Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Orci and Kurtzman Talk Transformers

Sci-Fi Wire has posted a brief interview with Transformers writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman about Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen using many of Orci's recent Q&A responses to attempt to get more detail. I am guessing this an add-on of the much longer Star Trek interview the website has posted earlier in the week. Thanks to middlerealm for the link.

Below are select portions with the full article here.

You guys were not originally going to write the sequel. Is that right?Orci: Correct.

What changed your mind?
Kurtzman: Well, we resisted it for a while, because ... the first movie was so ... tough to find, you know? ...the story was not immediately obvious to us. And ... they really wanted us to do it. And we said, "We just can't do it until we know what this is." ...We spent a lot of time thinking about the sequels that we really loved as kids. You know, Aliens and Terminator 2 and Wrath of Khan and Empire Strikes Back and Superman 2. The thing that all of those movies had in common were that they stood on their own as films.
Orci: Yeah, it was both that and we were afraid we were not going to have literally the time to do it. The [writers'] strike was looming, we were in the middle of [writing] Star Trek, etc. So when they agreed to give us help in the form of Ehren Kruger [The Skeleton Key, The Ring 2], who is fantastic, we realized the three of us really could do it and not just phone it in.

And you had a mandate to develop a bigger movie?
Kurtzman: That doesn't really mean anything to us, honestly. Like, we always get to the action last. The action is born of whatever challenges your characters are facing...
Orci: The theme started coming out of Sam leaving home, now. It's two years later, he's going to college. ... What are the responsibilities and the cutting off that goes on when you leave home? And that mirrors the fact the Transformers themselves are away from home. And in a new home. And what are your responsibilities as you kind of step out into the world on your own without your support system? ...

There are so many [Transformers] that you have to pick from. How do you winnow them down, how do you add the new ones, integrate them?
Orci: Well, the easier one, obviously, is the fact that we inherit certain ones from the previous movie and from the fact that Prime and Bumblebee are kind of the two front-and-center relationships. ... In terms of villains, it was again going back to all the source material. ... We got a bunch of the comics again, we got a bunch of the old cartoons, and just started looking for kind of the most elemental bad guy that kind of jumped off the material, and we found one in the Fallen.

And you've got to bring Megatron back.
Orci: Exactly. ...But then many of them were also selected during the strike while we couldn't do anything, as a matter of necessity, by Hasbro and by [director] Michael Bay for some of the action sequences. They literally had to start designing somebody.

What's the name of the gigantic first one that you see?
Kurtzman: Wheelbot. ... (Temp name for Demolisher from call sheets)

Jetfire, RC, Mudflap on the Autobot side?
Orci: Yeah, right. Jetfire was in the treatment. Mudflap might have been one of those in-betweeners. ...

On the Decepticon side, Starscream, Soundwave, the Fallen and then the Constructicons, which are several different ones: Demolisher, Hightower, Long Haul, Mixmaster, Rampage and Scrapper?
Orci: That's them.

So they're all there?
Orci: Yeah.

There's still more, right? I mean, there's others?
Orci: There are. ...

You've got a girl robot for the first time, Arcee. Do you ever deal with why she's a girl robot, or is that just one of those things?
Orci: We may still, as we go through and see the final finals, but we've gone back and forth on that. ... Some of the fans debating, "Oh, man, if there's some lame explanation I'm going to hate it" versus "They'd better explain it." So. We'll see how it ends up. We honestly have things in our back pocket; we'll see which one works better.

And you, Bob, were quoted as saying you were trying to get Leonard Nimoy to do the Fallen?
Orci: He originally was the voice in the animated movie, and at one of the conventions, Alex and I actually spoke to him about it, and he's like, "Yeah, I'd be open to that." But it'll be Michael's decision.

Have you talked with Michael about that?
Orci: Oh, sure. ... He's like, "Hmm." And we're like, "You know you're cousins, right?" [Nimoy's wife is Michael Bay's cousin.]

There was also some talk about Frank Welker, the original voice of Megatron, and whether he'd actually end up in the movie after all?
Orci: Exactly, and I think they're in the middle of hashing that out. We'll see who we get.

38 comments:

  1. i hope megatron be in this film can't hav transformers without megatron

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  2. hohoho i cant wait the new transformer release =)

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  3. ChrisGangsta85 - yes, Megatron is in this film. Nothing to worry about.

    Leonard Nimoy was in the animated film, but not as The Fallen as they made it sound in this interview. The Fallen wasn't in that film or any cartoon continuity. Just figured I should clear up that confusion for those who may not be that familiar with G1.

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  4. Leonard Nimoy was cast as Galvatron and Orsen Welles was cast as Unicron in the 1986 animated Movie. There was no Fallen.

    The Fallen has only existed in the TF comics continuum and is only now brought into reality for the TF2 role.

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  5. LionBogy - pretty much what I said.

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  6. Why did no one ask about the Pretender (Alice) Did it not occur to anyone there that due to this blog we have already confirmed all those charecters.
    Not many new stuff in this interview.They always knew Arcee had to be an autobot.When they came to Jetfire they knew he had to be a Decepticon who turned into an autobot. However Mudflap is complicated as they are having him start off as a Autobot and having him slowly switching sides from Autobot to Decepticon because he believes although the autobots are his friends they will loose. (Mudflap data is based on a Transformers Wiki Data on Mudflap)
    P.s. TFLive: If possible can you change RC back to Arcee, Thanks

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  7. this may have been posted but

    Michael Bay keeps vfx shops busy
    http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118001940.html?categoryid=13&cs=1

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  8. Well, here didn't come much of surprising news. Rest of us have already believed that Scrapper, High Tower and Mix Master really are names of ther 3 Constructicons along Demolishor, Rampage and Long Haul.

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  9. Holy mother of god!In the Variety article Farrar of ILM says there are some 60 characters.Can't wait any longer!

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  10. Damn I wish I could write the third movie.
    I can write a better 3rd film than both of those guys, even though I do beleive they are doing a fine job. (I know that sounds stupid).

    Infact I think I will write it anyway and keep harrasing MB till he at least makes me a consultant.

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  11. Counterpunch4/01/2009 8:32 AM

    so who you gonna put in for tf 3, Essex? for the Autobots?

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  12. i vote for superion who is with me?

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  13. I am glad you asked me that. Getting my juices flowing.
    Anyway I think Alpha Trion should be brought into the story in the 3rd film. Have him give a monolouge explaining anything That Optimus (or whoever the leader is at the time)Should know. He has a vast knowledge on the history of cybertron and that would help build the lore and histrionics.

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  14. i'd like to see vector prime... He is one of the 13 original transformers and the guardian of space and time and from what we have seen it looks like the fallen can teleport so that could play a role into the third film depending on how this one plays out.... scorpio had me confused there for a minute talking about mudflap switching sides to the decpticons I thought he meant it was going to be in the movie..I mean he could still do that right?

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  15. If these characters are not in TF2, these should be in the next movie.......Autobots: Prowl, Mirage, Wheeljack, Hound, Inferno, Tracks, Trailbreaker,Powerglide, Kup. For the Decepticons: Skywarp Thundercracker, Thrust, Shockwave, Blitzwing, Rumble, Laserbeak, Cyclonus, Stunticons, Insecticons.

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  16. That would be cool to see Mirage in his F1 form racing down the streets.

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  17. I think that Alpha Trion should tell Optimus that he must reach out to Vector Prime to ensure the safety of Earth and Cybertron.

    and from that Optimus learns of the first 13 and that the fallen is(was)one of them.

    Can't have the insecticons because they wouldn't make sense, much the same reason you can't have the dinobots. Why would super advanced robotic beings from another planet assume the disguise of a giant insect that eats metal?

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  18. Replying to Willybilly:

    sorry the way i write can be confusing. Mudflap was originally going to be an autobot who joins the Decepticons as he feels that the Autobots cant win based on this version seen in the link:
    http://transformers.wikia.com/wiki/Mudflap_%28Cybertron%29

    They were thinking of having the whole Jetfire becomes an Autobots in this film and we show how that is like and how he is welcomed by the Autobots. While Mudflap leaves the Autobots and joins the Decepticons so it would have him fighting his twin in the sequel. I want Tidalwave in the sequel! Possibly Unicron as long as he looks exactly like the original.
    Replying to Essex:
    There is a strange bug in the trailer which sam is holding maybe they are there original Cybertronian forms and they havent scanned anything. Although i agree they need to introduce the rest of the original thirteen!

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  19. 60 robots? You anynymous one, haven't learn that there's 40, not 60.

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  20. Essex, teaser trailer proved that Insecticons will appear in movie. And I would want to see too another Ancient transformers. The Fallen appears in this film. But I'm not sure will Vector Prime or Alpha Trion in third film. Vector Prime is known as a Guardian of Spacetime and in Transformers: Animated Alpha Trion worked before as a Guardian of the Allspark. But now he's leader of the Cybertron's civilians. Alpha Trion really should appear in third film. When the Allspark is destroyed, he could know way to destroy Unicron. But he might won't appear if the Matrix of Leadership appears as a way to defeat Unicron and laready in hands of Optimus. If he already hasn't Matrix, then Trion could help find it. That would be interesting story.

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  21. Are you sure about the insecticon thing. I never saw that.

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  22. Replying to Essex:

    Rewatch the trailer (Not sure which one) and pause when sam has this thing he is holding in his hand. It looks like a bug and he seems to have pulled one of its wings off.

    Although i wonder what would happen to your plot idea if Optimus Prime dies at the end of TF2?

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  23. And you Scorpio, there are no aircraft carrier robots in live action movies. Animation of them is too hard.

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  24. Why would Optimus die in TF2 and if he dies, he surely returns in TF3, because Peter Cullen is confirmed to reprise his role also in that movie.

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  25. OMG CHECK TFW2005.COM

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  26. Replying Anon 11.01.There is no confirmation of 40 bots.Read the Variety article above from Anon 4.54.Farrar from ILM says 60.And you Anon 11.20,why is it too hard for animation of aircraft carrier robots,that's rubbish,think about combiners like Devastator.Nothing is impossible for ILM.

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  27. I got it! - the main plot to cover 2 and 3 - highly abridged.

    The Fallen gets awakened somehow and has only one thing on his mind: bring back his master Unicron. Prime suffers a massive beatdown and dies just after finding out that Unicron has been awakened. He leaves instructions with the Autobots to get the Matrix of Leadership back to Cybertron to merge it with Primus, who's spark is at the core of the planet. Once merged, the planet transforms into Cybertron Prime, fights Unicron, wins, saves the universe..

    Ba da boom ba da bing story over. Oh, and some other stuff happens in between to fill out two two-hour movies. ;)

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  28. WHOA THERE ESSEX...NO DINOBOTS,GET READY TO DUCK CUZ THE TOMATOES ARE COMIN.You know half of these guys rant and rave about the dinos not bein in any of the live action movies,but i do agree with you. also make sure iget a lengthy draft of the movie summary....

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  29. OK THAT SHIZIT IS REALLY NOT FUNNY...on tfw2005,april fools sucks once again.

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  30. Regarding the comment about Tidal Wave being too complicated: Bringing an aircraft carrier to life by way of computer animation wouldn't be any more difficult than Prime's transformation, Spider-Man swinging through the city, or any Final Fantasy cinematic for that matter. It's all polygons, textures and shaders. With the tools that ILM uses, having CG water splashing around is as "easy" as setting the Human Torch on fire - it's all pre-made particle affects.

    And obviously I don't mean "easy" for anyone - I mean "easy" for them.

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  31. http://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/new-rotf-figues-dune-runner-scalpel/15513/

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  32. Counterpunch4/01/2009 1:47 PM

    Way way too much info around here... whoa... Scorp & Essex should replace Orci & Kurtzman for TF 3.

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  33. lol dune runner and scalpel i hope all these toys are in the film so theres more action and stuff

    MAC

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  34. I want Tidalwave in the sequel! Possibly Unicron as long as he looks exactly like the original.
    I don't know about Unicron being in TF3 or not, still think that is a part 4, 5 or 6 thing and maybe not exactly the same look.

    BUT definitely wouldn't want them pulling that Glacticus crap like they did for FF2: rise of the Silver Surfer.


    And if they could do a Unicron, then a Aircraft Carrier would be no problem. It would be the same thing as Optimus Prime transforming, they would just need to zoom in on him to make him look bigger.

    I want Cliffjumper and Casey Kasem.

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  35. I agree with above post regarding Unicron scene that's gonna look somewhat similar like Silver Surfer's Galacticus scene in space...

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  36. I dont know guys unicron would be hard as hell to pull off...

    Yes def april fools there is now anyone knows what will happen in TF3 shoot we dont even know what happens in TF2..

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  37. Replying to willybilly:
    He is mearly voicing his opinion besides i thought April fools was only valid till midday. With Unicron they should have him either in the third film or the sixth. The third film should either have a huge battle with at least 200 hundred transformers on each side. Unicron was awesome in the original all they need to do is have it a little bit more detailed and then they have Unicron. Here is my list of must have Transformers that me and this blog want:

    The seekers
    Tidalwave
    Unicron
    Counterpunch
    Kup (Has to be in the film even if only as humor)
    Omega Supreme
    Sharkticons
    Thrust (Hopefully my 3D model when released)

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  38. Thats' asking too much Scorp... Omega Supreme as a what?

    Told you I'd prefer Broadside as the aircraft carrier.

    Sharkticons? Better Dinobots than Sharkticons...

    Counterpunch huh? Bots sure need their spy...

    Arent you forgetting Blaster?

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