBeouf was arrested for DUI after a car accident that resulted in injuries to his head, left hand, and knee. An unidentified female passenger and other driver where not injured (but I bet a lawsuit is coming).

Normally I could care less about the gossip stuff but in this case it seemed worth posting about. One reason is because driving while drunk is simply beyond stupid and point out the stupidity of others is worthwhile. The second reason is depending on the shoot schedule and the severity of Shia's injuries, this could impact the filming of Transformers 2.

A knee injury can lead to noticeable limp on screen, a hand injury will make it difficult for him to grip objects, hang on to things and the like and of course aggravating a head injury can be dangerous. Bay has a history of expecting his actors to participate in the physical needs of his movies as much as possible and right now he is probably very angry looking at the scenes that will need to possibly be re-worked and shot differently to accommodate Shia's injuries.

This is all speculation though as currently we know nothing of how hurt he is (could just be bruises) or what the shooting schedule is (darn it). I do know one thing, Shia's promotional swing for Eagle Eye, which comes out in September, will probably be much more aggravating for him as he gets asked about the DUI repeatedly.

Thanks to Charl_Huntress and Chilly One for the links.

Update: From the comments, Shia LaBeouf's representatives commented on the crash. Apparently his green Ford flipped when he made a left-hand turn (ie, he took the turn way to fast) and he needed surgery for his left hand which was crushed during the accident.

“Shia is currently recovering from extensive hand surgery with plans to return to work on the set of ‘Transformers 2’ within one month,” his reps’ statement continued. “No further comment will be issued at this time.” Whether that month delay is to recover or because of the shooting schedule is unknown.

Another update: Now with video via Socialite Life, which shows the scene of the accident on La Brea Avenue with the flipped truck.


Update again: Guess who the mysterious female passenger was. None other then Transformers 2 co-star Isabel Lucas. Of note is a Paramount rep confirmed that Lucas was "already back on the set" which strikes me as interesting. What are they filming and how much disruption has this accident caused the film as I find it hard to belief she would be in scenes that wouldn't need Shia's participation. I bet Bay is livid. Thanks to Brettles and others for the heads-up.

Hasbro SDCC Panel

Hasbro conducted its Transformers panel and sadly no movies news or footage was shown. What was shown though was the next 6 months or so of toy line plans for Transformers: Animated, Universe and the 25th Anniversary line which celebrates the various "eras" of Transformers. No movie related toys where presented. TFormers has a gallery of the presentation here.

Transformers: Animated
- Next wave will start coming out in Sepember and another will follow in December.
- September wave is Deluxe Sentinel Prime, Deluxe Swoop, Elite Guard Bumblebee, Leader Ultra Magnus, Acitvator Cliffjumper (BB repaint), and Deluxe Blurr
- December was includes Deluxe Swindle, Voyager Longarm, Voyager Shockwave and Leader Shadow Blade Megatron

Transformers Classic / Universe
- More re-designs of G1 characters, new ones will start hitting shelves in the fall
- Includes Deluxe Ironhide, Deluxe Sideswipe, Ultra Silverbolt, Ultra Storm Cloud, Legends Megatron, Legends Jazz
- Also have Robot Heroes G1 assortment of Megatron/Silverbolt, Ironhide/Kickback, and Thrust/Blaster

Transformers Titanium 6''- Three more toys for the line, exclusive to Toys R Us
- War Within Skywarp, War Within Prowl, and War Within Grimlock

Transformers 25th Anniversary 1984-2009
- Re-lease of G1 Optimus Prime with Marvel's Transformers #1 and "More then Meets the Eye" DVD which was the first story arc of the '84 cartoon series.
- Line includes what really is more Classics type toys with Hound & Ravage (alt mode a cassette), Deluxe Cyclonus & Nightstick Target Master, Legends Brawn, Legends Beachcomber, Voyager Inferno, Legends Bumblebee, and Legends Cosmos.
- Beast Wars represented with re-issue of Deluxe Cheetor


Update: Via TFW2005, is the below YouTube video of the panel.

IDW Tranformers Panel

Without movie news to report (so far), how about some comic book related news. IDW, the publisher of the Transformer comics, held its panel yesterday at San Diego Comic-Con and discussed some of their upcoming and current plans. An interview with TF writers is here.

Transformers: All Hail Megatron
- 12 issue series that has the Autobots in hiding after the near death of Optimus Prime as the Decepticons begin their push to conquer Earth.
- First issue out as of a few weeks ago
- New character Drift, an Autobot, will be introduced in this series.
- "He's calm, collected but also capable of significant acts of violence. In a nutshell? He's not someone you want to mess with."
- Alt mode is a Nissan Silvia S15, a Japanese drift racing car, will be first IDW design that will be made into a toy by Hasbro.

Transformers: The 13
- Written by Simon Furman.
- Covers the origin of the Transformers race, "really define a big, big part of the whole Transformers mythology/back story. Expect lots of stuff that’s never been definitively, categorically set in stone to be established once and for all..."
- Expected to come out sometime in 2009 as part of the 25th Anniversary of Transformers.
- "Questions that every Trans-fan has always wanted to ask will finally be answered. Plans for the series are still evolving as we speak, just because (perhaps more than ever before) we’re going hand in hand with Hasbro on this one. But I’m not ruling out possible links to what’s happening now."

Transformers: The Reign of Starcream
- Issue three just came out, covers Starscream plans to rebuild the Allspark and lead the Decepticons.
- Soundwave appearance was removed due to his use in the movie (probably didn't want their design to contradict the movie design).

Transformers: Destiny
- Writer is Chris Mowry and art by Alex Milne
- Transformers 2 Prequel ("hopefully") with first issue (of five-part series) coming out December 2008
- "We'll bear witness to the rise of the Decepticons on Cybertron, and the formation of the Autobot resistance. Their history has a strange habit of repeating itself, and we just may see their actions repeated on our planet next. So we'll go way back to the beginning, move forward to the present, then finish up in the near future"

Maximum Dinobots
- Written by Simon Furman
- Focuses on Grimlock and other Dinobots but will also fill in the story gaps that have developed in the line from the various Spotlight issues and the jump from the end of "Devastation" story to "All Hail Megatron."
- Will also feature Scorponok, Machination, Headmasters, Sunstreaker, Hot Rod and others.

Transformers Spotlight: Blurr
- Written by Shane McCarthy
- "Blurr's whole personality in this is built on his ability to travel at remarkable speeds; someone with that ability has the capacity to make life and death decisions in a hundredth of a second. This sounds well and good but it has its downsides too."
- Set before the Great War, on Cybertron, self contained story.

Transformers Spotlight: Cosmos
- Out sometime in 2009
- Covers Ascension and All Hail Megatron story arcs

Transformers Revelation
- Focus on Sideswipe
- Written by Simon Furman, art by EJ Su.

Transformers: Animated
- Five issue mini-series set during the first season that will recap season plot points from a different point of view.
- Each issue will have two stories that will be 11 pages in length each.

Transformers Influence in Knight Rider?

AICN posted a promo video of the new Knight Rider series that was show at the San Diego Comic-Com panel. A little less then a minute into the promo Kitt does a Transformer like transformation from a truck to car, with mechanical folds and the like. No robot mode but it’s nice to see the Transformers influence spread. The promo suggests a more kinetic series then the TV movie. I was going to check it out just because Deanna Russo is hot but the series might actually be entertaining too.

Nope, still no TF movie news from SDCC. Hopefully something will pop-up tomorrow.

Writers Reveal Transformers Theme; No Dinobots

MTV discussed Transformers 2 with script writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. Sadly the interview pretty much confirms what we all knew was probably the case - no Dinobots. "We couldn’t quite figure out how to justify a robot that would pretend to be a dinosaur" Orci said.

When asked about the return of Megatron, Orci responded "That would be silly" suggesting maybe the "Fallen" is not Megs as many believe. Of course this could just them having fun with providing a little misinformation and hiding plans that they plan on the "silly" return of Megatron.

They also revealed the theme of the sequel. Where the first is about a boy and his car, the second according to Orci is "It’s about being away from home. It’s a few years later and Sam is going to finally go to college and he’s going to face being away from home just as the Autobots are having to deal with being away from Cybertron."

"Oh, and what about that title? Why “Revenge of the Fallen”? Orci deadpanned, “Because ‘Transformers 2′ sounds stupid.”"

The picture is from KNX1070 that shows the San Diego Comic-Con display for TF2. Link provided by JFuller.

TF2, Fox at Venice Beach

Celeb Warship is reporting (with more Megan pics) that Transformers was spotted yesterday shooting scenes for Transformers 2 at Venice Beach, CA. The outfit is apparently the Mikaela Banes costume for whatever scene they are filming. (source)

Two Casting Notes

Via TFW2005, its being reported that Steve Tom and Katie Lowes have been cast in minor supporting roles for Transformers 2.

Steve will play the CEO of McClaren Robotics and Katie (pretty) was cast as the resident assistant at Sam's dorm. Transformer tech plus a robotics company cannot lead to good things I am betting.

Rainn Talks TF2 With MTV

Rainn Wilson, who plays a "strangely comedic" scene in Transformers 2: "Tomb of the Phantom Emperor", as a college professor, briefly discussed his role and working with Michael Bay with MTV. He "reveals" that Michael Bay is a "furry meerkat" and "a big hugger." So if you see him and interested in a little jail time, be sure to give Bay a big hug on the advice of Rainn Wilson.


Thanks to Chris for the link.

Transformers Site Teaser

The official website for the Transformers movies has updated with a little flash video that shows the official title logo for the movie. That is all that has been added as the rest of the site remains the same. Oddly, www.transformersrevengeofthefallen.com remains down despite Hasbro's purchase of the domain a little over a month ago. You would think they would at least set up site forwarding. Maybe it’s a little pre-prep for rumored possible teaser information that is coming this weekend for the San Diego Comic-Con. Thanks to Chris for the heads-up.

Jablonsky Back for Transformers 2

The Knight Shift is reporting that Steve Jablonsky has signed on to do the score for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. He had also worked on the first movie score. The blog has been a source of reliable information regarding the first movie's score and played a part in getting the first movies score released for purchase.

Personally I am still curious to know what plans were there to use original Transformers themes from the '80s and what part, if any, did the lawsuit (how that turn out anyway?) play in derailing those plans.

Thanks to Rich for the link.

Mark Ryan Confirmed for TF2

While it has been assumed that the return of Bumblebee meant that Mark Ryan would return as his voice, it is always nice to get it confirmed by the actor. According to Siebertron.com:

"I can confirm that I am working on Transformers 2 - Revenge Of The Fallen and have been given the same job on set, voicing the Autobots for the actors, and have already done some voiceover work in the studio as well. It’s a privilege to work with the cast and crew again, it's very exciting and we are having a great time. I cannot comment on details about the film or the script, but there are some new characters that fans will love."

In other words he will return in the exact same capacity as he was in the first movie where he read off Transformer lines during filming to help the actors while filming and probably useful in getting timing and the like down for the CGI work that follows.

Mark Ryan will also be at the San Diego Comic-Con for a panel to discuss his new graphic novel "The Pilgrim" and also be available to sign autographs.

Close-up of Mystery TF Corvette

Jalopnik has posted two close-up pictures of the mysterious Chevy Corvette concept car that was recently spotted near Edwards Air Force Base. It’s a sleek car that one has identified as having some features similar to the Stingray.

Top Movie Villians

Yahoo! Movies has compiled its list of top movie villains to commiserate the release of The Dark Knight (fantastic movie). Transformers baddie Megatron made the list at #4 despite his mostly cameo appearance and showing up just long enough to kill Jazz and then die.

A robot that shrinks down into a handgun that other robots have to hold to shoot? Not exactly a threat to the planet. So it's no surprise that the leader of the Decepticons was given a new "alien jet" vehicle mode for the movie. Not that he needed to turn into something to wreak havoc; he tears poor Jazz in half with his bare hands.

You can read the details here. Thanks to Chris for the link.

The list in order:
1. The Joker - The Dark Knight
2. Darth Vader - Empire Strikes Back
3. Lord Voldemort - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
4. Megatron - Transformers
5. Davy Jones - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
6. Agent Smith - The Matrix Reloaded
7. Dr. Octopus - Spider-Man 2
8. The Wicked Witch of the West - The Wizard of Oz
9. General Zod - Superman II
10. Magneto - X-Men: The Last Stand
11. Khan Noonien Singh - Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
12. T-1000 - Terminator 2
13. The Queen - Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
14. The One Ring - The Lord of the Rings
15. Syndrome - The Incredibles
16. Satan - South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut

Rainn Talks TF with AICN

AICN spoke with Rainn Wilson about his upcoming projects and plans including Transformers. Below is the TF segment where he discusses working with Michael Bay and click here to check out the full article.

Quint: So what are you working on now? You have some stuff coming up?
Rainn Wilson: Well, I just did a very small cameo in TRANSFORMERS 2.

Quint: Cool.
Rainn Wilson: That was kind of a blast. I got to work with Michael Bay and I was a big fan of TRANSFORMERS.

Quint: I spent a few days on the set of the first movie and something I noticed was that Michael Bay, I think he has an AD, but he doesn’t need one.
Rainn Wilson: He does everything himself.

Quint: He does everything and he’s not afraid to be the task master on a set.
Rainn Wilson: I saw him and he was literally giving the focus puller notes. The focus puller was like “No, you have to do it like this…” and Michael Bay is like “No no no, do it like this and hook this here and you can turn this here and you can get the focus this way…” Somehow I believed Michael Bay knew more than the focus puller. He even ran camera a couple of times. He did his own camera work.

Quint: Yeah?
Rainn Wilson: Yeah.

Quint: That must have been fun. I don’t imagine that you are in any scenes with any robots, but it would still be fun.
Rainn Wilson: No, I wish I would have had scenes with explosions, but yeah the only other thing is I have a bunch of film irons in the fire out there.

Fox on Budget, Story

Megan Fox spoke recently with IGN about Transformers 2 and Jennifer's Body during the Television Critics Association press tour. I can't help but appreciate a women that is willing to let her geek flag fly every now and then.

Q: How is Transformers 2 going?
Megan Fox: It's going good. It's gigantic!

Q: Compared to the first, you'd say it's way bigger?
Fox: It's twice the budget, so yeah.

Q: Can you say where this movie picks up for your characters?
Fox: It's two years later, so when it comes out it will be present day. Shia [LaBeouf, who reprises his role as Sam Witwicky] and I have been dating for two years, so it's kind of like old news. There's no big love scenes or anything like that – you kind of get into the couple bickering now. That stage, like the old married couple. That's all I can say!

Q: Have you been keeping in touch with your Transformers buddies in those two years?
Fox: With Shia, yeah.

Q: (Referring to her Star Wars t-shirt, complete with Darth Vader picture) Are you a Star Wars fan?
Fox: I'm a Star Wars fan. I'm a Star Trek fan. I'm a big nerd. I'm a big, giant comic book nerd.

Q: Are you going to go down to Comic-Con?
Fox: Yeah.

Q: How do you think it's going to be to go down there after the first Transformers?
Fox: You know, I was at WonderCon and nobody really gave a (expletive), so we'll see. I think it's gonna be fun though. I've always wanted to go.

Q: Have you learned more about Transformers factoids than you ever thought you'd know?
Fox: I can't retain all the information. There's so much information to that cartoon with all the different types of bots there are. So I still know way less than I should I guess.

There is also a video but its from promotion of the first film last year where she talks about Bay and filming the movie. As for the movie being twice that of the second film, therefore $300 million, I have my doubts. I hope its true because that means lots and lots of on screen Transformer action but I am thinking the budget is in the $200 million range.

Transformers at Edwards with Hot Rod?

"Vamphite" at the Don Murphy forums provided the below three pictures that show the fleet of cars being used for Transformers that was taken at or near Edwards Air Force Base.

The pics show various NEST vehicles, Optimus Prime, the Spider Can-Am Spyders (that are not Arcee), Ratchet, two copies of the green Chevy Beat, the red Chevy Trax, and the first clear shot of the new corvette that was spotted at Philly by Braden where the model was much debated. I am still sticking with 2009 Chevy Corvette ZR1. Thanks to Chris and Rich for the heads-up.

Also from Chris, a silver car has been mentioned around the base as possibily being Tracks or Wheeljack. Not sure if talking about the above Corvette or maybe the rumored Saab Aero X was spotted. Also Bay spoke about Hot Rod saying "He has to make Bumblebee all of a sudden less popular. Also needs to have a G1 personality with a modern day appearance." Does that mean Hot Rod is in the film? Or it could just be a comment thrown off to answer how the character would be handled if in the film. As always time will tell.

Update: Based on the comments I should add that the Hot Rod comment is the case of a person that overheard this being told to someone else. It is NOT confirmation that the character is in the movie. It could be false information or could just be a conversation about G1 characters and nothing more or Rod could actually be in the movie. Its all speculation until July 27th of next year.

In regards to the Corvette, I recieved an interesting email from a classic car fan, CRB, who noted the "vette is likely a reintroduction of the Stingray, first introduced in '63. The two cars pictured show styling cues from several years of stingrays, including the split rear window from '63 and the swooping, raised front fenders of the late sixties/early seventies models. Even the 'teeth' of the grill bring up images of early stingray concepts." I know next to nothing about cars but its an interesting theory and fits nicely with the rumored "Stinger" Autobot name for that vehicle. Debate and discuss in the comments below.

Paramount Drops Financing Deal

In the news to me category, it turns out that Paramount Pictures had a $450 million, 30 movie film deal with Deutsche Bank. That deal included Transformers 2, GI Joe and Star Trek. Apparently Paramount has changed its mind "The deal terms had evolved to a point where they were unattractive when compared to alternative sources of financing available to Paramount," said spokeswoman Patricia Rockenwagner. The termination of the deal doesn't affect current movies in production, just future ones in the works.

I am guessing they know they got mega hits on their hands and the money they are going to give back to the bank versus what they could have kept without the financing deal was pretty darn big. Usually financing deals are to help soften the blow if a picture fails. Thanks to Chris for the link.

Orci: "Stakes are a little higher"

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen writer Roberto Orci spoke with Sci Fi Wire about Transformers 2 and the story. Pretty much Orci just re-iterated information we where already aware of. Thanks to Chris and Moriah for the link.

"The humor will be similar, but the structure of the movie is a little bit more like many sequels, which is, the stakes are a little higher and the tone is a bit more sci-fi," Orci said in an interview at the Television Critics Association's summer press tour in Beverly Hills, Calif., on July 14. "It's got a little more of a sci-fi element. ... The bad guys are little more coherent in terms of what their plan is and what they're attempting to do. So it feels like more of a sci-fi battle."

The sequel will also offer a better balance between humans and robots, added Orci, who was promoting his upcoming Fox SF series, Fringe. "Maybe there's less humans," he said. "The first movie was predicated on the structure of a mystery, at which point, at the midpoint, the Transformers are revealed. This movie is structured differently in that you now know there are Transformers in the world, and therefore you can get right to them. As a result, there's kind of more Transformers throughout the movie."

Orci, who co-wrote the first movie and the sequel with partner Alex Kurtzman, remained coy about what new Transformers audiences will see. Arcee, the female Autobot who transforms into a motorcycle, "was in an early draft of the first movie, and she may make an appearance," he said. "We'll see."

But expect to see Soundwave, the Decepticon who was cut out of the first film. "Yes," Orci said. "Soundwave's in it." It's unclear whether he will transform into a tape deck, as in previous incarnations, or into something else.

Orci also declined to comment on rumors that the film will spend a bit more time on the Transformer homeworld of Cybertron.

But Orci promised that fans won't be disappointed. "If you liked the first one, you'll like this one," he said. "But if you were a genuine fan of what Transformers was and felt a little bit left behind by the first one, I think this one's going to be more for you."

Megan Fox Discusses Transformers

Megan Fox spoke with Sci Fi Wire recently about the Transformers 2 shot.

Megan Fox, who reprises the role of Mikaela Banes in Michael Bay's upcoming sequel Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, told SCI FI Wire that the movie is crazier than the first one in terms of action "by like a hundred."

"I'm doing good," Fox said in an interview in Santa Monica, Calif., on July 14. "I've had like four injuries so far. So I'm accumulating the injuries and just going on with it. It's fun. It's what it is. It's a Michael Bay movie."

Part of that is being tossed around in the same yellow Camaro as in the first film, Fox said. "There's a different Bumblebee, the yellow one that you see in the movie, that we drive," she said, adding: "I don't drive it, but it drives at like 120 miles an hour, and we're in it with no seat belts or harnesses or anything. It's, if we die, we die, all in the name of Transformers."

The sequel picks up the story of Mikaela and Sam Witwicky (again played by Shia LaBeouf) two years after they met. "It's sort of like a jump," Fox said. "It's two years from when you last saw us, obviously, because it's matching with when the movie comes out. We're college age, and our relationship ... we just get together in the last one. And so you miss all of that new relationship. There's no love scenes, no big hookup in the end. That's all, sort of, in the past. Because we've been together for years now. So we're just together, hanging out, doing what we got to do to ... That's all I can say!"

Fox allowed that Mikaela has remained in Los Angeles while Sam has gone off to college in the east.

"We're shooting in L.A. for the next few weeks," Fox said. "We were in Philadelphia and New Jersey on the East Coast. We're only now in our fifth week of filming, so we're here for a few weeks. ... I'm not in college. Shia's character's in college. I'm back home."

But do they eventually wind up in the same place? "Yeah, we do," she said with a smile.

The two years jump we already knew about since Sam went from a sophomore in high school to a college freshman. At least now know they are in LA (and probably Edwards which is very close by) for the next few weeks so hopefully some interesting stuff will come out. The article link is thanks to Chris and also to Jeany for the photo of Megan on set from Megan-Fox.net.

Fox Bigger for Transformers 2

In a sign that yes Bay does truly understand his audience, actress Megan Fox was ordered to game 10 pounds after completing her filming for "Jennifer's Body."

“I should have toned up for 'Transformers' but I’m really lazy. I had to put on weight,” she told Pop Tarts. “I’d lost a lot of weight and got really scrawny, but I was told I had to put on size for 'Transformers' because Michael [Bay, the director] doesn’t like skinny girls.”

“I just stopped eating,” she said. “I don’t eat very healthy anyway — I have a serious sugar tooth, so now I eat red-velvet cake before I go to bed every night, and if you eat meals later, you’ll put on weight faster, so I had dinner at 10 p.m.”

“There are no big love scenes,” Fox said. “At this point Shi and I have been dating for two years so we’re at the bickering stage, like an old married couple.”

Thank you Bay for knowing that the scrawny, disorientate head with bones visible in weird places is incredibly unattractive. Curves over the anorexic look any day of the week for me. I never understand why actresses become famous for a certain sexy look and attractiveness and instead of simply maintaining it they screw around with it and generally make them less (yeah I am looking at Megan's collagen injected lips). Quit fixing what wasn't broken to begin with.

In not really related news, Megan has declared "I would love to do a movie naked – it would be beautiful. No one dares make that kind of film today. They did it in the 1930s in an arty way, so why not now?" I fully support the idea as long as it’s the curvy, sexy Fox and not the anorexic Megan that stars in it.

Thanks to Rich for the links.

Transformers 2 Video Game Announced

Activision has officially announced the development of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen for a release that will co-inside with the release of the movie next July. No details whatsoever where released beyond that. Simply that the game is part of their current development slate that includes additional Guitar Hero games and Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2.

Shooting Hiatus Ended

Roberto Orci has verified on the Don Murphy message boards that the shooting hiatus (if there was one) has ended. From his post, "we never stopped -- shooting been going on all week and last week". This has been further verified in an article at Entertainment Weekly where they spoke with Michael Bay who is at a "remote air force base." He is probably at Edwards Air Force Base and since Bay likes secrets and the Armed Services are good at keeping secrets, we don't get to enjoy the same flow of information as we did from the previous month.

In the EW articles, Bay spoke about Transformers while avoiding revealing much of anything. He re-iterated that the sequel will "stand on its own" and is not a set up for a third movie. He also said "There are a lot of rumors out there, but we’ve released a lot of fake stuff. We’ve done a really good job of keeping things secret." Considering the wonderful world of special effects, pretty much anything and everything can be "fake" since it pretty easy to change things out as needed. Bay has a cool TF hat though.

So the main takeaway of all this is filming has been officially verified as resuming, Bay likes secrets and stuff will not be verified until the movie comes out (duh!).

Thanks to Esther and Rich for the links.

MTV Interview Matthew Marsden

MTV has scored the first interview with Matthew Marsden since he scored a lead role as SAS Graham in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The full interview with video is here. Thanks to Chris for the link.

The highlights:
- Avid comic book reader who collected Transformer comics (probably UK version written by Simon Furman) as a child. "I was an avid comic book reader as a kid; I used to get literally one every day. I'd get Spider-Man,' 'X-Men,' mainly all the Marvel comics, and Saturday was 'Transformers' day. ... I was a real big fan of 'Transformers,' and I went opening day to see the first [Michael Bay movie]. I loved it. I thought Shia was amazing. He's a very talented actor, and I think they did all the Transformers justice."
- His role of Graham is member of British Special Forces attached to Lennox's (Josh Duhamel) team, "there's two of us initially. And we're battling the bad guys."
- "I just try to be real," he said. "My character is not an amusing character. He's a soldier, so all the stuff that I did is very much rooted in reality and what I know from the experiences of my friends [who are in the military]. So, it's just very real and nothing über-spectacular."
- ""We went to Pennsylvania and shot at the Bethlehem Steel Plant, which was really amazing," he recalled, discussing a moment when the soldiers battle a Decepticon. "We had this scene where it's, like, 'That's where he is!' and you have to shoot at him. 'He's going that way!' It's quite a far distance away, so we had to use a laser pointer [to stand in for the robot]. It's all fun; I love that stuff."
- So far has not met Megan Fox and Shia LaBeouf since his scenes has intersected with theirs yet.
- He has not received the entire script to the film; I am assuming he has only seen the pages for the scenes related to what he is doing.
- "They're going to be bringing more Transformers in," Marsden revealed. "And there's definitely [some] in the scene that we do, different Transformers, so fans should be very excited."
- Hit it off with Michael discussing the military (both fans) and that led to the role of Graham being expanded and "I know I don't die...so that can't be bad, can it?"

Eastern State Pen TF Blog Post

As discovered by TFormers, Eastern State Penitentiary recently blogged about the Transformers 2 shoot that occured at the site and posted three photos.

We were thrilled to welcome the cast and crew of Transformers 2 to Eastern State Penitentiary!

The sequel to last summer's blockbuster recently filmed scenes in Eastern State's Cellblock 7 as well as outside in the Industrial Building Courtyard. You can see in the top photo the massive helium-filled balloon light that was used to simulate moonlight. The next photo shows the cast and crew on the set created at Eastern State. The final photo shows the car cast as "Bumblebee" exiting Eastern State during filming.

While on site, Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox and Michael Bay enjoyed a tour of Eastern State including some areas used during Terror Behind the Walls, including Cellblock 12, the home of Lock Down.

Transformers Related SDCC Panels

Via TFW2005 is news that the San Diego Comic-con finally released the schedule for Saturday and Sunday of the convention being held from July 23rd to 27th. While Paramount will not have much of a presence at the convention, Hasbro has hinted it might show something movie related during their scheduled panel.

Hasbro has 4 panels total scheduled. One is Transformers related and the other three cover other lines. Also IDW has a panel to cover their comic book plans. In addition Mark Ryan (voice of Bumblebee) will be at the convention to discuss his new comic book project.

July 26th, 12:00-1:00 Hasbro: Transformers— Aaron Archer and Jared Wade (Hasbro Design), and Michael Ballog and Jared Jones (Hasbro Marketing) present all the latest toys from the new Transformers Animated and Transformers Universe toy lines. See a sneak peek into what Hasbro is doing to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Transformers in 2009! Room 7AB

July 25th, 11:00-12:00 Print The Legend: Mike Grell and Mark Ryan— Comic-Con special guest Mike Grell (Legion of Superheroes, The Warlord, Green Arrow: the Longbow Hunters, Jon Sable, Freelance) and actor-writer Mark Ryan (Robin of Sherwood, The Prestige, King Arthur, voice of Bumblebee in Transformers), swap outrageous yarns and discuss the secret world behind their new Comicmix.com project The Pilgrim with editor Mike Gold. Join Mike, Mark and Mike for a bit of insanity and Q&A session. Room 2

July 25th, 4:00-5:00 All Hail the Transformers!— TF editor Denton Tipton hosts a panel of Transformers creators including writers Shane McCarthy (All Hail Megatron), Chris Mowry (The Reign of Starscream), Marty Eisenberg (TF Animated), artists Alex Milne (The Reign of Starscream), Marcelo Matere (TF Animated) and others. Advance art, surprise announcements, and pints of Energon all around! Room 2

The other Hasbro panels:
GI Joe - July 24th 11:30-12:30
Star Wars & Indiana Jones - July 25th 1:15-2:00
Marvel - July 25th 2:30-3:30

Fan Made Batman Tumbler Concept

In a celebration of The Dark Knight coming out this Friday comes a very interesting concept from Jester and Jolin. Batman's Tumbler that transforms into an Autobot. I really like the Batman specific motifs like the head that is shaped like his mask, the chest logo and the belt buckle. Excellent work.