Transformers 2 Viral Marketing Campaign Begins (Updated)

It appears that today is the day the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen marketing campaign begins its kick off as the various viral campaign websites have updates to join the TV spots showing up on TV.

TheRealEffingDeal
First seen in the trailer on Sam's jacket as he talks to Simmons, the site run by "Leo Spitz" (Ramon Rodriguez) now has a home page and blog, complete with mission statement. The primary goal is to determine the "real" story behind the events in Mission City (from the first movie). There are a ton of posts already on the site, going back to June 10th of last year (about the time TF2 production started). Of note is Leo has a bit of a crush on the lovely Olivia Munn who is referred to as "Future Mrs. Spitz" in the tags. Other than a not so minor crush on her, the rest of the posts are filled with UFO sightings and aliens.

Update: A few links of note from Leo's site. One is an amusing "LeoPonceDeLeonSpitz Venture" of Real Effing Kitten Calendars from one of the advertisements (found by NHLfan). Another is "Mission City" updates of blurry images of Starscream and Optimus (found by Katie).

GiantEffingRobots
This site was discovered through the adult novelization of the movie and is in direct competition with the above. Run by "Robo-Warrior" aka Simmons (John Turturro), he frequently comments on his dislike of Spitz's site, shares his love of The Munn, and enjoys Star Trek. The posts in this case start on September 8th, 2008 and do not come with as much frequency. I am assuming that will change now that the viral campaign has kicked off.

Mendelson Robotics
Another site, not yet up and running. This is the company that plays a part in the cover story for the events of mission city and likely the company that would want to use Transformers tech to their advantage. What part they do or do not have in the current movie is unknown.

Thanks to Katie and p00p m0nsta for the links.

New Transformers TV Spot (Updated)

A new TV spot is now online. Not yet in HD as a recording of the TV airing the commercial but still good quality. The best part is at least three new scenes involving Sideswipe (I think), Skids and Optimus transforming. Thanks to Chris and Elis for the link.

Update: Thanks to Decer, added an improved HDish copy of the TV spote (or view here).

Linkin Park's New Divide Official Premiere (Updated)

The countdown has completed and the first single from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Soundtrack is now officially released and available on iTunes. You can listen to the single here. I am not sure when the music video will be up nor when the song will be available on iTunes. Thanks to Darin and Austin for the info.

Update 2: The lyrics to the song is up on Mike Shinoda's blog here.

Update: Sadly the Youtube "video" has been pulled.

New RoTF Movie Images (Updated)

Cinematical has posted the below five new images from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen that include shots of the cast and TF vehicles. The picture of the lovely Isabel Lucas is a single image from MichaelBay.com. Thanks to Katie for the info.

Update: Katie found additional new photos on Yahoo Movies.

Win A Hasbro RoTF Press Kit

MichaelBay.com is running a contest offering an opportunity to win a Hasbro Revenge of the Fallen Press Kit. Basically it is a box of freebie toys given out to various websites (sadly not me) and publications that gives a preview of the upcoming line of toys. Based on the image it is about $150 or so of free stuff. Thanks to Austin for the link.

To enter, send an email with your name & your favorite obscure Transformer to webmaster@revengeiscoming.com. Contest is open to US residents only and ends on end of day May 25, 2009.

The press kit contains:
- BumbleBee Movie Voice Mixer Helmet
- Transformers Movie BumbleBee Plasma Canon
- Optmus Prime t-shirt (Medium)
- Optimus Prime (Mech Alive) [Leader class I believe]
- BumbleBee (Human Alliance w/ Sam Witwicky action figure)
- Sideswip (Gravity Bots - Automatically converts)
- Sideways (Mech Alive) [Deluxe class]
- Transformers ROTF Official Movie adaptation Comic (#1)
- CD with Hasbro Image art

Transformers Movie Universe Preview

Transformers: The Movie Universe hardcover by DK books is coming and as part of that it includes bio on the various Transformers in Revenge of the Fallen. Thanks to Rodrigo, below is a few sample pages from the book for The Fallen, Devastator (who is described as having six components, no Overload), the Twins, and Megatron.

Book description:

Find out everything you ever wanted to know about the Transformers including footage from the films Revenge of the Fallen and Transformers, with this explosive guide.

Read behind-the-scenes stories from the Transformer movies, secret dossiers, mission objectives, stats, top 10s, amazing facts and more. Get access to the data files of your favorite heroes from Optimus Prime and Megatron to Bumblebee and Sam Witwicky.

Step into dramatic battle scenes and learn everything you ever wanted to know; from an insiders guide to Cybertonian history to the secrets behind the Transformers military hardware. Plus, fantastic cross-sections will take you deep inside their incredible world

Third Human Alliance Toy IDed

Amazon, found via TFW2005, has posted the ID for the third human alliance toy for the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen toy line. The toy is oddly Skids with Mikaela, joining Alliance Bumblebee with Sam and Sideways with Epps. I would have thought that Arcee would have been a natural combo with a Mikaela figure. No picture or details yet but I assume this will be a wave 2 or three toy so probably not on store shelves until late summer.

Rise of the Decepticon Book Montage

Below is a video that shows a montage of images from a child's book called Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - Rise of the Decepticon. I guess you could call it spoilers since it does show stuff that the junior and adult novelizations have already revealed in greater detail. Of note are some of the characters used for some sequences do not match the novels completely, again showing how different script versions are sent out for these adaptations. Another note, the additional "red-shirt" Decepticon doesn't necessarily have to be a Constructicon in the revival of Megatron. Thanks to Yoboy for the link and his friend that did the montage.

If you want to view the individual page images they can be found here. Thanks to Phil for the link.

US Released Date Moved? Nope (Updated)

AllSpark.com and others have noticed that the countdown clock on the home page of MichaelBay.com was two days early and now seems to be one (at least comparing it to my countdown clock). The result is the countdown is scheduled to end at midnight on June 23rd rather then the scheduled June 24th US release date. Is this confirmation that movie is moving up another day (remember it was initially scheduled for June 26th)?

My take is it is simply a programming error. I do believe that Paramount will see how Star Trek did coming out at 7pm rather than 12:01am and mimic that but I don't think they are going to move it up an entire day. I hope they don't do the 7pm thing as I like the fun and excitement of going to a 12:01am show time which the earlier time lacks due it simply being nothing special.

Obviously if anything is announced about the US date I will post it here. Also, the link for the release date of the movie around the world is in the top left hand column. Just monitor that to see if anything changes. Thanks to rodsuper for the heads-up.

Update: Mystery has quickly been cleared. It was a simple programming error. Easy to happen with code where a typo can cause sometimes cause some interesting ramifications. Thanks to Katie and Franco for the update.

Leader Optimus Prime, Jetfire Combined (Updated)

TF08.net once again, this time even more pictures of Leader class Jetfire, this time for the first time combined with Leader class Optimus Prime. The result is interesting I guess. Not sure worth the $100 dollars for the total effect however. I will wait for the toy review and see it in action before making a final judgment on it. Below are most of the pics from the gallery with the rest here. Thanks to Adam for the link. Yep just the one combined picture so far.

Update: Additional pictures of Jetfire and the combined mode are now up at at TFW2005. Also below is a YouTube montage of the pictures. Thanks to -yoboy- for the links.

RoTF Official Novelization Spoilers (Update 2)

"Brundok" over at TFW2005 has received a copy of the official adaptation novel (i.e. "adult") for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. As expected, the novel is a more detailed version of the junior novel summary from the other day and appears based on a later version of the script but again Bay could have made any number of changes during production and post production that the novel will not reflect.

Brundok finished the book. The full details spoilers are here with a few details below to add to the junior novelization summary (highlight to read). Thanks to Alyssa for the link.

- The Arcee bikes have individual robot forms and do have the ability to form one robot.
- Two websites that will participate in the ARG promotion this year, one is www.therealeffingdeal.com that is run by Leo Spitz, Sam's roommate. The other is www.gianteffingrobots.com run by RoboWarrior, i.e. Simmons. Currently the passwords to log into either site are not known.
- Sam's mother has a close encounter with brownies with a little something extra so that should be a hilarious scene.
- Ravage has a re-enter mode because he breaks off of Soundwave, a satellite in Earth orbit. He steals "the shard" (two pieces of the AllSpark? Still confused on how Mikaela has one and NEST has one) from NEST.
- The Doctor, three Constructicons and one other descend to revive Megatron. The "red shirt" Decepticon is sacrificed for parts so the Doctor can re-assemble Megatron and revive him with the shard.
- The fight with Megatron, Starscream and Blackout ends with Optimus Prime going into "status lock." This is another Beast Wars concept that indicates heavy damage or low energy. Think of it as the Transformer version of a coma.
- The scene in the trailer of Sam drawing the "language of the Primes" on the ground is him talking to Jetfire to get more info on The Fallen.
- Ransack is in the novel, apparently one of the Seekers created by the Primes (created to find appropriate suns for the Sun Harvester).
- In this version, The Fallen kills all the the Primes but one escaped with the Matrix and sealed himself and his brothers in an unknown tomb. Optimus, the last decendent of the Primes, is the only one that can stop The Fallen.
- In Petra, the room "found" by the fighting Twins is the fused bodies of the 12 ancients, one with an outstretched hand holing a pile of black sand.
- Scene from trailer with the Insecticon is part of Sam and Mikaela's attempt to get to Prime with the Matrix. Ripping him aparts alerts the Decepticons to their location and the chase begins.
- Devastator forms from 7 Constructicons, not six, in the novel.
- A 'Con, carrying Sam's parents captured in Paris, threatens to harm them if he doesn't turn over the Matrix. Bumblebee attacks the Con as Sam and co escape. This is probably the seen between BB and Rampage or Scrapper in the trailer.
- Skids is sucked into Devastator's mouth but bursts through his right eye. Like a video game boss battle, do to size and slowness, staying underneath the monstrosity keeps everyone safe.
- "A pogosticking 'Con is bouncing around destroying everything in sight." (A new character I guess.)
- The Fallen teleports into the battle while Devastator moves toward and onto the Pyramid containing the Sun Harvester. Fallen also seems to have telekinetic abilities to go with his teleportation skills.
- Simmons provides Devastator's coordinates to the Navy so they can fire a new Rail Gun. Yep at some point Lennox says/writes "Bring the Rain".
- Jetfire destroys a 'Con, Skorponok attacks Jetfire wounding him with a blow through the chest and gets his head removed for the effort.
- Megatron, in tank mode, is the one that blasts Sam into unconscience where he speaks to the Primes. Matrix reforms, used on Prime to revive him, Jetfire sacrifices self to Prime can merge with his parts and fly, and Fallen activates the Harvester.
- Devastator hit point blank by rail gun and broken into component parts, Prime breaks the Sun Harvester and confronts Fallen, Megatron and Starscream. Prime precedes to own him, asks for Megatron's help who ignores him. Fallen opens a portal to escape, Prime yanks him back but Starscream and Megs use it to escape.
- Spire from Harvester rammed by Prime (with jetpacked assistance) into the Fallen, killing him. Matrix retrieved from device. Battle won.
- Optimus: "I know one thing. Whatever it may hold, it is a future we'll meet together. Our Planets, our races, united by a history long forgotten, yet to be discovered." Tilting back his head, he peered up at the sky and through it, to the stars beyond."
- Epilogue: Back on the Nemesis Megatron waits for himself to repair. He goes back to the cargo bay as the lights flicker on. Megatron peers at the numerous sarcophagi, hold protoforms all Loyal to Him! "Arise"

End spoilers. Please keep the comments civil.

Transformers 2 Game Voice Cast Video

Gametrailers.com has posted a video that introduces various members of the voice cast for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen video game that Activision confirmed would be in the game. The video seems to confirm that James Arnold Taylor is the voice of The Fallen so its not a small leap to assume the same for John Di Maggio as Sideways. Thanks to v1p3rS for the link.

Transformers 2 Trailer in Czech, Russian (Updated)

Below is the new Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen trailer only it is dubbed (rather badly) in czech. According to Milan, who sent the link, Transfans in the Czech Republic are considering not going to the movie. Subtitles or dubbing, which do you prefer?

The YouTube embed doesn't seem to be working so click here to view it.

Update: Another dubbed version of the trailer, this time in Russian, here. Thaks to ghola-tleilaxu for link.

More Leader Jetfire Pics and Leader Starscream?

TF08.net (via TFW2005) has posted the below additional pictures of Leader class Jetfire from the Transformers 2 toy line in his packaging. Previously we saw a mock-up of the box. Sadly the new pictures do not show off the side of the package that contained a hint at what the combined mode of Optimus and Jetfire would look like. In addition, the site admin "yizhi521" added a note that suggests a fourth leader class toy is in the works, "and... new leader toy is starscream (F22)" joining Jetfire, Optimus Prime, and Megatron. Thanks to Scorpio for the link.

Activision TF2 Video Game Voice Cast

Activision has issued a press release about the voice cast for the upcoming Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen video game which will have a return of the first game's voice cast with a few additions.

ACTIVISION SECURES ALL-STAR TALENT LINE-UP FOR TRANSFORMERST: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN VIDEO GAME

Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Peter Cullen and Frank Welker Return to Provide Voice-Over Performances

Santa Monica, CA - May 15, 2009 - Activision Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI ) has assembled an all-star cast for the upcoming Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen video game, including the film's leads Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox, who will reprise their starring roles in the game, and fan favorites Peter Cullen and Frank Welker, the voices of OPTIMUS PRIME and MEGATRON from the original animated series. In the new game, developed under license from Hasbro, players are thrust into an adrenaline-pumping battle to defend Earth from a DECEPTICON attack that threatens mankind.

"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen features an extensive line-up of film actors, along with the voice talent that fans will recognize from the classic animated series," said Rob Kostich, head of marketing for licensed properties, Activision Publishing, Inc. "The diverse cast allowed us to not only capture the epic storyline from the film, but also seamlessly expand the fiction to create a unique and authentic TRANSFORMERS experience that fans of all ages will enjoy."

In addition to Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox, Peter Cullen (Optimus Prime), Mark Ryan (Bumblebee), Jess Harnell (Ironhide), Charles Adler (Starscream) and Robert Foxworth (Ratchet) reprised their film roles for the game. Voice-over veterans John Di Maggio (Sideways) and James Arnold Taylor (The Fallen) also join the roster.

The Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen video game is based on the upcoming live-action feature film from DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures in association with Hasbro, which opens nationwide on June 24, 2009.* The game lets players take on the role of their favorite AUTOBOTSR or DECEPTICONSR, picking from the largest, most diverse range of playable Transformers - each with their own distinct abilities and weaponry. Set in unique environments across the globe such as Cairo and Shanghai, the game allows players to instantly switch between vehicle and robot modes as they drive, fly, fight and blast their way through intense, pressure-packed levels. After engaging in single player action, players for the first time ever will be able to go online and battle friends in all-new multiplayer modes.

John Di Maggio and James Arnold Taylor are joining the video game cast but this isn't confirmation they are part of the movie. However, looking at their IMDB.com entries with many televisions shows and animated movies between them, the odds are high that they are part of the movie voice cast. The game will be released on June 24th, the same day as the movie. Thanks to Darian for the heads-up.

Linkin Park Interview, Stan Bush's Quest (Updated)

A bit more soundtrack news. First up is from Linkin Park as they ramp up for the world premiere of their single from the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Soundtrack on Monday that will include the music video. As part of that, the Linkin Park Times has an interview with Mike Shinoda were he discusses the track. Snippets below, the full interview here. In addition, click here for pictures taken during the shooting of the music video. Thanks to Jose for the link.

"We met with (director) Michael Bay," Shinoda said. "He showed us scenes from the new film, and we tried to write something that was both true to the spirit of the movie and true to the spirit of our band in some way.

"Michael is not fond of showing parts of the movie unfinished and out of context," Shinoda continued. "I totally get it; I hate playing anyone our rough songs before each one is done, out of the context of the album. But he knew it would give us the best shot at trying to capture some of the emotions in the movie, so we did it. After we wrote 'New Divide,' we met with (Oscar-winning composer) Hans Zimmer and (composer) Steve Jablonsky, and they asked if we would help incorporate various themes from our song into the film. The musical themes ended up being placed in a lot of important scenes in the film. I'd tell you which scenes, but I don't want to give away the story."

The video, directed by Linkin Park DJ Joe Hahn, will debut around the time of the single's release. Shinoda was coy about the clip's direction. "You'll have to ask Joe Hahn, who's directing it," he said. "He's planning on using a lot of really interesting cutting-edge visual techniques, blurring the line between our performance and some kind of digital/mechanical reality. I'm not really sure--he's either being secretive about it, or it's way over my head, so he's just skipping the explanation."

In addition, Stan Bush, famous to G1 era Transfans as the writer/singer for "The Touch" from the animated Transformers: The Movie has remade his classic song (below) in an attempt to get it added to the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen soundtrack. I wish Stan luck but it is a huge uphill battle as I think Bay makes his music choices based less on how it fits the film and more on commercial viability and access it gives him to various bands (Bay started as a music video director). Thanks to Scorpio for the link.


Update: Stan Bush has released a new alternate cut The Touch that focuses more on the scenes and less the singers and the like. Also seems like the rappers part has been trimmed. His note to TFormers:

"We listened to the overwhelming responses and decided to make a more fan friendly edit, focusing more on the awesome scenes from Transformers and Revenge of the Fallen. We realized that the video may have been distracting to some, which wasn't our intent, so please watch and enjoy this new version, and let us know what you think of the song."

RoTF UK Premiere Dated

The Revenge of the Fallen world premiere is scheduled for June 8th in Tokyo, Japan and now via purehmv we know the premiere date in the United Kingdom is on June 15, 2009 at Leicester Square, London. The information comes via opportunity to "buy" a pair of tickets to the premiere with 100000 points which are granted via the store's loyalty card program for purchases. If you’re in the UK I will let you decide how want to handle things, but here is the fine print about the UK premiere.

Transformers 2 - Pair of tickets to Premiere
We have a pair of tickets for this much anticipated Premiere. If you redeem this you will walk the red carpet amongst the stars!

Terms and conditions: The Transformers 2 premiere is on the evening of 15th June 2009 and the reward will be available to redeem until 1pm on 11th June 2009. There is one reward of 2 tickets (one pair) available and the purehmv member must be in attendance with a guest of their choice. Because of the nature of the film both attendees must be 18 or over. The premiere will take place in Leicester Square, London. The purehmv member will be responsible for all travel, accommodation and associated costs incurred. Tickets must be collected on the day of the premiere at the reception of hmv 's Head Office at 142 Wardour Street, London W1F 8LN, which is a short walk from Leicester Square. We regret that tickets cannot be sent in the post.

An interesting thing about Hollywood movies is they tend to have a lot of premiere parties. There is the world premiere and then additional premiere in critical markets such as US, Japan, UK and so forth. The point of the premiere party is simple - free press. When the studios throw these expensive events, the stars come out and with them the press, which talk about it for a day or so in magazines, newspapers, television and the internet in the respective countries. The net result is millions of dollars of free press getting the word out that the movie is coming to a theatre near you real soon. Why mention this? Just to clarify why you might be hearing news about TF2 premiere parties in various countries over the next month or so. And nope so no clue on the US date but a site reader has indicated that the Smithsonian is a rumored possibility. Thanks to Carnivac for the link.

Small update: I forgot to add that there is a difference between the premiere party for VIP people invited to go and the actually release date of the film in a particular country. Usually one occurs about a week to two weeks before the latter so be sure to check the "worldwide release dates" link on the top left of the blog.

Comic Movie Adapation Preview

IDW has posted five pages from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Movie Adaptation #1 issue that will be out in comic stores starting May 20th. Unlike the novels, the comic adaptation doesn't need the same lead time so it is probably based on a more current version of the film script but not necessarily the final cut of the film. In a way the various adaptations provide an interesting look at how a film script evolves over time.

The pages can be found here and they do provide a few spoilers. It provides additional confirmation of the Ice Cream Truck being the Twins, suggests that Arcee is all three bikes that share a single mind, and that Stratosphere (who in the movie is probably just a plane, not a TF) has a role in the sense that he provides the air transportation to drop Optimus in position to take on Demolisher. Thanks to ghola-tleilaxu, Phil, and Gregory for the link.

Transformers 2 Video Game Playable Characters

Activision has released the full list of playable characters for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen video game.

Autobots:
Optimus Prime
Ironhide
Breakaway
Bumblebee
Ratchet
Aerialbot (Multiplayer-Exclusive)
Protectobot (Multiplayer-Exclusive)

Decepticons:
Starscream
Sideways
Grindor
Long Haul
Megatron
Seeker (Multiplayer-Exclusive)

Based on the screenshot (above), I guess Seeker is really Skywarp and they couldn't use that name for some reason. Alternatively, they could mean any number of seekers (Thundercracker, Dirge, etc) who would all share the same character model of Starscream and simply have a different pallet of colors. Not sure what Aerialbot or Protectobot means either in this context. In G1, that is like the Constructicons as 5 Aerialbots merge to form Superion and 5 Protectobots merge to form Defensor. In this case, Aerialbot probably the name for the Breakaway character repaint and Protectobot is the rename for Ratchet. Thanks to D-Squared and Gregory for the link.

Another link here to some screenshots which had the great picture of Long Haul.

New Human Alliance Toy

If I remember correctly, three Human Alliance toys are planned for the Transformers 2 toy line. The first is Bumblebee with Sam Witwicky. The second one is now revealed to be Sideswipe with Master Sergeant Epps as the picture provided by Phil shows. I assume it will be a wave 2 toy so probably will not be out until August. Exact date of wave 1's release remains unknown but I assume if it’s not tomorrow then it will be the end of the month.

Poster Giveaway

>MichaelBay.com is doing a poster giveaway for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Thanks to p00p m0nsta and Scorpio for the link.

Nelson here... In the next few weeks I will be giving out some Revenge of the Fallen posters.

To enter, send your name, and email to webmaster@revengeiscoming.com. Contest is open to US residents only and ends on end of day May 20, 2009. Good luck!

RoTF Junior Novelization Spoilers

"Cth" over at TFW2005 has posted a summary of the The Last Prime and junior novelization of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. This does not include the official novelization that is coming out in the next week or so which would probably have more details. Below is a very spoiler filled portion (which you have to highlight read) but the full and detailed and story spoiling summary is here. The novelization does conform to most of the information we have but in some areas it does diverge slightly, to be expected since novelizations are usually based on a late draft of a movie script that doesn't reflect changes made just before, during or after production.

The links reference set reports and the like that seem relevant to the description. It is not complete as just did a skim of all the previous posts to find them but figure at least somewhat useful in making connections about the film.

- The Allspark created the first 13 Transformers called the Primes. Needing energy, they created the Matrix of Leadership which powers the Sun Harvester. This in turn takes energy from the sun so the Primes vowed not to take that energy from a sun that provides life to its worlds after finding life on Earth via early man.
- One of the Primes, The Fallen, wanted the power to himself so the other Twelve hid themselves and the Matrix from him.
- NEST (Nonbiological Extraterrestrial Species Treaty) searches for Demolisher and Sideways in Shanghai. The team of Ironhide, Sideswipe, the Twins, Lennox, and Epps find them. Sideswipe stops Sideways. Demolisher (with explosions), defeated, says The Fallen providing the Autobots with something they didn't know before.
- US, explained the Mission City fight blamed on a robotics company. Meanwhile Sam packs for college and Mikaela is uneasy about a long distance relationship. While packing the Allspark shard falls, burns through the floor and activates six appliances, which Bumblebee destroys by destroying the kitchen. The shard is given to Mikeala who stores it in her father's shop, which Wheelie sees.
- At Nest HQ, discussion of Shanghai and other tops leads to Soundwave discovering location of Megatron. Ravage and the Doctor are sent to retrieve the shard from NEST HQ (not sure how got form Mikeala to there).
- Sam, not at college meets Leo who is a conspiracy nut that runs www.therealeffingdeal.com whose competitor is Robo Warrior. Sam meets Alice, they go to a party and Sam starts seeing symbols. Bumblebee's car alarm goes off, two leave in him. BB got Sam to take him to meet Optimus at a cemetery so stops the car and douses her with antifreeze. Sam told shard has been stolen and they still need his help.
- Ravage and Doctor take shard and use it to reboot Megatron (trailer indicates this is completely changed).
- While in Prof. Coulon's class (Rainn Wilson), Sam starts speed reading, ranting Einstein being wrong and so forth. Gets kicked out of class, goes to the library and find a book on his grandfather.
- Megatron, once revived goes to Mars and meets Starscream and the Decepticons waiting there with the Nemesis (Decepticon ship, counter to the Ark from the G1 days). The two talk to the Fallen about re-creating the AllSpark using the Sun Harvester and Matrix which Sam now has the location of. Megs and Starscream leave with 15 additional Decepticons for Earth to find Sam.
- Back to Mikaela who find Wheelie spying, befriends him, find out why he wants the shard and goes off to find Sam. She walks in just as Alice making a move to kiss Sam. Alice reveals her pretender status and starts chasing after Leo, Sam and Mikaela (the Frenzy-like robot, all the car footage from Princeton). A chase ensues and they stop Alice by smashing her between the car and a pole.
- Drive off, now getting by a helicopter (Blackout) and then cornered by Megatron and Starscream in a factory. The Doctor is about to torture Sam for info when Optimus and Bumblebee comes to the rescue. The fight between Megatron and Prime moves to the forest area outside the factory where Starscream and Blackout join the fight. Prime takes on all three, the fight ends after Megatron severely wounds Prime with a spike from behind just before being chased off by Ironhide, Ratchet and the Twins.
- Unable to find the hidden Sam, Soundwave broadcasts a message from Megatron saying either give up Sam or cities start getting destroyed. Sam's parents on vacation in France, see the message (and later attacked).
- Trying to learn more from the Sam's symbols, they contact Robo Warrior who turns out to be Simmons working at his mom's deli. Sam, somehow, knows that Megatron wants a new power source already on earth that the Autobots don't know about because it pre-dates them. Mikaela still has Wheelie so the question him and learn that 10 Seekers are on Earth and he helps them find Jetfire.
- Jetfire translates the symbols and uses his ability of wormhole transportation to bring everyone to Egypt and gives them the background on the Sun Harvester and Matrix and that a Prime can only defeat a Prime (the Fallen). Prime is still wounded but the Matrix could heal him.
- While Prime is being brought to Egypt by Lennox, Sam and co think the Matrix is in a tomb (Petra). It is found behind a wall after a whole is accidently put into it (by the Twins). The Matrix, now dust, is collected into Sam's sock.
- Autobots attacked as they try to get back to Prime's location, Fallen appears on the scene, Constructicons form Devastator and Megatron determines the location of the Harvester (the Pyramid).
- Meanwhile, Sam gets nearly blown up and knocked out. He dreams of the 12 Primes, they give him a speech about destiny and he comes to with a reformed Matrix which he plunges into Prime, both repairing Prime and passing on his knowledge.
- Fallen teleports in, grabs the Matrix, teleports to the Pyramid and powers up the Harvester. Jetfire sacrifices himself to provide the parts Prime needs to get back to fighting shape which Ratchet helps facilitate.
- Simmons provides the Navy with Devastators coordinates, essentially destroying him. The Harvester fires towards the sun, Prime deflects the blast, hitting Megatron and Starscream who later escape. Optimus fights Fallen, using the parts of the harvester as a bludgeon. The Fallen teleports to escape but Optimus uses the Matrix to stop him and toss him into a new wormhole, defeating him.

End spoilers. Please keep the comments civil.

"General" Morshower Talks TF2

Glen Morshower (24's Aaron Pierce) talks Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen with IGN. Morshower was in the first film as Colonel Sharp that died during Blackout's assault. Now he is going to appear in the film as a new character that shares his namesake.

Said Morshower, "You know, I did the first one and a lot of people died and we were part of the team that was killed. But even though a lot of people died, that didn't seem to bother them. They wanted to bring me back. And then Michael Bay said, 'Well, you'll be playing a completely different character. But don't tell me now if you want to do it [yet]. I'm going to send you the script.'"

Morshower than explained the big surprise in store for him. "He sent it to me and I looked at the name of the character… The name of the character is General Morshower. He named the character my name." In his follow up conversation with Bay, Morshower recalled, "[Bay] goes, 'You don't mind, do you? We think your name is really different, really cool.' I went, 'What do I care? It's mine!' So I went in and played General Morshower."

The actor then revealed, "I just saw about thirty minutes of the film last week. It's tremendous! You will love it. I think it's even better than the first. So June 24th!"

Cool news. As a fan of the actor it is nice to see him return to the film. Hopefully this will be the start of a running joke for the franchise of seeing what role the great character actor will have next. Thanks to Y2G for the link.

New Divide Trailer (Updated)

Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda introduces a teaser video of the upcoming single "New Divide" from the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Soundtrack. The video can also be found at MySpace. Thanks to Sire and Jose for the links.

Update: Austin (thanks!) was able to spot a segment of the trailer above that provides the first verse from the upcoming song. It seems the actually title "Megatron / New Divide" suggests this song is from the villians perspective. Future CGI fun...Megatron actually singing the song.

MEGATRON/NEW DIVIDE

I remember black skies/ the lightning al...
I remember each flash/ as time began t...
Like a startling sign / that fate had finally f...
In not so many words

Voyager Long Haul Robot Mode

The other day we got a preview look at Voyager Long Haul's vehicle mode and as expected TF08.net didn't disappoint as it posted pictures of the robot mode. I am really digging this toy and looking forward to peaugh's review. Many pictures below and more here. Thanks to Scorpio for link.

Transformers 2 Score, Soundtrack Pre-order

Amazon has posted the pre-order pages for the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Soundtrack and Score. Currently the price sites at $18.98 so I wouldn't order them just yet as will cheaper later. Sadly there is no cover image or track list for either album. Thanks to Scorpio for the link.

Bumblebee Assembled (Update)

Transformers arrives at Cannes Festival this week with everyone's favorite movie prop - Bumblebee. Below is a video that shows his assembly outside the Carlton Hotel (i think). Thanks to Ronnie and Chris for the links.

Update: Ronnie sent along another link that has a few pictures of the assembled Bumblebee as he guards the hotels. Two pictures below, the other two here.

Deluxe Wheelie Video Review

Peaugh has posted a video review for Deluxe Wheelie. As per his bio, he is a wimp that just does what he is told regardless of who so he has a faction changing gimmick (be interesting to know if it changes in the movie too).

Legends Combiner Devastator

Toy Wizard has posted a picture of Devastator that will be based on seven Legends class Constructicons. Nope, not a typo. As the picture shows, this version indicates that the mysterious seventh Constructicon, Overload, is part of the torso of Devastator along with Scavenger.

This would be the 3rd version of Devastator planned for the Transformers 2 toy line. One version is a kids version that doesn't transform (robot on front, individual vehicles painted on the back), the other is the Supreme class that is the individual vehicles that combine to form Devastator but do not have their own individual robot modes. Technically could say a fourth if count the Deluxe and Voyager class Constructicons that do have robot modes but don't combine.

While lacking in detail, it is a solid alternative to those that can't afford the $100 Supreme class toy. Since Legend toys average around $5 or so each you’re looking at about $30 for the whole set. One unfortunate caveat is it has not been confirmed if the toy is going to be released stateside. Thanks to Drew for the link.

Sigh, easier to disable the comments for this post then delete all the pointless garbage.

M&M's Transformer Campaign Kicks Off

Mars Snackfood has released its press release to official kick-off its Transformers partnership with Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen which includes an update to their website. The campaign will run from May through July.

As anticipation for the summer blockbuster builds, Mars Snackfood US will also be rolling out a full-contact, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”-themed marketing campaign in support of the limited-edition products. Specific marketing campaign executions include:

- Action film director Michael Bay is putting his signature touch on a dramatic television commercial in which animated M&M’S® Brand characters, “Red” and “Yellow,” team up with the popular AUTOBOT® OPTIMUS PRIME™, to deliver the M&M’S® Strawberried Peanut Butter Chocolate Candies to stores around the country. The commercial will debut on June 1, 2009.

- Michael Bay himself will become an M&M’S® character for a new “Inner M” print ad that will be featured in June issues of Entertainment Weekly, US Weekly and USA Weekend. The print advertising is an extension of the brand’s “Inner M” equity campaign which encourages Americans to find their fun side and embrace their “Inner M.”

- Consumers will be able to join “Red” and “Yellow,” as well as other “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” characters on a digital scavenger adventure on www.mms.com, as well as other sites throughout the Web, beginning May 19, 2009.

- Kyle Busch’s No. 18 M&M'S® car in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will sport a special “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”-themed paint scheme during the June 21, 2009, race at Infineon Raceway, where Busch took the checkered flag last year. The special paint scheme features movie title decals on the hood, trunk and TV panel and the M&M’S® Brand “Red,” “Green” and “Yellow” characters modified into “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” characters.

First Look at Long Haul, Ravage Review and Scalpel

TF08.net has posted the below two pictures of Constructicon Long Haul, who appears to be Voyager class. So far no robot mode pictures but I am sure they will be along soon. As per the other toys, these do not have a mode to combine into Devastator (separate Supreme class toy for that purpose).

Peaugh has posted a review of Deluxe Ravage that shows off his "reentry" and cat modes. The alt mode useless, the cat mode makes it worth it.

Last, a new auction shows of another set of pictures of Deluxe Scalpel (The Doctor) in his packaging. Unlike the previous packaging pictures where he was displayed in profile, this time he is situated face forward.

Thanks to DeceptiFreak for the Long Haul link and Scorpio for the rest.

Update: Oops. The video was for FAB Long Haul, not Voyager class. Thats what I get for doing a hit and run without checking first (at work so...).

Tyrese and Jewel Duet on Transformers 2 Soundtrack

According to posts on Tyrese and Jewel's twitter accounts (which seem to be really them), the two are working together on a single for the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen soundtrack.

From Tyrese:

The fans have spoken.. You want another Tyrese song how about a Duet with Jewel for the Transformers 2 soundtrack??? Any thought??

Treat yourself to a great Mothers Day album from my new buddy singer @Jeweljk were gonna get this TF2 song done for the soundtrack thisweek

From Jewel:

@Tyrese4ReaL ur sweet 2 mention Lullaby.. excited for TF2 song, too! c u guys 2night at the Roxy

Hopefully a full list of all the artists on the soundtrack will be released by the end of the month. Thanks to Bvaldez for the heads-up.

New Transformer Wallpaper

Hasbro has posted new wallpaper images Transformer 2 characters including Sideswipe, Megatron, Prime and more. Below are the 800x600 size of each but additional sizes and more wallpaper from Transformers: Animated can be found here. Thanks to Crisp for the link.

Devastator Robot Heros, Reverb, and Other Toy Stuff

An eBay auction has the first pictures of the Robot Heroes version of Devastator. The left picture gives you an idea of the scale by comparing it to Robot Heroes Prime. For more pictures click here.

Hasbro continues its tradition of releasing every Transformer mold at least two times with different paint jobs (usually the second better then the first), this time with Scout Knockout becoming Reverb. The pictures of the toy in its packaging can be found here.

Even though the toys have not yet been officially released, TFW2005 is reporting that the knockoffs have begun. Very ugly and poorly created knockoffs. Click here to view a gallery of Soundwave, Dead End, and others.

Last is the two scans below from Hyper Hobby that shows off various toys from the Transformers 2 toy line. Thanks to Scorpio for all the links.

New Divide from TF2? Nope (Updated)

Could the below video posted by MindKiller649 be Linkin Park's new song "New Divide" for the Transformers 2 soundtrack? The validity of the music, which is instrumental, is unknown as the single is scheduled to be officially released on May 18th to radio stations and iTunes. I guess if it gets yanked by Paramount for copyright, we will know then.

Update: Well that was quick. It is not New Divide from Linkin Park. Not really sure what the point is. I guess people where taking the few chords from the trailer and extrapolating. Only because of the comments I am not deleting the entire post.

Happy Birthday, Transformers!

According to TFW2005, today is the 25th birthday of Transformers. According to them, on this day in 1984 the Transformers comic from Marvel was released kicking off the cast of characters in a war between Autobots and Decepticons.

On this day, May 8th, twenty-five years ago, the world was taken by storm by the launch of The Transformers. The first, iconic issue of Marvel Comics Transformers miniseries - which was edited by the legendary Bob Budiansky, and accompanied by art by Frank Springer - was published on this day in 1984, and introduced us to the now classic characters of Optimus Prime, Megatron, Ironhide, Starscream, Bumblebee and so many more. In the months that followed, the massively successful toyline would top every child's "want list", and Sunbow's cartoon would captivate the imaginations of children the world over.

In the 25 years that have followed, Transformers has gone from strength to strength, with an animated movie, a blockbuster live action movie (with the sequel, Revenge of the Fallen, due in less than two months!), more than a dozen animated series in both America and Japan with a combined total episode count exceeding 600 episodes, and thousands of toys in every shape and size, from the gigantic Fortress Maximus to the tiny World's Smallest Transformable Ravage.

I don't really know if you can truly put a single date on the launch of Transformers so this day is as good as any, so happy birthday to Transformers. Thanks to Scorpio for the heads-up.

Shia Talks Energon

In an interview with IESB, Shia LaBeouf discusses how the movie is better then the first, how the character evolves and the college theme. Below is the segment regarding Energon, but the full interview can be found here. Thanks to MetalAnsWer for the link.

Q: How does your character change? How does he evolve from the first movie?
SL: Well, Sam saved the world the first time, right? So just imagine Brad Pitt going to Trader Joe's to go get a granola bar. If you save the world you have a real problem trying to buy a granola bar, you know? So, like, anywhere you go, you're the guy who saved the world. And you're trying to go to college and have like a normal life. And as you know college is a humongous, humongous deal for kids who didn't enjoy their life in high school because it's a chance to start over. And Sam was this nebbishy, neurotic, dorky kid in high school who fell into the most ridiculous situation.

The movie starts two years later from where the last one left off. He's on his way to school to start a new life, to get away from his parents, to get as far away from his parents as he can because he's stifled and feels like most kids do who have extremely protective parents. He's sheltered. And on top of that he's got Bumblebee living in his garage, who is his guardian. And he's just sick of having guardians. He's trying to create his own world and create his own personality free from other people's input. And he goes off to college and when he gets to college he starts having problems, meaning he starts having these spastic fits of information where like his great, great grandfather, Archibald Witwicky, starts having these visions. These things just start popping up into his head. And he's seeing symbols and comes to find out the symbols are a map which lead to Decepticons, or the Autobots to the Energon source that is still being held here on Earth.

Decepticons and Autobots need Energon to create armies, to revive fallen comrades, to create new worlds, to create armies - to do everything. It's their main resource. And the little bit that's left here, the only way to find it is through this map and the only way to use the map is through my mind. And so they stop my little stint at college to handle business.

Transformers 2 Trailer Reviewed

The Los Angeles Time's "The Big Picture" blog has posted a rather odd review from "Summer Movie Posse" which is apparently a small group of 15-17 year olds of the new Transformers 2 trailer. Apparently their group was unimpressed and found the trailer confusing. The few Transformers movie fans I have spoken to (but otherwise not Transfans) didn't convey such a problem. Anyway, figure you all would find it interesting.

But one action film got the bum's rush: Michael Bay's "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen." It bombed with the kids, who gave it one of the lowest scores of all 14 movie trailers they watched -- a 29 out of a possible 60. Even these teens, who grew up in a visually oriented world, were starved for a little more information from the trailer, which was crammed with explosions, but offered only two short lines of dialogue, one of them being the immortal "We're all going together!"

Even worse, the kids viewed the film as being something only of interest to their little brothers, which as any studio marketer will tell you, is the worst insult of all, since once the little brother hears that a movie plays too young for his big brother or sister, he won't want to see it either.

Some excerpts from their critique:
Ben Sassoon, 17: "I can't say this got my hopes up. It's just a lot of explosions."

Molly Philbin, 15: "And they only said five words in the whole trailer. I'm sure all those special effects were hard to do, but if you haven't seen the first movie, I'm not sure you'd even understand what was going on. And most of what was going on sure didn't look that good."

Jasmine Jafari, 15: "I wasn't sure I even knew what the movie was about until halfway through the trailer, and I probably know more than most people, since I have a little brother who's into Transformers. I think he'd be a lot more interested in the movie than me. It just felt pretty senseless."

Ben: "This reminds me of why I'm not a big fan of Michael Bay. He keeps making the same movie, over and over again, as if he hopes someday he'll get it right."

New Transformers: RoTF Poster

A new poster for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen has hit Yahoo! Movies. It is not more character posters from before but does feature Optimus Prime and Bumblebee. That is Bethlehem Steel (as Shanghai, China) in the top-right corner, the location the movie started filming last June. Thanks to EBJM and dreamsdeath for the heads-up.

Megan Fox Galleries

For some reason, Megan Fox is suddenly showing up all over the place. I guess because of Transformers but the blitz seems to be a month early. Any case, except for the one photo (right) from Comicbook Movie, the rest are not Transformer related but I figured most blog readers wouldn't mind. She looks good (if you ignore the collagen lip injections). No nude but not necessarily safe for work.

Esquire pictures
Esquire video
Elle
Elle Video

Thanks to Brian, Scorpio, and Joel for the links.

Transformers 2 Video Game Trailer

A new trailer has come out for the 360/PS3 version of the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen video game. It shows off some of the game play footage, few new characters such as Rampage and a sequence involving Devastator. The video (HD link) below is actually two seperate trailers, one for the Autobots and one for the Decepticons.

Voyager Ironhide Bio

TFormers has posted the card backings of a few Revenge of the Fallen toys. Most of them we have seen before (here, here, and here) but one was new - the bio for Ironhide who is shaping up to be one of the better looking toys of the line. So far just the one picture but I am sure more when follow soon.

Voyager Ironhide Bio

Ironhide has never been happier. It's hard on a warrior to be on the defensive all the time, but that's just what most of the war was - one defensive action after another. With Megatron defeated and the Decepticons on the run everywhere, it's high time the Autobots went on the offensive. Working alongside the humans to hunt and destroy Decepticon hideouts around the world is the most fun he's had in ages.

Linkin Park's Transformers Song Title, Soundtrack Dated

The Linkin Park Times is reporting that the song that Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda has been working on is going to be called "New Divide" and will premiere on radio stations and iTunes worldwide starting May 18th. Also the soundtrack is going to be released on June 23rd, the day before the movie. Thanks to Jose for the link.

According to LPU (Linkin Park Underground, their official website) newsletter the title of Linkin Park's new song is called 'New Divide', it is the theme song and lead single from the upcoming movie Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The song will premiere on radio worldwide on May 18 and will also be available for download on iTunes that same day. Mike says, "The opportunity to be creatively involved with one of the most anticipated films of the summer is pretty exciting. It's one thing to shoot a video that matches sound and vision, but making music that's built for the big screen is a completely different challenge and we ran with it." The movie opens in theatres worldwide on June 24 and the soundtrack will hit the stores on June 23.

Las Vegas Luxor Transformed

It looks like the marketing team for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen figured out how to top the first movie's launch of its marketing campaign going by the photos that Seibertron.com posted.

Why cover a building if you can cover the Luxor hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. The entire pyramid is going to become one giant billboard for the movie. As the images show, it is still under construction but when its done it is probably going to look like the Optimus Prime poster only I imagine that the Egyptian pyramid will be removed since the Luxor makes a good stand-in. Thanks to p00p m0nsta for the link.

DS Transformers 2 Covers, Info

IGN UK has posted a fact sheet on the DS version of the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen video games which will be broken down into an Autobot and Decepticon version and gameplay similiar to the first movie's DS game. For a few screenshots, click here.

KEY FEATURES:
• Take On TRANSFORMERS from Around the Globe – Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection allows players to help their side win the epic battle by engaging in global "AUTOBOT vs. DECEPTICON" competitions through downloadable challenge missions.
• Play as Your Own Personalized TRANSFORMERS Robot – For the first time, players can customize their own TRANSFORMERS robot with a modular body part system. Throughout the game, players will have the ability to scan objects to unlock new parts and upgrade their character by installing new unlockable parts in the Medical Bay as they progress through the game.
• Diverse Missions and Locales – Players will drive, fly and fight their way through over 25 single player levels across different world locations as they fight to decide the fate of the human race as the AUTOBOTS or DECEPTICONS.
• Battle With Friends – Players can challenge friends to intense, head-to-head battles through local wireless multiplayer in Deathmatch mode.

Thanks to Scorpio for the links and image info and RT for the screenshot link.

Ravage In Packaging, Bio

Well the mystery of Ravage is finally solved thanks to packaging pics from TF08.net of the deluxe class toy. As it turns out Wal-Mart is correct, he has a "re-entry" alt mode. I get the impression that Hasbro threw up their hands at trying to come up with a decent alt mode considering the animal design they had to start with. Thanks to Phil and Dinoraw for the link. Side note, the "installation" from the bio is probably whatever place is housing the AllSpark fragment.

Deluxe Ravage Bio

Bulleting down through the atmosphere at better than 15 times the speed of sound, Ravage considers the data he has already amassed on the small, soft creatures that inhabit this planet. They seem weak and fragile, yet they are the ones that destroyed Megatron. That is a fact he will keep in mind as he penetrates their most sensitive installation, again such an unpredictable enemy, stealth will be his watchword.

IGN Video Commentary

I guess more for your amusement then anything, here is a video commentary from IGN as they attempt to dissect the new trailer. The idea is excellent just that those doing the talking are clearly not up on the latest and greatest Transformer 2 info (guess they don't read this blog). Thanks to Brian and DeceptiFreak for the link.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen at IGN.com

Official Transformers 2 Story Synopsis?

Latino Review has posted what could finally be the official story synopsis for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The synopsis is from the May/June 2009 issue of Creative Screenwriting where they interviewed Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. Sounds legit too as it supports pretty much everything we think we know about the movie. Thanks to The Chief for the link.

When the story begins, the Autobots and the military have been waging a secret war against the Decpticons. As more of the giant robots continue to resurface, though, it becomes apparent the Transformers have been part of Earth's history for longer than they'd led mankind to believe. One group of bureaucrats even womders if the Decepticons are only appearing because of the Autobot presence. Desperate not to leave Earth undefended, Optimus Prime turns to Sam and asks him to become a human advocate, someone who will convince mankind that the Autobots should be allowed to saty. Sam refuses to believe he can help, though, wanting to go to college and live a normal life - as normal as possible with the strange thoughts and visions that have haunted him since being exposed to the All Spark's primal energies two years earlier. Alas, Sam's refusal will have harsh consequences for himself, the Autobots and possibly the entire world. The Decepticons fallen leader, Megatron has been resurrected and brings with him an ancient evil from the Transformers own history.

"All great sequels have an incredibly frightening bad guy," says Kurtzman, amending their earlier list of traits, "who challenges your hero in a way that is unique," They found such a character in the comic-book Transformers mythology, a primordial creature known only as The Fallen. "He was one of the first Transformers. He was Lucifer. He was the fallen angel. And it just felt like a great place to come from."

Three New Character Posters

Finally some new posters for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen via Yahoo! Movies. Each of the posters have a hyper detailed version of Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, and Starscream in front of the Egyptian pyramids. Hopefully more sheets will be released soon for other Transformer characters. Thanks to Rich for the link.

First Look at Ice Cream Truck Twins, Deluxe Jolt, Arcee and Others (Updated)

Nearly a year ago was the first sighting of a pink and white ice cream truck on the Bethlehem, PA shoot for Transformers 2. The day after I published the call sheets that included the description "Ice Cream truck chases R8 thru alleys. Crashes. Splits in two. Twins fight." the speculation began. Since then repeated sightings (video) at Bethlehem and California (here, here, and here) has only fueled it. Thanks to the find from TFW2005's "Heat Guy" on Wal-Mart's website, we now know that the ice cream truck is an early form of the Twins. The toy will be a deluxe class toy, I think both in one package.

In addition, Wal-Mart's site includes the first images Deluxe Blaze Master (alt mode Channel 7 copter), Deluxe Jolt (Chevy Volt), Deluxe Arcee (with side car that becomes blaster), Deluxe Swerve (repaint of Sideswipe), and Deluxe Dead End (repaint of Sideways). It is unknown if Blaze Master is a movie character. Jolt and Arcee are confirmed in the movie and of course the repaints are not. Thanks to "217" for the link.

Update: The TFW2005 thread has added additional pics that show off the alt mode for the figures, that I added above. Also included the Jetfire pictures (I think Leader class but not sure) since first good look at his modes. Thanks to 217 for the heads-up.

Ravage Alt Mode and Blackout Pictures (Updated)

TF08.net has posted more pictures of Deluxe Ravage and Voyager Blackout. In addition, TFW2005.com has additional pictures of Ravage that suggest a submersible alt mode (and a weak one at that). Could be correct or a best guess, guess have to wait for a card backing to verify it. As for Blackout (who is now white), apparently he is keeping his companion Scorponok only now he is black and silver. Thanks to Scorpio for the links.

Update: From the Ice Cream Truck thread, another potential alt-mode of Ravage that has him as a motorcycle. Still an ugly alt mode. Also, the site proves confirmation that Ravage is a deluxe class toy.

Transformers 2 Video Game Cover Revealed

Gamestop has updated its listing for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen The Video Game listing to include the game cover. Not particularly dramatic but still eye catching. Thanks to Scorpio for the link.

Burger King Announces Transformers Promotion Details

Burger King did a promotional tie-in with the first Transformers movie and in February the company indicated it was joining up a second time for Revenge of the Fallen. Sadly at the time details were lacking. Now, via a press release (via TFW2005), BK has made the partnership official and provided a little more information about the promotion that will include toys, a new burger and contests. The full press release is here but the Transformers segment is below.

Beginning today with Star Trek (release May 8) and continuing with Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (June 24) and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (Aug. 7), this partnership marks an evolution of an ongoing alliance between Burger King Corp. and Paramount Pictures that takes movie marketing to new levels.

TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN

- Transform Your Way(TM): Starting June 22, fans can look forward to the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen promotion, which will give guests the chance to take home a range of prizes, from $1 million cash** to a 2010 Chevrolet Camaro to movie passes and instant-win food items like the CROISSAN'WICH(R) and WHOPPER(R) sandwich. As part of the Transform Your Way(TM) scratch-and-win game, game pieces will be available on specially marked menu items. BURGER KING(R) will also give guests a second chance to win at bktransformers.com, where consumers can navigate interactive online applications to enter daily for a chance to win $10,000.

- New BK BBQ DOUBLE STACKTICON(TM) sandwich: The BURGER KING(R) menu will undergo a transformation with this new sandwich. Available for a limited time only for a suggested retail price starting at $2.79 the Transformers-inspired burger allows guests to stack multiple burger patties, bacon, sauce and cheese similar in theme to the "combining" of Transformers characters in the upcoming film.

- Advertising by film director Michael Bay: Blockbuster director, Michael Bay, directed the national kid's television advertising spots that will turn the BURGER KING(R) dining experience on its head. In addition, each BK(R) Kids Meal will come with one of eight Transformers toys that bring the beloved characters and vehicles from the movie to life.*

New Ravage, Blackout Toy Pictures

The toy information (and thus potential movie info) continues to get doled out slowly from TF08.net regarding Ravage and Blackout with the single image of each below. The alt mode Deluxe Ravage remains a mystery and Voyager Blackout is apparently in the works only now his paint job is white (as seen in the trailer)...does that mean he gets renamed Whiteout?

Few Trailer Scenes Combined Clip

Katsuhono has put together the below clip that takes footage from the two trailers and ShoWest montage to create three plausible scenes from the movie.

Stratosphere Bio

S250 has posted an image of the back of Voyager Stratosphere packaging to go along with the front from the other day so now we have his bio. In addition, click here for a gallery of Revenge of the Fallen Robot Heroes figures. The question remains is does the character show up in the movie and in robot mode.

Voyager Stratosphere Bio

When the Autobots need to be delivered to the front lines fast, they rely on Stratosphere. His cargo bay has enough room for an entire Autobot strike team, and his engines have enough power to get them all the way to the other side of the world in only a couple of hours. High altitude weapons allow him to deliver a punishing barrage against Decepticon targets on the ground as his comrades move in for the finish.

Transformer Candy, Trailer Commentary and Soundwave?

Just a few odds and ends.

Here are screenshots from the trailer from the 2:07 point that flashes so quickly before Devastator sequence that is easy to miss. Provided by Joe (thanks), he (and I) wonder if that is a quick shot of Soundwave, with the face shape and crown shaped head it makes me think it just might be.

It appears M&Ms' Transformer promotion is starting to make its way to stores. Stephan provided pictures (thanks) of the candy wrappers for after enjoying the contents. Checking out mms.com it seems that their online plans have not been enabled yet.

Empire has posted a "commentary" that inserts relevant comments to screenshots from the new trailer. A few of the comments are below and the whole thing can found here.

- "This one's apocalyptic," grins Bay. "The last movie had a threat to a little non-descript city; this one impacts the whole world. It's nuts."
- Two of the new additions to the Autobot team can be seen here, behind Bumblebee. Called Skids and Mudflap (aka "The Twins"), they are hybrid cars who can transform separately or combine into one big 'bot, and were actually dreamed up by Bay himself. "I had the idea to introduce these two dumb little Transformers," he explains. "They're brothers who are really stupid and argue with each other all the time - they're great for kids."
[Note that Bay doesn't comment on the combined form so this is not official confirmation, but I think this is Empire's reference to the theory that the Ice Cream Truck seen on set is the Twins early vehicle mode]
- These ancient symbols play a key role in the plot. "We're going to show you that the hieroglyphics in the pyramids are actually pictures of Transformers," says diBonaventura. "The movie actually opens before the pyramids were built. We tie the Transformers into the beginnings of civilisation."
- "You've got to push yourself out of the comfort zone," says producer Ian Bryce. "The effects have to top what we did before - and top anything the audience has ever seen before." "Optimus has 10,000 moving parts," chips in Farrar, "and we've got robots in this with five times more than that!"
- Meet Jetfire, a doddery old Autobot voiced by John Turturro. "He's a cranky, forgetful old man," says Bay. "He's running out of Energon, which keeps him going. When he falls down he creaks and he doesn't transform well - it's like arthritis."
[Turturro voicing Jetfire has not been officially confirmed but probably true]
- Devastator hoovers up the Sahara in the final battle. "I personally thought the ending of the first movie was pretty weak," admits Bay. "For one thing, I had to shoot the city battle on five separate blocks, which made it confusing and hard to follow. But the climax here is much clearer in terms of the landmarks and what the endgame is. And it's a really cool scene. You'll never have seen anything like it before."

Transformers 2 Performing Pickup Shots

Turns out that Transformers 2 production is not quite finished as the cast performed some pickup shots this week for the film. This information is supported by an interview with Tyrese, a tweet from Megan Fox and a video of the area that includes shots of Shia, Fox, Optimus and Bumblebee.

Megan's tweet:

surprise surprise! shia and i were filming some more scenes the other day. can't wait for everyone to see :)

Tyrese on the shoot and pickups with SciFi Wire:

"Yeah, we did some new scenes, some new shots, got to the set around 10 this morning," Gibson said in a group interview. "Today we officially wrapped Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen. Any missing pieces there were, we picked them up today. They're going to go ahead and put it in the chop shop and put the magic around it and go ahead and add it into the film."

What exactly were the pickup shots you did today?
Gibson: I can't really speak on it, but that was a nice try.

Did you get to go to Egypt?
Gibson: No, I didn't get to go to Egypt. I was supposed to go, but you won't be able to tell I'm not there. ...

Will you be part of the third one?
Gibson: I didn't die in 2. I can tell you that.

Based on Megan Fox's outfit, Shia's burnt shirt (as seen here), the background, and set, this appears to be pickup shots for the Egyptian desert sequences. They may also being doing pickups for Princeton based on the outfits of some of the other people on set. The magic of Hollywood where one scene has the potential to have been crafted from literally around the world. Thanks to Megatron for the video link.

Story Spoilers from ShoWest? (Update 3)

In the new theatrical trailer thread, an anonymous post reveals some potentially spoiler information about the Transformers 2 story based on information they got at ShoWest. Normally I don't post these but in this case the information is consistent and logical enough with the information we have that it makes me wonder if it is not legit. At the very least it will probably lead to a lively (and hopefully insult free) discussion in the comments. I have edited the post a bit (mostly using bullet points) to make it easier to read. My comments are in brackets [].

I work in the effects industry but I am not affiliated with this film. We do have an online community (member only) where we discuss various projects around the various studios. I have some knowledge about some of the robots in the shots from the trailer.

- The robot with the "loose" treads is called Scrapper. Hence the reason he is "fist" fighting with Bumblebee.
- The yellow robot is Rampage.
- The helicopter is Blackout. You could see it at the ShoWest if you were there but more now with a HD feed of this trailer you can see that Blackout has rust on him just like Megatron does. Blackout is mostly intact.
- The robots crashing into the aircraft carrier are the Constructicons. Many people believed it was members of Starscream's air force but as you can see from the video there are no robots present. We saw an additional scene where Long Haul and Mixmaster are destroying the ship from within and end up ripping the hull of the carrier in half.
- What I was told is Soundwave has been scanning vehicles and when the Decepticons come to earth they fly by him in space and receive their alt mode on the way down. [Strategically and story wise, this is a genius idea]
- This is why Long Haul, Scrapper, and Mixmaster are as their alt modes over Megatron. Brawl and Bonecrusher do not return. They use Brawls parts to reform Megatron underwater (tank tracks and fitted with a particle cannon that Soundwave provides.
- Soundwave is only seen in the trailer as one of the 4 robots down in the ocean. By the way if you think Long Haul is huge Soundwave is about 6 feet taller. The other plot point is the cold and pressure does not affect their bodies like the humans thought they would. Two Decepticons give up their sparks to revive Megatron and Blackout who we find out is 3rd in command behind Starscream.
- Michael Bay made Soundwave's role as Megatron's most trusted friend (aka bodyguard and secretly unknown to Starscream as the real number 2) hence the recovery effect by the Decepticons.
- Mixmaster and Megatron can semi-fly in the film but not much. Megatron has back rockets and Mixmaster has the spinning gears turbines under his arm shields (cement mixer barrel) that he uses a few times. Mixmaster has a lot of screen time. [This would explain how Megs "swimming" up so fast and how Mixxy gets on the bridge]
- We saw a short 5 second shot where Long Haul stomps on Jazz's corpse underwater. [Sorry but I have not and still don't think Jazz returns and I could see this being Bay's definitive statement on the matter]
- There are 5 other jets that fly with Starscream but have not been named at the time of the show. I do not know the type of aircraft.
- Barricade is the one crashing into the library but isn't seen.

We saw more of that shot at the ShoWest show in private. Finally the major spoilers is as follows so look away if you don't want to know.

Remember when Michael Bay said Ravage does something no other transformer does? Well Alice is Ravage. Well they kinda gave it away when they said she had a tail and a tongue. Ravage is really small like a real jungle cat. He is sent to kill Sam but realizes Sam has information about The Fallen so he tries to get it from him. Once she turns on Sam and comes after him then she shows who she really is and Barricade shows up to help. Enough said. Now I said enough but hey there was 300 plus people at the ShoWest after party. I am out. Enjoy Revenge of the Fallen because a lot of great lads at ILM and DD did the work. [This is an elaboration on a plot point that video and story leaks indicated and Orci indirectly verified]

Update: To add to the above, a post from a possible DreamWorks employee confirms some of the above and denies other. It has a tinge of the realistic to it and is convincing enough to make it worth posting. As always though, all of this remains unproven but very interesting. Some edits made for clarity, my comments in brackets.

This is a shock to us here at Dreamworks. We are NOT asking you to remove this info [maybe a few months ago we would have] but we will clear some up for you. I will say that most of the info is correct but some is not.
- The robot that is fighting Bumblebee is NOT "Scrapper" because if you look closely he is seen by the wall [yellow bot] when Shia & Megan jump from the blast of Starscream. We aren't revealing if the red bulldozer has a name just yet. Around 10 bots will be nameless.
[Could this be Overload, the 7th Constructicon recent articles mentioned?]

- 2 Decepticons do NOT give up their spark for the return of Megatron. It is just one. If you look through TF mythology this won't come as a surprise. This character willingly sacrifices himself.
[I believe this is a reference to Beast Wars series which created the Spark concept and made them transferable. Who does the sacrificing? If Blackout does comes back, does a Decepticon also die for him?]

- A lot of people speculate that the tank tracks on Megatron are from Brawl--they are NOT. His tank tracks are Cybertronian metal and that is the reason most of his body has rust but the tracks do not. He is built from deceased Decepticons but not from the Laurentian Abyss. There is a double-meaning to the name Long Haul (think back to his F.A.B. toy bio)

- Isabel's character is NOT a human form for Ravage. I will not say who but think back to the videos I am sure you have seen with the crew & the puppet-like minion. Ravage actually has nothing to do with the college aspect. Soundwave enlists someone else for that job. All I can say is this...Ravage is far too big [unlike the info you have] to be Isabel.
[This does not discount that Alice is not a pretender, just not a skin for Ravage but another un-named Transformer such as the Frenzy-like creature. Mass wise, Ravage does seem way too big.]

- There isn't a character in the film named "Gridor" because it indeed is Blackout. We had that toy made because we weren't going to show him until this final trailer and we felt if the toy was leaked with that name [we were right] it would ruin the surprise. Mike insisted on the scene with him in it for the Vegas footage. Fans will indeed see a Blackout toy after the release of the film.
[Looks like Blackout, attacks like Blackout, if sounds like Blackout, must be Blackout, but why the white coloring?]

- Starscream does have re-enforcements however there are only 3 that accompany him. They also use the same scanning technique. If you remember, we had an original artwork with Soundwave in his satellite mode where meteor bots are flying by. Ehren came up with the idea like Teletran-1 for the Autobots. This is but one of the many things Soundwave adds to this film. Mike loved this idea because it saves time on having each individual bot scan & transform.
[This is a genius idea because now very little screen time has to be wasted on getting Decepticons in an alt mode, they just literally do it on the fly and go right into the main story]

- That was a secret of ours however, one of our biggest secrets is now revealed regarding Barricade. As Mike would say...the cat's out on that one. The crew knew the cop car would draw attention on set hence the reason there wasn't a confirmed set-picture---the car is CGI for roughly 3 seconds before a transformation to robot form occurs.
[We already knew Barricade was back, just not how he would be used]

- The rest of the info is indeed accurate along with the info on Jazz. We knew a lot of people wanted him to show up but if everyone returned it defeats the purpose of having tragedy in the franchise---same with Brawl & Bonecrusher.

I'm sorry if any info has been spoiled for you but the great thing about our dedication to this film was for each and everyone of the fans out there. We listened to all the good & bad comments over the past couple of years. Enjoy the film!!

Update 2: The plot gets a little more interesting as the orginial poster comments on the the above which was a comment on his first post and adds a few more potential story details. Honestly these two posters are not really opposing viewpoints, at most the differences come down in identifying what Constructicon is which and who Alice is the Pretender of.

Hey all of you. I am the poster from last night that provided the information that I am surprised has grown so much. I just wanted to respond to the guy that claims he is from DreamWorks. I have a feeling this guy is a fake. Industrial Light & Magic and Digital Domain are doing the visual effects for this film. DreamWorks and Paramount are making it. This guy is talking like he is sitting in on the visual effects sessions which only the writers, producers and director would do. Plus he is stating that quote:
"That's right, some big secrets were revealed that we didn't want published, so what I am going to do is confirm them for you. Then add a bit more that you didn't ask to hear because we want to keep it tight lipped around here. --DWE"

Now why would someone who works for DreamWorks start confirming secrets and add a bit more if they want to keep it tight lipped? Also without Michael Bay's permission and all cast members have to sign a contact not to release information.. I do not work for DreamWorks as I stated last night nor did I work on Revenge. I am friends with people at ILM and DD and our company was one of many that attended ShoWest. I am not under contract to keep my mouth shut because like I said I have nothing to so with the production. They sign as DWE meaning DreamWorks Entertainment. There is no division under that name. It is only DreamWorks Pictures and DreamWorks Animation SKG. I suspect this is someone trying to toy with the information I have provided. I don't really care either way.
[All valid points, personally I thought DWE meant DreamWorks employee]

I am myself a huge fan of Transformers and just thought I would volunteer the information I was made privy to at ShoWest. I would love to provide information as to who I am but just in case it may get me or someone at ILM or DD in trouble I shall remain in the shadows. Like I said there were 300 plus people at the ShoWest after party so I felt it was safe to tell you guys what I know.
[Also like more information, so volunteering is good but people are going to muddy the waters which is easy to do until the movie comes out.]

I am just posting this last time so if you see anymore posts claiming it is me then don't believe it. If you need straight facts or get a 100% confirmation then take the word of Roberto Orci or Alex Kurtzman over some guy claiming to be from DreamWorks.
[Couldn't agree more, if doesn't come from official channels, it remains under the speculation category.]

In closing I will say I sent a email this morning to someone in the know to clarify about the changes on Scrapper and Rampage and I was told is the yellow bot chasing Sam is Rampage but he was changed from the toy seen as the yellow Rampage to the a wheeled construction machine and his head was moved to that robot model. Look at the head of Rampage on his toy box on this site and then look at the scene with Sam jumping off the roof and you will see Rampage has the same head as the toy but is another mode. Scrapper was given his body, color changed, and a different head for the film. Same thing was done with Demolishor from the movie to the toy itself (different colors).
[Hasbro production means toy designs had to be locked about a year ago to get the engineering and manufacturing done in time for the movie. ILM and Bay are not under any such restraints so they can make adjustments right up to the very end so this is very plausible.]

Another tidbit and a spoiler is as follows..
So it was mentioned by the DWE guy about the shots of the Frenzy like creature on Sam's dads Saturn car being Alice. Well after Sam gets chased by Barricade and Ravage and Bumblebee shows up to fight them off right as Sam's dad arrives and they get attacked by this creature who is with Barricade. They escape and drive home which isn't far from the college but the creature is hanging on the car. That is when more of these creatures attack their house and hurt his dad and that is the scene where Bumblebee crashes through the fence to save them. From here they go to see Simmons and find Prime aka the graveyard scene. The scene where Bumblebee is dancing in the garage and the house damaged outside is because Bumblebee accidently falls into the side of the house and that is why Sam is kind of cold to him in the garage about how he isn't coming to college with him after his dad lets him have it.

Update 3: DWE replies to the above. I edited it to specific story stuff but you can find the full post in the comments.

...however I must add another clarification:
Trust me when I say this......all of the toys that associate with the major classes [SCT, FAB, DLX, VOY & LDR] will be named correctly. The name "Grindor" is only for the F.A.B. toy and that's it. There will NOT be any mix-ups...I can give you my word. Ehren has been VERY adamant about this fact as well---he will be the first to say that he's the ultimate "fanboy"

To be honest we haven't read a post from one person yet that has the ending figured out [not to say that someone doesn't know it...we just haven't read it] but the fans on this blog as well as the others are VERY smart at picking up details.

Megatron returns..I never said who he gains the spark from.
Alice is a pretender..all you know is that it's not Ravage.
The seekers were obvious..I didn't say who the 3 were.

I hate to do this again but as you know Sam & Mikaela have a long-distance relationship and the info you were given in the 2nd update is also incorrect to an extent. The college Sam attends is an east coast university so the school and his house would NOT be in a close proximity to each other [that should give it away right there]

If you remember [I'm sure you do--who am I kidding] the coloring book revealed a "kitchen crew" of drones. They do NOT appear while Sam is enrolled in college. Those two points in time do not intersect during the film.

[The Spark] DOES NOT come from Soundwave. Trust me when I say this as well...Bob, Alex, & Ehren did justice to the original character & the visual effects on him are AMAZING. I will go out on a limb here and say that when you see & hear the new Soundwave you will NOT look at the original in the same way. Those 3 men & Mike listened to the fans. You will LOVE this rendition of him [unless you are rooting for the Autobots]

New Secret Site, AllSpark Code from Trailer

It turns out that Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen may have a new ARG (alternate reality game) marketing campaign just like they did with Sector 7 for the first movie. As site reader Mauri noted, if you watch the new trailer, at the 1:08 point, you will notice that Sam has a jacket on and along the back it says "www.therealeffingdeal.com" (left pic). If you go to that site you are then asked for login credentials.

So I did a search to see if any Transfans found the username and password. No luck but the guys over at TFW2005.com did discover another Easter Egg in the trailer, a code (right pic, circled) that gives you access to Stormbringer, a gold character in Battle of the AllSpark game. No idea how they decoded it but it becomes 091784 or 09/17/84 the day that the original Transformers cartoon debuted.

I checked the first trailer and didn't spot anything but then I didn't notice anything in the second trailer either. Hopefully more clues and fun will come out as we reach June 24th.

Stratosphere Packaging

Based on the eBay auction of Stratophere in his packaging, it appears the name is officially confirmed. However, his status in the movie is not. Sadly the eBay seller did not put up more than the one picture so any bio information. It also appears that the shuttle has been removed (yet the peg hole remains) as previously reported. Thanks to Phil for the link.

HBO Transformers 2 First Look Scheduled

From TFormers, HBO has scheduled the first airing of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: HBO First Look for June 18th, 2009. Repeats will then run through July 1st. The full schedule of showings can be found here.

Hasbro Starts Transformers 2 Pre-Order

For those that just can't wait until the toys arrive in stores, Hasbro is allowing you to pre-order 5 of the toys - Leader Optimus Prime ($45), Deluxe Bumblebee ($13), Bumblebee Plasma Cannon ($40), Deluxe Soundwave ($13), and Bumblebee Voice Changer Helmet ($40). Estimated delivery dates are listed as June and the toys are expected in stores in late May. If you do want to pre-order, click here.

New Transformers 2 Theatrical Trailer Online Now (Updated)

The second theatrical trailer for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is now online at Yahoo! Movies HERE. I have also uploaded the 1080p version of the video to YouTube (HD link here). Keep an eye below the video as will add links to screenshots, downloads and so forth, pretty much all from site readers.

Downloads: 1080p MegaUpload | 1080p Rapidshare | 720p MegaUpload

Screenshots
Movie Chronicles - 99 screenshots broken down by sections
Flickr Set - From blog reader, more stills.

Update: Below are 20 pictures from above galleries that I liked best and showed off most of the Transformers in the trailer (but only a fraction of the whole). One thing is clear; the Constructicons have a much larger role in this movie then initially thought.

LA Transformers 2 Trailer Premiere Video

It is now past 12pm PST/ 3pm EST, so sadly the trailer delay seems to be correct. In the meantime enjoy Entertainment Tonight's report from the LA screening of the new Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen trailer that included Shia LaBeouf, Tyrese Gibson and Michael Bay. Don't forget that E.T. plans on airing the trailer in tonight's show and it will debut online at Yahoo Movies! around 4:30pm PST, 7:30pm EST, or 12:30am GMT. Or just keep an eye on the blog because soon as I know its up, I let you know. Thanks to wickedweezl and migiuman for the link.

Online Trailer Debut Delayed?

Coming Soon is reporting that the new Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen trailer "will come online today (Thursday) at 4:30pm Pacific Time!" This is 4.5 hours later then originally planned time of 12pm PST. A possible cause is Nelson's report of needed color correction. However, the delay also conveniently places the debut after E.T. will premiere the trailer in most markets.

Megan Fox Talks With USA Weekend

As part of USA Weekend's Summer Movie Preview cover picture with Seth Rogen, Transformers' Megan Fox discussed her career, kissing Shia LaBeouf and working on Revenge of the Fallen. The full interview is here.

Before landing high-profile movies and magazine covers, you were [a] TV sitcom sidekick. Did you ever doubt you'd wind up where you are now?
Megan: ...I started acting as a way to make money and avoid college. I sort of fell into it having no idea what I was doing ... in "Transformers" as well.

Is it true that you didn't know you were the female lead in "Transformers" until the end of filming?
Megan: Yes. Everything was on lockdown. The script wasn't released to anyone. The director, Michael Bay, was the only one who'd seen it.

Megan, you and "Transformers" co-star Shia LaBeouf are good friends. Were your make-out scenes uncomfortable?
Megan: It's always weird. That's not something that's ever romantic or sexy. Doing an on-set kiss is just strange, and knowing Shia so well makes it even more strange.

OK, but the ladies want to know: How is he?
Megan: [Laughs.] Very good.

In "Revenge," you flee evil Decepticons for just about the entire movie. At least your male co-stars hauled butt in comfy sneakers -- you were in heels!
Megan: Stilettos -- and for the last part of the film, motorcycle boots. I had major shinsplints and threw out my back a couple times. Beyond that, Michael likes everyone freakishly tan, so we were painted maroon, like in the old Westerns when they hired Caucasians to play Native Americans. I had on fake eyelashes, running through the desert with sand stuck in them, and I'm sweating off all the makeup. It looked like we were making a tragedy.

For many young actors, Megan, being in "Revenge" would be like the pinnacle of their career. But you've hinted that, in the end, movies about shape-shifting robots are nothing to write home about. How do you define success?
Megan: I'd like to develop my skills to where I can be recognized as a good actress. That's my end goal. It has nothing to do with the box office. It's about peer recognition and critical acclaim, even on a small level. I mean, I'm not trying to take Cate Blanchett down. I just want to improve.

Mudflap Video Review

Peaugh has posted his video review of Deluxe Mudflap from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen toy line. He verifies that the Twins do not have a combined mode. Transformation wise, this toy is more complicated then would think, has a lot of kibble, and of course that ugly head design.

Official Transformers Sites Update

The two main official sites for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen has added some content.

The main movie site has altered the backdrop to look like the theatre standee and a few new desktop images.

The official video game site also updated, this time with the "Battle for the AllSpark" version two of the game that was part of the promotion for the first video game. Once again players get to choose their faction and character as they fight against other online players for points and territory. I haven't played yet but it appears the game has improved graphics and new character models to play as. Thanks to The Chief for the heads-up.

E.T. Teases Trailer with HD Snippets

Trailer mania continues as Entertainment Tonight teases that tomorrow it is going to air the new Transformers 2 trailer (bootleg version here) in HD. Exactly when will depend on your local listings. On the bright side, probably in most areas in the States, the Yahoo! Movies release will beat it. The main reason to watch the tease is about five or so seconds of clear footage. Thanks to Michael for the heads-up.

If the embed below doesn't work, then click here to see it.

Alternate Trailer Cuts?

Nelson, MichaelBay.com's admin, has posted two comments on the forums relating to the new Transformers 2 trailer debuting with Wolverine and online tomorrow (or view bootleg version here).

The first answers questions on why the HD version of the trailer isn't getting released early.

There are contractual agreements with Yahoo I believe. Plus there has been a small recall on the video for color correction purposes.

Nelson didn't indicate if this could cause a delay with the planned 3PM EST official release of the trailer tomorrow.

The second comment indicates that Bay might be planning some with some of the May movie releases.

Just spoke to Mike.

He indicated that there *might* be different cuts for the other movies this trailer is attached to: Star Trek and Terminator Salvation.

Note the emphasis on "might". Don't assume and get upset if this doesn't occur as probably at the idea stage. I am guessing it will only work for theatres that have a digital setup as I don't see the studio paying for printing and shipping alternate cuts of the trailer. Hopefully more details will get released next week if the plan goes forward. Thanks to Michael for the links.

New Transformers 2 Trailer ...While It Lasts (Updated)

Thanks to the internet, you can watch the new Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen before it shows with Wolverine (or Transformers tomorrow for some). Watch it while you can as I doubt it will stay up long. The good news, the trailer does use some footage from the ShoWest Montage, but most of it is brand new stuff we haven't seen before.

The bootleg version was pulled from Vimeo. Since the HD version is debuting in a few hours, not going to look for a replacemet but another link to the trailer is also here or to download go here.

Update: YouTube video pulled so replaced with Vimeo link from the comments.
Update 2: Vimeo pulled video, changed above paragraph to reflect the removal.

Blackout...No Grindor, Bumblebee FAB Pics

It seems Hasbro love of repaints has made its way to the movies as the mystery of the Blackout appearance in the ShoWest Montage is explained.

Based on the Fast Action Battler pictures from TF08.net, the actual name is Grindor whose alt mode is MH-53 Sikorsky Pave Low, the same alt mode as Blackout. The FAB line doesn't have enough detail to know if the character (and other toy classes) will have more differences then just the paint job. Thanks to Phil for the link.

FAB Bumblebee Bio

With the battle raging in the desert, Bumblebee knows he needs to be ready. He upgrades with the latest in deep desert weaponry and prepares to charge into battle across the dunes. The Decepticons will never know what hit them when they get a taste of his sand blast.

FAB Grindor

Grindor is always ready for a fight. He plans everything out in detail, so that he knows exactly how a battle is going to go before it even begins. He is always at the center of the action so that he can use his heavy firepower to ensure his plans succeed.

New Trailer Debuts Online 4/30 (Updated)

Coming Soon is reporting "the new trailer for Michael Bay's Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen will come online at noon Pacific Time on Thursday, April 30th" or 3pm EST/8pm GMT.

Update: Bay's admin Nelson reports the trailer will premiere on Yahoo! Movies. Thanks to Michael for the link.

GameStop Golden Offer for Transformers 2 Game

Via TFW2005, Destructoid.com is reporting that GameStop is offering a little something extra for people that pre-order Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen game through them.

From GameStop:

Reserve The Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and receive a keychain containing a GameStop Exclusive download of Gold Optimus Prime and Megatron character skins. Internet connection required to redeem code. Available for online and in-store customers, while supplies last.

Online Customers: The keychain containing exclusive download code will ship with your order.

In-Store Pickup / Store Customers: The keychain containing exclusive download code will be available at time of game pick-up.

Blurry Ravage, Stratosphere? and More Toy Galleries

A new image of Deluxe Ravage has popped up on TF08.net. It hard to see any details but its pretty clear it matches the box image. Still clueless on what his alt mode could be. Thanks to Adam for the link.

S250, who has revealed a good bit of toy related information over the last few months, is reporting that the Voyager class Autobot cargo jet that some fans were calling Silverbolt is going to be called Stratosphere and rumor is the small shuttle was removed from final design. No packaging images (yet) to collaborate this and it remains unknown if the character is in the film or not. Thanks to Scorpio for the link.

Hasbro has a Q&A panel at TFCon last weekend where they provided a little bit of information about their process developing Transformer toys. It is an interesting read that can be found here. Makes you wish that Hasbro would do a video as an extra for the Transformers 2 DVD/Blu-Ray that documents a Transformer toy from idea to the store shelves.

Here are a few galleries for your enjoyment.
Deluxe Chromia - Many images of the toy with comparisons to other Transformers cycles including Arcee toy released with the first movie.
Devastator etc - More images of Devastator and other toys from the upcoming Transformers 2 toy line. Thanks to Phil for the link.
Voyager Ironhide and Starscream - More pictures of the redesigned toys.
Cannon Bumblebee Review - Video review of the toy that looks pretty good. Thanks to Scorpio for the link.

Update: Added two additional galleries and link to TFCon report.

Welker is Officially Cast in Transformers 2

Ugo Movie Blog is reporting that legendary voice actor Frank Welker has been officially cast in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen as Soundwave. The news is from an interview with Roberto Orci as he was promoting Star Trek. Soundwave is a character Welker originated for all three seasons of the 1980s cartoons or G1 cartoon as sometimes referred to that ran from about 1984-1987.

Jordan Hoffman: Who’s voicing Soundwave in Transformers?
Roberto Orci: Welker.

Jordan Hoffman: That’s official?
Roberto Orci: I think so.

Jordan Hoffman: Uh oh.
Roberto Orci: Might be something I just told you for the first time, but I think so.

Fantastic news for die hard Transformer fans who have been trying to get our favorite voices cast in the movie.

Three Constructicon Video Reviews

Peaugh, Transformer reviewer extraordinaire, continues to get hold of those Revenge of the Fallen toys before anyone else. This time he reviews Voyager Mixmaster, Deluxe Rampage, and Voyager Demolisher. Note that these figures do not combine to form Devastator, which is an entirely different $100 toy that has the separate vehicle modes and the combined mode but not the individual robot modes. Thanks to Scorpio and other readers for the links.

Nimoy to Bay: Just Ask

Last week, Michael Bay indicated he is open to casting Leonard Nimoy as a voice in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen but "I just feel kind of bad about asking him. Like ‘I can’t pay you that much? But would you do this voice?" and maybe use his mother as a go between.

Today, IESB asked Nimoy if he would be willing to do a voice in the movie. Sadly a video of the exchange could not be posted due to a press embargo on Star Trek stuff in the states until May 7th. This is usually done by the studios so that there is a huge amount of talk about the movie before the critical opening weekend and most sites are not going to breach it for fear of losing access. It is also a way to contain bad reviews but that isn't an issue in this case as Star Trek reviews have been glowing.

I am paraphrasing our conversation. Nimoy was in a great mood, laughing and having a good time and said he would be perfectly willing to do a voice in the Transformers sequel, all Michael has to do is ask - but has he?

IESB asked Nimoy straight out if Michael Bay has contacted him yet regarding the voice work, Bay has said he may use his mother as a go between if need be.

Nimoy said he had just seen Bay's mother and she didn't say anything. He doesn't think she wants to be the go between. Nimoy said that he's not hard to get ahold of, if Michael wants to get ahold of him, he can.

Since it is voice work which can be done in a day or so under experienced hands, Bay still has plenty of time to cast who he wants when he wants. Of course with the world premiere now schedule just six weeks away the clock is ticking.

Mixmaster Bio, Packaging

TF08.net has posted images of Voyager class Mixmaster in his packaging which reveals his bio. He looks like a pass to me, don't like the robot mode and calling him a "triple-changer" is a reach. Thanks to Phil and DeceptiFreak for the link.

Voyager Mixmaster Bio

Resident chemist and explosives expert for the elite among the Decepticons, Mixmaster has spent his entire life learning all there is to know about chemical interaction. He can make thousands of poisons, explosives, and deadly gasses from the materials around him. The other Decepticons rely on him to fashion powerful warheads for their missiles, and dangerous venoms in which to coat their blades.

Linkin Park Working on RoTF Song, Score

Mike Shinoda, member of Linkin Park, has officially confirmed that the band is working on the score and a song for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen as mentioned the other day.

BREAKING NEWS: Linkin Park will be working on the score for Transformers 2: Revenge Of The Fallen.

Although I wasn't at liberty to say it before, the song I've been referencing here on mikeshinoda.com in the past few weeks...is actually being done for Michael Bay's new Transformers film, due out June 24th.

In addition--and probably ever cooler--we have been offered the unique opportunity to help score the film. The song we wrote is being used as one of the themes, and we will be writing various interpolations on that theme, and trying out some other thematic ideas as part of the (very large) team scoring the film.
My bandmates and I are working with award-winning film composer (and resident ass-kicker) Hans Zimmer. We met with Hans last week, and heard some of the incredible things he and his guys have done with our new song. In the next few days, we'll be doing some work with Hans' amazing writing and recording crew.

Michael Bay has shown us select scenes from the film, and it looks incredible. I can't wait for you to see it.

The only part I am confused about is Steve Jablonsky is the composer for Transformers 2, not Hans Zimmer. My best guess is Zimmer is lending a hand since he is producing the score and Jablonsky works out of his Remote Control Productions studio. Shinoda has been talking about the album on his blog for a few weeks now along with posting pictures.

April 14th, 2009

Studio update: still making progress on the new album. Still working on that one song, too, ha. Things are going well. I thought I'd put up a few pictures of the guys for you to see. My favorite one is of me and Phoenix--it looks like I'm saying, "that bassline is kinda...eh...not so good." (I'm actually just talking to someone who's not in the frame)

March 28, 2009

We've been working on a new song in the past couple of weeks that has been a lot of fun. The backdrop for the song is built on layered, heavy synths and a sharp performance by Mr. Bourdon. We're keeping the drums a little looser on this track, not doing too much studio trickery...it creates a nice interplay between the organic feel of the rhythm track and the more robotic feel of the keyboards. Bass and guitar are next, meanwhile Chester and I are emailing lyric notes back and forth...

Thanks to Hanna for the link.

ROTF World Premiere in Japan (Updated)

From a link posted on TFW2005, it appears the World Premiere for Transformers 2 is scheduled for June 8th at TOHO Cinemas Roppongi Hills, Tokyo, Japan with Michael Bay, Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox attending. The site with the info is here (and a translation would be appreciated).

Update: Using Google, Dom and Scorpio provided the below translation of the article. Since a computer translation, it has rough edges but you can get the gist of what is being said. Long story short, Japan is getting the world premiere as it is the birth place of Transformers (via Takara). If I remember right, I do believe the very first Transformer was a dark brown Megatron (yes the gun) in 1979.

07 to the hit record published in the SF blockbuster, "Transformers" sequel, and four days earlierthan the United States will be published June 20 in Japan, the world's fastest "Transformers / Revenge" . The world premiere will be at the unveiling of the world's first film, in Tokyo June 8 TOHO was decided at the Roppongi Hills SHINEMAZU. According to this, director Michael Bay, Shire of RABUFU star, Megan Fox, who plans to visit Japan.

July 3 is the original 1907 opening date is in 1900 North America 300 million dollars, all in world record 700,000,000 grossed 800 million dollars. In the same year in Japan was published in the August 4 date, fun revenue and 41 billion yen was a big hit, DVD has sold 64 million copies.

"Transformers", was released TAKARATOMI 85 years, the original toy robot that transforms into various vehicles, such as. The latest "Transformers / revenge" of the Transformers toys come from TAKARATOMI May 30 will be released on Sunday.

Steven Spielberg's and accomplished, following the original recently, and coach bay is said to have seen a rush of people in this film, in doing so, to further scale-up from the original content, "if this SUGO it! "divulging that exclamation. The previous total of 12 transformers of the body appeared in the film is more than five times over 60 new and original from 5000 and cost 100 million dollars, twice the number reported three billion dollars.

The blockbuster that sort of "place of birth" will be unveiled the first in Japan, but is likely to receive attention from around the world.

Paley Festival Interview With Writers

IGN has posted a video with Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci at the Paley Festival (from last weekend I think). The interview asked them about Transformers they wanted to add (Soundwave, Arcee, Ravage, etc) and they also discussed their goal with the movie's main villain. Thanks to The Chad for the link.

More Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen News & Previews

RSVP For 20 City Transformers 2 Trailer Event (Updated)

Paramount Pictures has released the RSVP e-mails to the 20 city Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen trailer premiere event that will be shown with the first Transformers movie on April 29th. Click the picture below to find out the email address for your city. It is first come, first serve. Thanks to Mcat and lonegamer8 for the info.

Update: I sent an email (below) to sign up for the event and it turns out that the RSVP is just to help judge popularity. To have a chance to get a seat, make sure you arrive to the theatre early to get a good place in line as the "RSVP" does not reserve you a seat.

Thanks for the RSVP for the special screening of TRANSFORMERS. The screening is FIRST COME, FIRST SERVE. PLEASE ARRIVE EARLY, as this RSVP is to establish an accurate head count and does not guarantee seating. No one will be admitted once the screening begins.

Come to the screening dressed as the coolest/most creative/awesome Transformer ever and be entered to win a trip to the Premiere in Los Angeles!!!!

Writers Talk Transformers 2 Action and Comedy

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman dicussed tone and balancing the action and humor of the sequel with SciFi Wire. Thanks to DeceptiFreak for the link.

...the sequel remains tonally consistent with their first giant-robot movie. Early teasers suggest a darker or more somber tone, but the writers said that is only one element of the new story.

"Actually, I think you'll find that it has all the same tone of the first movie," Kurtzman said in an exclusive interview on Thursday night in Hollywood, where he sat on a panel at the Paley Festival on his Fox series Fringe. "The story's a little smoother, and it's a little bit darker, so it does dip in there a little bit, but it has all the same humor, if not more than the first movie."

If the first Transformers shifted between action and comedy with some darker undertones, Orci thought the duo did an even better job balancing those elements the second time around. "I think it's a little smoother, actually," Orci said. "We had the first movie for practice. So we were able to hone in on the tone a little bit more sharply in focus on the second movie."

One of the spectacles visible in the teaser is a scene in which a transforming robot brings down an entire factory. The writers hinted at the consequences of that event. "It could be a trap, that scene," Orci teased.

Ratchet Bio, Concession Cups and the Twins

It’s a day of the week so time for more toy pictures. This time TF08.net brings us a gallery of Mudflap and Skids, a look at Ratchet's bio (below), and via Collider a sample of Transformer concession stand cups seen at a ShoWest display that may or may not be found at a theatre near you soon. Thanks to Phil for the links.

Twins, Ratchet bio, more FABs
Concession Cups

Voyager Ratchet Bio

Racing across the dunes of the northern Sahara Desert, the roar of this engine echoing off the ever-shifting dunes, Autobot Ratchet charges toward the inevitable confrontation with Megatron and his assembled Decepticon army. Though he has battled against odds this bad in the past, no fight before has meant so much. He knows the fate of the universe rests on the outcome of this conflict, and he will do everything in his power to see to it that his allies come through it safe and victorious.

Bay Talks Transformers 2 With TV Guide

TV Guide has posted a brief interview with Michael Bay where he discusses Transformers 2. Most of it is stuff we have heard before but I do believe this is the first time it has been stated that specifically three scenes are IMAX formatted. Thanks to Crisp for the link.

Transformers 2 Trailer Premieres With Transformers 1

Paramount Pictures has announced that the new trailer for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen will premiere with Transformers in 20 cities for a one time showing on April 29th confirming the info from Bay's site. Five locations will even get a reprise of Transformers: The IMAX Experience. Exactly when the tickets will go sale has not yet been released but probably will be within the next day or two. Below is the full list of what city, which theatre and the time. Thanks to Ian for the link.

Atlanta: 7pm at Regal Atlantic Station in 35MM
Baltimore: 7pm at AMC White Marsh in 35MM
Boston: 7pm at AMC Boston Common in 35MM
Chicago: 8pm at Navy Pier in IMAX
Dallas: 7pm at Cinemark Movies 17 in 35MM
Denver: 7pm at UA Colorado Center in 35MM
Detroit: 7pm ar Emagine Novi in Novi, MI in DIGITAL
Los Angeles: 7pm at The Bridge Cinema De Lux, in IMAX
Miami: 7pm at AMC Sunset in South Miami in 35MM
Minneapolis: 7pm at AMC Southdale in Edina in 35MM
New York: 8pm at AMC Loews Lincoln Square in IMAX
Orlando: 7pm at Premiere Fashion Sq Mall in DIGITAL
Philadelphia: 7pm at UA King of Prussia in DIGITAL
Phoenix: 7pm at Harkins Tempe Marketplace in Tempe in DIGITAL
Sacramento: 7pm at UA Market Square in 35MM
San Diego: 7pm at Regal Edwards Mira Mesa in 35MM
San Francisco: 7pm at AMC Metreon in IMAX
Seattle: 7pm at Cinerama in 35MM
Toronto: 7pm at Scotiabank in IMAX
Washington DC: 7pm at AMC Georgetown in DIGITAL

Transformers Re-Release, Book, and Linkin Park

Nelson, the admin over at MichaelBay.com, has posted a brief news update regarding a possible Transformers "Visions" book signed by Bay, soundtrack work and Transformers I returning to some theatres.

Nelson here...

Back in the day when Michael directed Armageddon and Pearl Harbor, there were books that accompanied the released of both films. "Visions of Armageddon" and "Pearl Harbor: The Movie and the Moment." I got the special hardcover edition of "Visions of Armageddon" which was shipped in a velvet-like slipcase. They are numbered, autographed by Bay & Bruckheimer and only 200 were printed.

So it was this in mind that I asked Michael the other day if he was planning on doing something similar. "Yes" was his response. He indicated that it might be available for this holiday season. So I’m looking forward to that.

In other news, Bay noted that Steve Jablonsky and Linkin Park are working on the score for "Revenge of the Fallen." He also mentioned that they will be re-releasing the first Transformers movie with the new “Revenge of the Fallen” trailer attached to it in about 25 markets in the US.

A "Visions of Transformers" would be a neat book as long as the focus is on the designs, planning and creation of them (both CGI, practically and possibly Hasbro's end of it). If it is just a bunch of info about how Bay directs and the usual "kiss the cast"-fest that most behind the scenes videos and books have become then I am not interested.

I am surprised to hear that a re-release is potentially in the works considering the crowded summer release schedule. In general, "markets" are centered on major US cities so if a re-release occurs they will be in major cities like LA, New York, Austin and so forth. Also such a release would be to a very limited number of theatres.

First Look at Ravage Toy

TF08.net has posted the image to the left of the Deluxe class toy for Ravage. Sadly that is all the information currently available so still unknown if it transforms and if so what is the alt mode. Thanks to Phil for the link.

Update: As pointed out by Duncan, the picture shows the image came from Deluxe class packaging and for years Hasbro only pictures same class figures on the packaging which means that Ravage is probably Deluxe class.

1st Trailer and ShoWest Comparison Shots

More screenshots, but this time cool comparisons of the exact same moment from the first trailer and the ShoWest montage that illustrates the ongoing work of the magicians at ILM and Digital Domain. Thanks to John for putting them together and below note. (Click the images to larger size)

I've noticed several updated shots in the Showest footage compared to the first trailer. Attached is an example of Optimus getting kicked in the head with added dirt and grass, more "blood" and darker in general. Other shots are the one of Ravage walking on the beach which had water added dripping off him and the Fallen's teleporting has been changed slightly.

FAB and Robot Replicas and M&M T-Shirts

Three new galleries relating to Transformers 2 toy line for your enjoyment.

Fast Action Battlers and Ratchet - Link to pictures of Mudflap, Skids and Voyager Ratchet in their packages.
Robot Replicas - A series of eBay auctions for Robot Replicas of Jetfire, Skids, Sideswipe, Megatron and The Fallen.
M&M T-Shirts - From an eBay auction, cute little t-shirt with the TF M&Ms.

Thanks to Phil for the links.

Once Again, Ask Orci

It’s been a month, so seemed like a good time to see what information Transformers 2 writer Roberto Orci may have dropped in the Don Murphy and TFW2005 Ask Orci threads. Unlike last time, sadly he was much more tight lipped.

Have you guys gotten a ton of feedback from Transfans, disappointed that Optimus coming up small in that pivotal battle with Megatron at the end of the 1st movie? ...can we expect a little different in ROTF as far as Prime is concerned?
Yeah we did get a lot of discussion about that very point. It was on our minds for the sequel...

Are there any writers, or team of writers, who you would like to hand the reigns too in an ideal world? For TF3.
No... this isn't a monarchy where duties can or should be passed on. May the best idea win!

...will the ratio of robot-to-human time be pretty much the same?
There's no shortage of robot time in tf2. It will be longer than than the first movie.

Roberto, sum up movie Soundwave in one word please.
Spy

Prime's new toy has dual swords. Any chance of seeing dual swords in the film?
Would be cool!

What is your opinion on John Turturro voicing Jetfire? Will it do justice to the character?
I love him for everything, and he playfully offered to do it because he thought the character was fun. We'll see!

I know you said Soundwave don't turn into a truck but will he have some kind of earth mode? Does he fight on Earth at all?
that would give away TOO MUCH!

Who are some Autobots that you thought hard about including in this movie but chose not to?
Dinobots.

1) On a note of confirmation, is Springer in TF 2? 2) Will there be an action scene of Sideswipe deploying his blades in mid-air, spinning in a circle as he goes? 3) Will there ever be a fast talking Autobot in the three movies? 4) Are any humans gonna get slagged? Major ones?
1 no comment 2 no comment 3 no comment 4 no comment Does that answer your questions?

When you said you thought long and hard about including Dinobots in movie 2 but decided not to, does that mean it will never happen or that it just wasn't right for this particular film?
Just for this film.

Are Scavenger (Excavator and part of Demolisher) and Demolisher (Excavator and Giant Wheel Death Bot from the trailer) two different characters? Or is this another bit of Brawl/Devastator naming weirdness?
We'll find out together!

When Mr. bay said the movie was "Darker", what does he mean by that?
When Alex and Ehren and I were thinking about what to do with the sequel to Transformers, we thought back to the sequels that we loved as kids. These movies all shared some common characteristics: they stood alone as their own movies... the stakes seemed greater, and as result, they seemed darker... we're talking about sequels like Superman 2, Aliens, Wrath of Kahn, and The Empire Strikes Back... I think most would agree that each of these bench mark sequels were darker than the first, yet still were genuine continuations of the first.

Is Soundwave not going to accompany Megatron as the loyal soldier?
soundwave is kinda doing his own thing in the movie.

I'm interested in knowing how exactly the process went about since there were three of you. Did you all work on the script together at the same time? did you each write your own draft and merge them together or did one of you get elected to write the first while the other two worked on it afterward?
As far as the script goes, the three of us sat down and came up with a story, the way you can imagine riffing a story with your friends... almost like band practice, or something. Then, once we had the story, we went 30 pages at a time, each of us writing different scenes and then passing them around for notes, comments, or adjustments until we had a full shooting draft.

Four More Transformer Bios

More bios for Deluxe class toys from Transformers 2 toy line, this time Cannon Bumblebee, Interrogator Barricade (still not proven in movie), and Smokescreen, the repaint of Jazz that is unlikely in the movie. Images from TFW2005. In addition, an eBay auction provides pictures of Deluxe Mudflap in package and first look at his bio. Thanks to DeceptiFreak for the link.

Deluxe Interrogator Barricade

Repaired and retrofitted after the Battle of Mission City, Barricade elected to remain on Earth while Starscream returned to Cybertron. He has devoted his time on Earth gathering intelligence for the inevitable rise of the Decepticons. He stalks and captures important humans, then scans, interrogates and disposes of his captives using the highly sensitive proves built into his vehicle mode.

Deluxe Cannon Bumblebee Bio

After the Battle of Mission City, and the discovery of new Decepticons on Earth, Bumblebee decided to upgrade as many of his systems as he could. With the help of Autobot Ratchet, he added some human missile launchers to his arsenal, and modified his vehicle mode to make his weapons accessible. He was caught off-gaurd too many times the Decepticons. Now when they come around he'll be ready.

Deluxe Smokescreen

According to Smokescreen, the only good Decepticon is a totally confused one. He does his best to make sure that the Decepticons never know what his teammates are up to. He's perfected the art of creating diversions, using traps, holograms, and strategically placed explosives. When all else fails, he uses himself as bait, often racing right through a group of enemy robots to distract them.

Deluxe Mudflap

Young but eager, Mudflap has wanted to be a full-fledged warrior under the command of Optimus Prime for as long as he can remember. He and his twin brother Autobot Skids traveled for years to Earth, just in the hopes of joining up with their idol. Being on Earth with Optimus Prime and the other heroes of the Great War is a dream come true.

Bay Talks Potential Nimoy Casting

MTV once again, this time talking to Transformers 2 director Michael Bay about voice casting, specifically casting his cousin, Leonard Nimoy (Star Trek's Spock) in the sequel.

“I’m still not done with all the voices,” Bay explained to us recently when we brought up “Revenge of the Fallen” robot casting for the film.

As loyal fans of the robots-in-disguise remember, Mr. Spock himself - Leonard Nimoy - was the voice of characters like Galvatron in the 1986 cartoon “Transformers: The Movie.” And “Revenge” writer Roberto Orci has said that he’d like to see Nimoy return for the summer blockbuster.

“You know, he’s related to me,” laughed Bay. “And now that you are filming this, maybe you can send it to him.”

“[Nimoy] is married to Susan Bay, who’s a cousin to me,” Michael explained, saying that he’s afraid of insulting his relative with the mere pittance allotted to pay his voice actors. “I just feel kind of bad about asking him. Like ‘I can’t pay you that much? But would you do this voice?’”

So Michael hasn’t worked up the nerve yet to ask his famous cousin – who appears in next month’s “Star Trek” – to lend him his vocal talents. Instead, the pair have been using a third relative as a go-between.

“Would he do it?” Bay asked. “He suggested to my mom that he might do it.”

Rodriguez, Lucas Talk Transformers

Finally coming out of hiding, Transformers 2 cast members Ramon Rodriguez (Leo Spitz) and Isabel Lucas (Alice) talk about Revenge of the Fallen with MTV.

Below is a section of the story and also a video where Isabel describes filming at The Free Library in Philadelphia. Ramon talks about auditioning for the role pretending to run from robots in Bay's office.

It's bigger, it's badder, it's better," said Rodriguez, who plays Leo Spitz, Witwicky's roommate at Princeton University and the proprietor of a Web site about conspiracy theories, from aliens to robots.

Quickly, though, Leo finds out that all this conspiracy mumbo-jumbo isn't just the stuff of paranoid fantasy. "I end up getting sucked into [Sam's] crazy world with real robots and finding out he's involved in the real thing," Rodriguez said. "My complete world is flipped."

Lucas plays Alice, another Princeton student who takes an immediate liking to Sam, even though he's still in a relationship with his hometown girlfriend Mikaela (Megan Fox). "The character of Alice is more the seductress," Lucas said. "She's got mysterious intentions that we don't really know about."

Rodriguez talked enthusiastically about a Decepticon named Demolishor — "Makes [Optimus Prime] look like a roach" — but went on to rave about another massive bot. "There's one even bigger than him," he said, referring to Devastator, a massive construction formed when several Decepticons come together. "It's crazy!"

Bay brought a couple of industrial-size fans to the Egyptian desert that blew 100-mile-per-hour, sand-filled winds at Rodriguez's face. He ended up dislocating his shoulder and needed to have his eyes flushed out for 45 minutes. Another time he had to sit perfectly still as a huge metal spike pierced the roof of his car, perilously close to his head. In those moments, he was not so much acting as reacting to a very real sense of fear.

"It's really borderline getting hurt, but you're still safe," he said with a laugh. "But you could get hurt."

Thanks to Linariel and DeceptiFreak for the interview link. The picture is a PhotoShop job from Mauricio that combined a previously released picture of Ramon hanging onto a pole with a still from the ShoWest montage.

Megatron Blasted and Starscream?

I thought I was done with stills from the ShoWest Montage but the below are compelling enough to post.

These stills provide a great look at Megatron and seem to show him taking a few blasts to the chest and head complete with fire flare-up. The future doesn't look too bright for the villain. Thanks to InvisbleMan for the pictures.

Here is a close-up of a moment in the field where Optimus Prime goes flying from a kick by Megatron. In the background is three Transformers many are assuming to be Blackout and Starscream. As the picture from Andrew (thanks!) shows, the arms, shoulders don't quit match. Maybe Starscream taking on a rather odd pose (I think supposed appear to be stalking) or a different character all together?

Combined Keychain, More Mixmaster and Ratchet

More stuff from the Transformers 2 toy line.

Yesterday was the first image of the "Power Up" Optimus Prime and Jetfire combiner leak. Joining that leak is a look, from TFW2005, at the keychain that a few months ago helped confirm that a combine mode was planned for the two characters. The greater detail that the static keychain allows indicates that while the toy is not that impressive, the CGI version (assuming this combined mode is film inspired) will be awesome to behold.

Next is a reminder that Ratchet is supposed to be in the film with an eBay auction for Voyager class version of the character. Other then looking like a brighter shade of lime, it seems to be the same toy as the first movie.

Last is another gallery for Voyager Mixmaster that can found here. His robot mode doesn't impressive me at all but I really like the vehicle mode.

Thanks to Phil for the links.

Combined Optimus, Jetifre And Other Galleries

Yep, more toy galleries from the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen toy line for your enjoyment (or not), all of them from the TFW2005 forums.

First up is the rather tiny picture to the left that shows off the combined mode of Leader class Optimus Prime and Jetfire that has been hinted at for awhile. Of note is the combined mode doesn't quite match the black-out preview pick from Jetfire's packaging. In addition, there is the image of Devastator and his six Constructicons, a contradiction of the seven that recent press articles indicated would comprise Devastator. It looks like we will have to wait on the leak of the toy packaging to finally clear this one up.

Next is a shot of Wheelie in his packaging via an eBay auction. We previously got a look at his card backing and bio. Nothing much to add, he is still as strange looking as you expect. Makes you wonder if Scapel and him will have a tussle (that would probably be amusing to watch).

More Transformer comparison photos. This time of the Takara version of Deluxe Sideways compared with the Hasbro version. Takara's version has a darker paint job that does look better. The full gallery is here. Deluxe Breakaway (still not confirmed if in movie) also gets a Takara vs. Hasbro treatment. Takara Breakaway is a brown color instead of Hasbro's tan. In this case I am not sure if it is an improvement or not. The Breakaway gallery is here.

Last is a small gallery (here) of the Transformers version of Jenga. As you can see, it is the classic game that when stacked for play forms the faction symbols. I like the touch of adding them to each block.

Thanks to Phil for the links.

Bay Comments on ShoWest Montage

Over at Michael Bay.com, Bay posted a quick comment on the Transformers 2 ShoWest Montage (updated with working video) that is getting pulled left and right from the internet (sadly). Thanks to Mcat for the heads-up.

The Showest footage was pulled down because it was just a 12-hour thing.

I just wanted the fans to get a taste of what we have been making for a year and a half because we have been so quiet. The piece was cut about a month ago for this Showest thing I accepted this past month - so as you can see many of the shots were far from being finished renders. This dinky little site received over 1,500,000 hits and 550,000 downloads in this short time. Anyway the trailer is being printed today and coming out on Wolverine and Star Trek. 64 days left!

Michael

Complete Audi Chase Clip, More Screenshots

Below is a clip from Kevin (thanks!) where he combined the Audi chase sequence from the first trailer with the additional footage from the ShoWest montage to create a full sequence. In addition are a few more screenshots to join the previous batch from the montage that shows off character faces and a bit more. Thanks to Dave, Eugene, Asri, and Simon.

Video pulled by YouTube due to Paramount copyright claim.

Fallen Bio, Jetfire, Gravity Bot Pics and Other Galleries

TF08.net has scored more photos of the Transformers 2 toy line. This time it includes a first look at Leader Jetfire, Voyager The Fallen in package with bio, Interrogator Barricade, Cannon Bumblebee, and multiple gravity bots. Below are a few pictures with the full gallery here. Thanks to Phil and DeceptiFreak for the link.

In addition, here are a few more galleries.
Cannon Bumblebee - A side by side comparison of preview Bumblebee with his counterpart
Wobbler Transformers - Prime, Bumblebee, and Megatron wobbler pics.
Voyager Megatron - Another gallery of the figture in different poses.

Voyager The Fallen Bio:

For millennia, he has waited. Thousands of years have dragged by as he recruited proxies, one by one, to scour the cosmos for the artifact he required. Now he finds he must return to the primitive, flesh-slug infected planet on which his quest began. Nothing will stand in his way this time. If need be, he will scour the surface of this disgusting world clean in the fire of his rage, and search through the blasted rubble for that which he seeks.