Last week's Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen bit from Entertainment Tonight was heavy on Shia LaBeouf and light on Megan Fox and now we know why. Yhey were saving that interview for this week when the actress briefly talks Transformers 2 (bigger everything) and discusses her sudden fame. Thanks to joshuachacon7 for the link.
From MTV, below is the second behind the scenes video for Linkin Park's New Divide from the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Soundtrack. The single is now available on iTunes. The first behind the scenes video can be seen here. The current rumor is the video will be released on June 12th but that has not been officially verified to my knowledge.
After a few posts of teases, TF08.net has finally posted a full gallery that shows off the Deluxe class Ice Cream Truck Twins that to be is probably one of the few must have toys of the Revenge of the Fallen toy line (along with Sideswipe and Ransack). Skids (huge left eye when facing him) is the front, Mudflap (huge right eye) the rear. Below are a few images with the entire gallery here.
Amazon has put up the cover art for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen The Score by Steve Jablonsky that is being released on June 23rd. Amazon has also applied its usual discount so the price of the score is now $14.49. Thanks to Rich for the link.
Update: Thanks to Scorpio, click here for a larger enchanced version of the cover.
For UK residents, you might want to watch Paramount UK's twitter page as they are running multiple contests to win tickets to premieres of various Paramount movies and other goodies. The most recent was a giveaway of 25 pairs of tickets for a sneak peak this Friday. In addition you can win a copy of the Transformers 2 soundtrack, a goody bag and Sonisphere Festival tickets. Click here to view the list of contests. Just remember that is probably limited to United Kingdom residents only.
Yesterday, we has the fan perspective of the Tokyo world premiere for Transformers: Revenge of the the Fallen. Now we have an official video from the premiere that includes brief comments from Michael Bay and the cast and Bay.
In additional, the media blitz is in full swing so click here to find out what TV and print media the Transformers cast will be interviewing with to help promote the film in Japan, South Korea (red carpet premiere today), Berlin (premiere June 14th at Cinestar at Sony Centre), London (premiere June 15th at Empire Leicester Square), and Moscow (premiere June 16th at Oktyabr Theatre). They are going to be very busy folks talking their rears off and looking pretty for a ton of cameras. Thanks to Kenney for the links.
TRANSFORMERS 2 Tokyo World Premiere Highlights from PPC Interactive on Vimeo.
A cute image of Michael Bay from the M&Ms marketing campaign with Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, complete with perpetual five o'clock shadow. I saw this last week in the current issue of Entertainment Weekly so safe to say this will be popping up all over the place soon. Image from MichaelBay.com (which is good as my scanned copy was useless). Thanks to Ali for the link.
At this point it is pretty clear that the war for summer box office king is going to be between Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. To stoke the flames for Potter fans, it turns out they are going to have to wait two weeks to July 29th before they can watch the movie on the IMAX. On the bright side they can still watch it on standard screens on July 15th.
Now the change isn't really Transformers fault, its Warner Bros. who forgot to check the IMAX schedule when they moved Harry Potter from a Christmas release to the summer and didn't realize that Transformers 2 was contractually locked in for four weeks due to incorporating IMAX style footage into the film.
The main takeaway, besides mild amusement, is the knowledge that you have only one month to watch Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen The IMAX Experience which includes extended scenes, several with CGI elements at the IMAX scale, a first for the format. Thanks to Ian for the link.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen has made its official worldwide debut in Tokyo, Japan with the "human" cast and director Bay in attendance. There was also a rather smoky filled and "dramatic" appearance by Bumblebee that probably wouldn't fly in the states. In addition, below are a few spoilers about the film from someone at the premiere as they write about a few plot beats and the Transformers voices, look, and how used in the film. Thanks to Marduk for the video link and Bas for the spoiler link.
Update: Pictures of the cast from the premiere. Long story short, the ladies looked amazing and Shia needs to shave that mess off his face. Not sure what is next on the premiere train but assume it is the London Premiere on the 15th.
Ok guys just got back! Don't have much time to post, don't wanna miss the train but here's some quick stuff.End spoilers.
Movie was incredible, I liked it much more than the first! More action, more robots, less humans! Though there are some lame sexual inuendos like Wheelie humping Megan's leg.
Anyway, Bay and the actors came right into the theater and introduced the film. I was tempted to scream "Don Murphy Stooges #1" but I didn't want to get led out by security!
The VA thing in the credits was way too fast, sorry guys. The Fallen was Todd something. Welker does voice Soundwave, and Devastator too. Devastator has one line, screaming his name. Soundwave only has a few lines but he speaks English. But he never comes down to earth and never turns into a robot. Bleah. Very little screen time, but at least he doesn't get exploded which leaves things open for the third movie.
Mostly English, not much cybertronian.
The Twins were lame. As in the "bust a cap in you ass" stereotype. I could've done without them.
Jetfire was comic relief. He has a British accent and reminded me of a Monty Python character. He doesn't "combine" with Prime in the normal sense, he gets fatally wounded and rips out his spark, killing himself so Prime can use his parts.
Wheelie is nothing like G1 Wheelie. He kinda reminds me of Rattrap.
Lots of kitchen bots. One was a Samurai too. Bludgeon?
Only named Constructicon is Rampage, and he is red.
Megatron is revived by some Constructicons and "The Doctor."
Sideways never transforms, he is cut in half by Sideswipe in the first battle scene in car mode. Sideswipe is cool. Ravage is cool too.
There was a bot that looked like Blackout but he was not named. Blackout himself was never revived so I can't say it was him. He did not speak and was not named in the credits. In fact in the last battle scene there were tons of, well, "repaints," basically reused animation. So even after Devastator forms, there are still constructicons running around. And some Protoforms. I even saw a truck that looked like Bonecrusher...though I never saw him in robot mode. Scorponok is in the final battle too and is killed by Jetfire in about 2 seconds.
There are three motorcycles, but they appear to be named collectively Arcee. Not much screen time/lines for them anyway.
The term "Matrix of Leadership" is used, it's a key that operates a device to draw energy from the sun.
This weekend, a special version of the Aprilia RSV 1000 R made its debut at Road America. As the picture shows, the bike was painted with the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen logo and The Fallen eyes for the movie. The bike model is the one that Mikaela drives in the movie, but is not one of the Arcee bikes. More pictures of the bike can be found here.
According to Jalopnik, the GM Topkick which is the alt mode of Ironhide, is being discontinued.
GM Statement Regarding Wind Down Of Medium Duty Truck ProductionThat cannot be good news for Ironhide's continued survival in the third movie.
After four years of working with multiple potential buyers, General Motors has decided to wind-down its medium-duty truck operations. Production of the Chevy Kodiak and GMC Topkick medium duty trucks will cease by July 31, 2009.
Thanks to Ian, below are links to five high resolution Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen posters from the Movie Viral forums. The amount of detail in the various Transformers is pretty awesome to look at.
Update: Sadly it seems the pictures have been pulled or maybe a bandwidth exceeded type thing. I will leave the links up just in case as hopefully they will get posted again.
The Fallen
Optimus Prime
Starscream
Bumblebee
Bethlehem Steel
On the eve of the world premiere of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen in Tokyo, Japan, Michael Bay posted an update in his forums. The film is nearly finished as his dedicated crew works to add the final touches to the film which has 42 Transformers total and for the IMAX footage a few moments where prime is rendered to 1:1 scale for those huge screens. Thanks to Firefrost, John, and Katie for the link.
Hey everyone,
In Japan today. After a month and half seven days a week most days going till midnight me and my crew have just about finished Transformers. I have never seen such a level of dedication from every crew member in a movie before.
Even today after the press in Japan and right before the premiere tonight, I have to sneak out to a digital house to approve the last few effect shots.
It has been a long hard road, but really fun one to travel. What you will notice that is strikingly different than Transformers 1, is the level of animation detail. The robot characters (42 in all), you really can feel empathy for them. What is also very different is the sheer scale of the movie. We have been very tight holding back much of the best imagery in commercials and trailers.
The way to see this movie is on IMAX. Never before has there been 4k rendered character animation shot on full IMAX 70 mm film. This is a first and the results are stunning. You will see Optimus Prime in a few shots where he is actually perfectly to scale on the IMAX 50 foot tall screens.
For IMAX, I created a slightly longer cut with more robot fighting. Four scenes were shot on IMAX cameras so the screen will fill the full IMAX screen for these scenes.
Haters beware.
Michael
Via Seibertron, KOToys has posted two new galleries for Deluxe Jolt and Stalker Scorponok that also compares to toys to others characters in the Revenge of the Fallen toy line. Jolt actually isn't that bad looking and a shame he isn't part of the initial release wave. As for Scorponok, he is simply a black and white repaint of the first movie version. Below are a few pictures of each and the links to the galleries. Thanks to Katie for the link.
A few new photos are online of the Twins with their deluxe ice cream truck combined mode from TF08 and TFW2005. This is the first indication since the Wal-Mart leak that the toy is coming. Hopefully this is an indication that more pics will be released soon (and maybe a review from Peaugh). Thanks to Adam for the link.
Toys R Us has a Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen toy sale going on from today to next Saturday. The sale is for Power Bots ($18 instead of $23), Voyager ($18 instead of ($23), Deluxe ($8 instead of $12), and Voice Mixers ($33 instead of $40). This is the first sale I have seen for the toy line so might be worth looking into. You can also order the toys online at ToysRUs.com for the sale prices but keep in mind shipping and handling charges to decide if online is worth it.
KOToys has posted a nice gallery of images of Voyager Deluxe Blaze Master, first heard of via a listing on Wal-Mart's website. The toy is an Autobot with alt mode of a Channel 7 News copter. It has not been indicated if this character is in the movie, but it seems unlikely since the known movie list of Autobot characters don't include flyers (remember Jetfire started as a Decepticon). Below is a few of the images with the full gallery here (mirror here). Thanks to G0M3Z for the link.
The music video for Linkin Park's New Divide song from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Soundtrack is expected to be released June 12th. As part of that, a making of video is now on YouTube and a contest has started to win a custom Fender Squier guitar from the band. The video is below, click here for the contest. Thanks to Razgriz016, Adrien, and Deanna for the links.
From E3, below is more gameplay from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen The Game that I believe is multi-player mode as Optimus Prime and Starscream. Thanks to Commanderalphanl for the link.
The embed of the video was doing something to the right column causing it to get dumped below posts for some browsers, so instead click here to view.
In an article from the AP, Shia LaBeouf discusses some of the story beats from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and the injuries he experienced both on and off the set. Snippets below, full article here. Thanks to Mauricio for the link.
"He hurts his hand in the middle of a human transfer," LaBeouf explains cryptically. "Sorry this is so mysterious. There's just certain words I can't say."
"Revenge of the Fallen" begins with LaBeouf's character, Sam Witwicky, heading off to college to distance himself from his shape-shifting robot friends. Sam's beloved Camaro, which transforms into Bumblebee, sits in the garage "sort of like his (parole officer), his guardian," LaBeouf said during a recent interview.
While at school, Sam starts seeing symbols through "epileptic seizure-type fits of information transfer," LaBeouf said. "He just becomes a factual volcano." The symbols form a map to an energy source the robots need to control sentient beings, LaBeouf said.
The actor becomes visibly excited when talking about "Transformers," his slight frame buzzing in a button-down shirt and skinny black tie. His left hand is wrapped in gauze, with a splint propping up one finger. "It's like 11 days out of surgery," he said, referring to a procedure to remove screws that stabilized his digits after the accident. "It's not broken, but it's newly not-broken," LaBeouf said.
"There's far more stunts this time," he said. "Aside from the fact that I was making the whole movie with a broken hand, my knee has stitches, my eye had stitches, my back was gouged."
During one scene, LaBeouf said he "literally stabbed myself in the eye" and had to be treated at a military hospital. Though credit may be due for toughness, it's LaBeouf's natural warmth that makes him perfect to play Sam, the film's screenwriters say.
SFX Magazine is out and they have a one page roll call that briefly describes the various Transformers that will be in the upcoming movie. Obviously they didn't use my website as a source since some of their information isn't current. Thanks to Ali for the images below from the magazine.
In addition, IGN also has their own roll call for the Decepticons that shows visually compares their G1 version with current counterpart. That article is here. Thanks to Brian for the link.
The tie-in commercials continue, this time for the Chevy Camaro that uses scenes from both Transformers movies. Thanks to Mauricio for the link.
In the United States, the pre-order sales for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen tickets are for sale as of now. Earlier then expected, but I doubt anyone will complain. I just bought my IMAX tickets for 12:01AM for 6/24/09. Depending on the website there might be a convience charge (Fandango charged $2 per ticket) so be sure to noticed those details before purchasing. Thanks to zloty and others for the heads-up.
A few new movie stills are now online from Celebutopia. They show off Bumblebee, Demolisher, Prime looking bad-ass with his swords and Devastator looking small (yet still awesome) in the desert. Thanks to Gregory for the link. He noticed in the Devastator still you can barely make out the twins in front of him in the open area before the trailers and water tower.
In an article with Forbes, the director discusses working on Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the pile of cash his movies generate, and his ball busting directing style (which I can't say I disagree with as Hollywood coddles too much). Bay is also a shrewd business man as he gets 1/3 of the profits from Transformers films and 8% from the toys. Snippets below, full article here. Thanks to Ali for the link.
"Fire in the hole!" An explosion goes off next to a crumbling house. Bay grins approvingly and darts to some fake rocks where stars Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox are cowering in the face of yet another attack by robots from outer space. Over the course of the day Bay will film 63 shots, three times as many as on most sets. "I hear stories about directors waiting eight hours to shoot," says Bay. "How can your game plan be so screwed up? If I ran a studio, I'd fire your ass."
As well known for his blowups on the set as he is for explosions on the screen, Bay has made his share of enemies. One actor who worked as an extra on Pearl Harbor recalls how Bay accused another actor of thinking the attack on Pearl Harbor was funny when someone laughed after hours of sitting for a take. An executive says Bay got so enraged at an extra on the set of Transformers that he made him stand in a corner. Actress Kate Beckinsale told reporters Bay made her feel ugly on the set of Pearl Harbor. (Not true, says Bay. He asked her to work out more.) Bay is known for sometimes clashing with stars on the set, such as Bruce Willis in the 1998 film Armageddon. "He has a tendency to try to be a director and change actors' lines," says Bay. "I don't think Bruce liked that I had a pair of balls." He takes a similarly defensive stand toward the critics who have called his films "vile," "brain dead" and "pandering."
But audiences love him. Bay's seven movies have pulled in $2.6 billion at the box office, putting him in the same league with James Cameron ($3 billion, including Titanic, the highest-grossing film ever, at $1.8 billion). That means something at a time when the movie business is going through its own action thriller, as studios run low on capital and people stop buying DVDs. (Although theaters keep half of ticket sales, the gross amount is a good proxy for the movie owner's total revenue, which includes DVDs and other money streams.) [ROTF should put Bay on top then at least until Avatar comes out around Christmas time - TFLive]
Bay brings his movies in on time and on budget, a rarity in Hollywood. Because his pay is largely based on the film's profits (usually one-third of the take after the studio recoups its production and advertising costs), he's got plenty of incentive to rein in expenses. "Michael makes me look good because he counts every penny," says Jerry Bruckheimer, who has produced five of Bay's films.
The new Transformers movie (the second full-length feature in the series) cost $195 million to make. But Bay estimates it would have cost $10 million more if he hadn't partnered with General Motors and the U.S. military to get free cars, helicopters and battleships. By keeping the budget (relatively) low on the first Transformers flick, in 2007, he was able to increase his share of the movie's $708 million worldwide gross, earning $80 million from the film. So what if those product placements make his movies look like long commercials? "People say it's whoring out, but it's not," says Bay, 44. "Advertising is in our lives. It's unavoidable. To think you can't have it in a movie isn't real life."
The final issue to Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Move Adaptation is coming out next Wednesday and IDW has a preview of the first five pages here. Personally I just like the covers from Josh Nizzi. Wouldn't mind seeing his artwork for an entire story arc, but it would have to be a quick moving epic scale story, something the regular issues of IDW's Transformers series have completely failed at due to their glacial place.
LG has started its promotional tie-in with Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen with a commercial (as seen here) and website. Now they have added additional digital content in the form of wallpapers of various sizes, movies stills, and facial images of various characters. To check out all the images, go to LG Nest > wait on the page to load > in the bottom right click "NAV" > then click "Digital Content". Thanks to Dxtr for the heads-up.
The various tie-in commercials have started hitting the airwaves. As mentioned before, M&Ms' website has opened and now they have a good quality commercial here or digicam copy below featuring Optimus Prime. In addition, Hasbro has released another toy commercial focusing on some of the Deluxe and Voyager class toys released last week. Thanks to Darin for the links.
IGN has posted two videos from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen The Game taken at E3 that shows off the game play. The game play shows Bumblebee landing into the level from asteroid mode and fighting multiple Decepticons including Long Haul, Megatron, Rampage and others.
I tried to embed the videos but the code loads the wrong video so click here and watch the "E3 2009" videos.
A new poster for your enjoyment. Much like with the first movie, it seems the international posters are visually the most interesting. Thanks joshuachacon7, ghola_tleilaxu, and Ian for the poster.
Despite the sexy cover image of Megan Fox, it turns out to be a bait and switch as the July issue of Wizard magazine really has an interview with Transformers 2 star Shia LaBeouf. In the published Q&A session, he discusses working on the film, his hand injury, and working with Megan Fox. Here are a few questions and answers but you can view the entire article by clicking the images below. The issue is on newsstands and at comic book stores now.
When you think of working with Megan Fox for this movie, is there one particular moment that comes to mind?
Yes, absolutely. I remember we were going to film on a battleship carrier...these dudes are sent away from land for six months and [longer]. Have not seen a female specimen such as Megan for quite a while. Megan Fox and "Transformers" shows up on a boat full of men that are trippin' balls. They don't give a f--- about Transformers! They just care about Megan Fox being on the ship. She had to stay in the captain's quarters. And there's only one captain's quarters... It's not like dudes are losing their mind to the point of being rude or anything like that, it's just quiet looks from across the room. Megan's...dealing with it like a champ.
How did they incorporate [the hand injury]?
Well, Sam actually injures his hand in the midst of transit. Basically, you got people falling out of the sky in the middle of a transportation called the Space Bridge, which was written in the script before my injury ever happened. You don't spend much time on it; you don't dwell on it. It's dealt with the way that injuries have been dealt with before [during film productions].
TFormers has found two more TV spots called Wanted and Mystery. Mystery appears to be the one that site readers reported seeing on Monday with Lennox getting a few lines. To find all the trailers and TV spots, just scroll towards the bottom of the left hand column. The numbering is mostly arbitary and based on release order. Thanks to Mauricio for the heads-up.
Below is a new trailer that started airing yesterday. It uses a lot of scenes already seen before but includes one extra element, which is the reveal that Jetfire's cane transforms into an axe. The TrailerAddict copy is here, below is the YouTube copy from TransFansMovie. Thanks to Adrien, David and Brian for the links.
Update: The previous copy was removed by the user but fortunately Michael uploaded a better copy for our enjoyment.
Earlier there was a hi-res picture of The Fallen and now from TFG2 is the below concept art for the character. Not sure where they got it from but it is pretty slick looking.
Below is a newsclip that talks about the new LG Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen promotion and includes a bit of the commercial that started airing yesterday. Also here is a link to information on the LG contest that is probably Malaysia specific but it wouldn't surprise me if something similar is done for each region. Thanks to Brian for the links.
In addition to the commercial, LG has also launched its tie-in website that focuses on NEST. The site has N.E.S.T. Missions (entering a fake number works), contest, a mobile game, trailers, wallpaper, ringtones, and more. Thanks to Ricky for the link.
The Arker has posted a few more images of Transformers 2 toys in their packaging including the card backing for Deluxe Gears and Swerve. Gears is a repaint of Stockade and Swerve is a repaint of Sideswipe so neither is in the movie.
Deluxe Swerve Bio
Swerve is highly intelligent, though you wouldn't know it to watch him drive. His duties as a metallurgist and fabricator for the Autobots expose him to a lot of toxic chemicals, which his circuits have been constantly exposted to for years. He has trouble holding a straight line as a result. The other Autobots prefer to keep him far away from battle since he aims about as well as he drives.Deluxe Gears Bio
If there's a negative angle to be found in any situation, Gears will find it. It's not that he's a miserable guy, or even that he's unhappy on Earth. He just really likes complaining. Nothing makes him happier than having something to grip about. The other Autobots actually find his complaining funny, rather than annoying, which is part of the reason he keeps on doing it.
Kmart and 7-Eleven both announced that they have formed a partnership with Paramount to promote Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Kmart's promotion includes a website, a Father's Day promotion, and Transformers related merchandise. 7-Eleven's promotion is a Bumblebee Blast Slurpee, 3D cups, mug, straws, and contest. Below are snippets of their press releases.
Kmart® Celebrates the Theatrical Release of “TRANSFORMERS: Revenge of the Fallen” with Multi-Dimensional Marketing Partnership
HOFFMAN ESTATES, IL (May 26, 2009) - Kmart® announced today its upcoming multi-channel entertainment marketing promotion supporting the June 24 release of “TRANSFORMERS: Revenge of the Fallen” from DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures, in association with Hasbro, Inc. The promotion launches June 7 and runs through July 4, 2009.
The program kicks-off with Kmart’s most robust Father’s Day promotion to date; themed to the film. Beginning June 7th through Father’s Day on June 21st, Kmart will encourage consumers to “TRANSFORM YOUR DAD” with a variety of merchandise and will offer 2 free movie tickets to see “TRANSFORMERS: Revenge of the Fallen” with a $50 menswear purchase, exclusions apply.
Kmart is supporting the promotion with a national television spot (in both English and Spanish) highlighting men’s apparel, the movie ticket offer and the film. The micro-site (www.kmart.com/transformers) is where consumers can redeem codes for movie tickets, download “TRANSFORMERS: Revenge of the Fallen”-themed content, watch movie trailers and purchase TRANSFORMERS merchandise.
For the second half of the promotion, June 22 – July 4, Kmart teamed-up with Hasbro to create a dedicated Transformers destination boutique. “Headquarters for TRANSFORMERS will be located in the front of each Kmart retail location and will house everything TRANSFORMERS: toys, video games, men’s and boy’s apparel, bedding, and much more.
7-Eleven®’s Superhero Summer Continues with Tie-in to Much-Awaited TRANSFORMERS Movie Sequel
DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--It’s summertime, which means it’s superhero time – on the big screen and at 7-Eleven® stores. This month, 7-Eleven celebrates the much anticipated next installment of the TRANSFORMERS movie franchise by rolling out the new BUMBLEBEE Blast Slurpee® flavor, collectible 3D cups and a refillable mug, character-straws and an online sweepstakes. The film “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” from DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures, in association with Hasbro, Inc., debuts in theaters June 24.
According to Deadline Hollywood, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is tracking so well that it is entirely feasible that it could make as high as $175 million on its opening five-day week.
Paramount is gonna call me screaming any moment. But rival studios are telling me they expect Transformers 2: Revenge Of The Fallen to open with a high of $175M for its 5-day opening from Wednesday, June 24 to Sunday, June 28. Because the sequel came onto tracking HUGE today. Paramount will try to lower expectations. But here's what can't be argued: Spider-Man 2 opened on Wednesday, June 30, 2004, and did $152 million for its first 5 days. So Transformers 2 feels like at least it should be in the $160+M range.Why would Paramount want lower expectations? The main reason is to shoot for good press. The first weekend box office results will either lead with Transformers exceeded or failed to meet expectation. Obviousily the studio wants to encourage the more positive story and the best way to do that is low ball their expectations. Thanks to Jace for the link.
From TFormers, below is a 1200x511 image (click to view) of The Fallen from Transformers 2. It is the same image that MTV posted, just in high resolution and lets you get a much better look at the character in his CGI glory. Especially note how much his face is clearly modeled on the Decepticon logo.
It turns out that the IMAX Theatre in Sydney has put up the pre-order for IMAX tickets for the first week starting with the 12:01am showing on June 24th. Click here to make your purchase. For the states the expected pre-sell date is still June 10th but be sure to check your local theatre to confirm. Thanks to Phil for the info.
In an interview/sales pitch with MTV's video game blog, Shia Labeouf, Megan Fox and Peter Cullen talk about Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen The Game. Thanks to Ricky for the link.
ET today advertised that tomorrow they will have an exclusive peak at Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and interview Megan Fox and Shia LaBeouf. Thanks to Katie for the info.
In an interview with MTV before the Movie Awards, Bay indicated when the film would be completed, "I’m a little stressed because I’m finishing the movie tomorrow. Maybe Wednesday.” This goes along with Nelson's post yesterday saying that Bay went straight from the awards to the studio to finished work.
The reason for the time crunch is the planned world premiere of the movie in Tokyo on June 8th followed by the release in the UK on June 19th. There has to be time to create at least one print of the film for the premiere and plenty of time to start cranking out prints for thousands of theatres worldwide for the nearly global launch around June 24th. Thanks to G0M3Z for the link.
Below are new pictures from the White Sands, New Mexico set from last year that shows off Sideswipe, Ironhide, Bumblebee, Ratchet, and a big ass tank. Thanks to Tomato and his friend for providing the pictures.
Cineplex.com has posted an interview with Shia Labeouf from their cover story for Famous Magazine's June issue where he discusses filming Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Below are choice snippets and the full article is here. Thanks to Katie for the link.
“Mike has been better this time, he’s more comfortable and he’s doing different stuff,” says LaBeouf, looking buff but for the cast on his broken hand, during an interview in Los Angeles last autumn. “It’s wild to watch Mike grow up and to acknowledge it. Every filmmaker, every movie out, something changes. You either gain something or you lose something, and I think this time Mike has gained a lot. I also think working with Steven is really transforming Mike. His preparation is very different on this one than it was on the first one.”
[Regarding request for Megan to gain some weight] “Megan Fox is gorgeous, still,” LaBeouf gallantly affirms. “And no, I didn’t think she was too skinny when she came back to do this. Megan has never looked bad. There’s always something that Michael says, but he’s been good.”
“It’s bigger, faster and stronger than what we did the first time,” he says. “We’re blowing everything up. I was just at Holloman Air Force Base, where we blew up an entire town! There are new characters that are interesting. Our banter is fast and it’s fun, it’s table tennis.”
“There’s cool stuff that happens to Sam. Sam starts to lose his mind. He starts having visions of his grandfather, Archibald Witwicky, and that’s fun to play around with. And recess time with John Turturro [who plays the addled fed constantly at odds with Sam] is always fun…. It’s like Groundlings Theater,” LaBeouf says, referencing the L.A. comedy troupe whose alumni include Will Ferrell and Lisa Kudrow. “You’re ad libbing all day long. One of the beautiful things about Mike is that he’ll allow it. You can do free-form thought the whole day.”
Spoiler-TV found some promo pictures for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen that I don't recall seeing before. A few are movie stills but most are focused on the cast and the cars. Below are a few that I shrunk a bit from the originals and an additional five can be found here. Thanks to G0M3Z for the link.
Last night was the MTV Movie Awards and with it was the premiere of the first publically available clip from the movie that takes place in Egypt as Sam and Mikaela try to hide from Long Haul, Ravage, Starscream and other Decepticons. In addition a new commercial aired that is the New Divide spot from the other day but now in HD.
In relation to the clip, Nelson on the Bay site posted:
Just spoke to Bay... he left the MTV Awards immediately after presenting and is headed to work at the soundstage to finish mixing the audio. He's been working 7 days a week up until 12am finishing the movie. It's gonna be down to the wire. He also indicated that the demand for theater prints of this movie is insane. He also wanted me to let you guys know he will start posting soon as time becomes available.Viacom is pulling the clip all over the place so view it while you can as now have it from Trailer Addict, seems silly not to use this to promote the movie, don't get it. Thanks to GMak for the find. Also thanks to ghola_tleilaxu click here to download the clip.
Thanks to Carnivac, below is the front and back view of the Autobots and Decepticon covers for the Nintendo DS version of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen The Game. The covers are from the UK release of the game but I am betting the only difference between regions (other than language) will be the rating box. The game is coming out the day of the movie, June 24th.
Yesterday, during the Botcon Awards (no idea who won what), Michael Bay himself introduced clips from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Cool move on his part since he didn't have to make the trip. Sadly no video but below is the description from Seibertron.com. Spoiler warning. Thanks to G0M3Z for the heads-up.
With our anticipation at its highest level, the attendees of Botcon roared into cheer as the first clip of the movie started. The footage started with John Turturro and Sam's roomate in the middle of a construction zone looking on to a group of construction vehicles surround them. The constructicons were revealed when Mixmasters Decepticon symbol is shown and Scavenger begins to transform. At the same time the other constructicons move closer to form Devastator!!!
Scavenger literally forces all the other constructicons into the gestalt ala Scorpion in Mortal Kombat [I think he means that "Come Here!" with chain grab move - ed]. Tuturro then runs with Sam's roomate when the scene cuts to Sam and Mikaela running from Rampage.
Rampage begins chasing Sam's father when Sam jumps in front of him to draw his attention. Sam then says "Wait, it's not them you want. It's this, the MATRIX!" He then holds up an item and continues to coax Rampage when Bumblebee arrives. The battle begins.
Rampage and Bumblebee fight ferociously with Bumblebee getting the better of Rampage when Ravage enters the fray. Using his hip cannons he blasts Bee and jumps on his back. Bumblebee then forces Rampage to the ground when Rampage lunges for Sam and takes Ravage and tears him apart piece by piece.
Bumblebee then rips Rampage's arm off and decapitates him.
Day two at Botcon 2009 has ended and below are links to galleries and panel summaries that may interest you including costumes, custom TF toys, the Activision panel, IDW panel and Weird Al appearance.
Hasbro Review Panel
A look at upcoming products and exclusives that include a ROTF Voyager Fallen on Fire exclusive for Target. Toys R Us exclusives will include ROTF Battle Pack (G1 Soundwave with 1st movie Megatron), G1 Insecticons and G1 Percepter (i.e. recreated mold from 25 years ago). Wal-Mart will get Masterpiece Skywarp, which will look more like its cartoon counterpart then the Japanese release. Additional ROTF toys are also in the works including Bludgeon, Jungle Attack Ironhide (with bumper that transformers into crossbow, knives, etc), and new Human Alliance Barricade with Frenzy (that sites in the vehicle).
Costume Showcase
What is a convention without people in costume? Click the link for a gallery of pictures of various costumes including Animated Arcee (above), movie Bumblebee, movie Jazz, G1 Grimlock, Frenzy puppet, and more.
Custom Transformers (also here)
A huge gallery of fans created Transformers, environments, repaints and more. An example is the picture here of Tetrajet Sunstorm whose alt mode is inspired by the Cybertronian mode of the Seekers in the very first G1 cartoon from 25 years ago.
IDW Publishing Panel
Preview of art from future comics such as Spotlight: Cliffhanger and Metroplex, upcoming issue of All Hail Megatron, and maybe a Transformers: Animated comic book.
Activision Video Game Panel
Q&A session about the video game. No new information was released. Discussion focused on features of the game, achievement system, confirmation that Devastator was not playable character, about 100 hours of music just for the game, and more.
Weird Al and David Kaye Panel
A Q&A session with Weird Al Yankovic (who should need no introduction also played Wreck Gar in TF Animated) and David Kaye (Prime in TF Animated, Megatron in Beast Wars and Beast Machines, and much more). They discussed doing work on Transformers: Animated, voice work, and various other topics.
Update: Three more galleries for you enjoyment. One is for the dealer room that shows off all kinds of Transformers goodies over the years and the other two are from the Paramount Party that sorta closed off Botcon (same one that aired the TF footage) with appearances by Tyrese (with Ratchet), Peter Cullen, Weird Al, Stan Bush, and more. One of these years I will actually get to go to one.
Dealer Room
Paramount Party I
Paramount Party II
Yesterday was the season finale of Britain's Got Talent. That is the show that introduced the world to Susan Boyle. Well it turns out she actually lot the competition to Diversity, a dance group. So why care? The music they danced to has the Transformer transformation sound playing throughout it. Transformers for the win. Below is their performance, click here for Susan Boyle's reprisal of "I Dreamed A Dream", and here for announcement of the winner. Thanks to Sean for the heads-up.
Botcon continues and with it comes lots of images of Transformer toys both past and present. One of the best is the "Holy Grail" of Transformers toys - the original G1 Unicron that was created with the first movie but not released for obvious reasons (other than cost). In addition, there are pictures of Supreme Devastator (the $100 one) that shows him from multiple angles and his component Constructicons (that do not have a robot mode). In addition, Hasbro is previewing the San Diego Comic-Con special edition re=release of G1 Soundwave with Laserbeak, Ravage, Rat Bat and Buzzsaw (me wants). Other galleries include Revenge of the Fallen toys and Animated toys.
Marvel Vault Unicron - includes immages of SDCC Soundwave and Robot Heroes
G1 Unicron - Another gallery of this rare Transformer.
Supreme Devastator
SDCC Soundwave and RoTF Ravage - Another gallery of the toy.
Transformers: Animated - A last look at the now defunct toy line that includes some repaints that probably will not be released.
Revenge of the Fallen Display - A look at the first wave of toys from the movie.
TFW2005 found a video that shows off a mobile game for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The game appears to be a side-scroller that reminds me of 16-bit graphics. The video shows playable characters of Optimus Prime and Bumblebee with transformation mode that plays apart in moving through the levels. Boss fights include Starscream, The Fallen and Devastator. Don't know when it comes out or at what price.
Below is a TV spot called Destiny 30 from linkinparktv that is the bands official YouTube channel. It uses their new song New Divide as the background music for the entire spot. I don't know if this an official edit or not. Thanks to Joseph for the link.
At Botcon's first day, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman participated in a question and answer session about Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen that provides few bits of new information. Highlights below, the full breakdown is here. Picture from here.
- Before the strike, only has a 20 page outline.
- Immediately after the strike Bay locked the three writers into hotels room to get a shooting script ready as shooting started four months later.
- Shia's damaged hand (due to a car accident) does not appear until the third act and writing it into the film was difficult.
- Did not rule out an appearance of Unicron or Primus in the franchise
(They have indicated in past interviews they don't rule out anything until they actually start writing a script so that answer doesn't mean a whole lot).
- When asked if the Matrix of Leadership was in the movie (as indicated in the adaptations), they replied "That's a very good question!"
- Various combiners show up unexpectedly, with no buildup.
- The Twins are mostly comic relief. Their ice cream truck mode plays a key plot point in the movie (Not in any adaptations I read).
- Hasbro pretty much gave the writers carte blanche and only offered suggestions the characters. Writers went through Transformers school (which Bay did for the first movie) that provided them with character development and story direction.
- Many characters in the sequel the writers wanted for the first but did not make the cut.
Botcon has started its full first day of Transformers festivities. For those that couldn't be there, here is a few links and summaries of the information learned at the panels.
G1 Matrix of Leadership Set
- Not really Botcon news, but the 16 DVD box set of the entire G1 television series is set for release on July 13, 2009 with a price of $140.00 USD.
- Set includes interviews, featurettes, concept art, toy commercials, scripts and a 60 page booklet. Click link above for more info.
Music of the Transformers Panel
- Panel with Vince DiCola and Stan Bush who provided music for animated Transformers: The Movie.
- Dicola was "hurt" he didn't get to contribute to the current films but has respect for Steve Jablonski. Also felt that a "marriage of the orchestral and the techno" would have been better fit musically.
- "Two new toys from Hasbro will feature a '07 re-record of the Touch" (not sure what that means)
- Both plan on working on new albums for release later this year.
Transformers: Animated Panel
- As suspected, the just finished third season of the show is its last and the series and line has been cancelled (so if holding out, better pick up the toys while can).
- Panel was mostly animated shorts and character profiles.
- Sadly no specifics on what info on the creation process or fan questions.
Transformers Collectors Club Toy Gallery
- As part of Botcon, there is was release of toys specific to the club (which costs $35 I think to join). Only members can order the toys.
- The toys are generally repaints of Animated toys, click the link to view.
As part of the prep for the MTV Movie Awards (this Sunday at 9PM est), Shia LaBeouf explains Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and talks about its scale and visuals. The video includes clips from the movie, including "first look" at The Fallen that we have not seen before. Thanks to Grant for the link and the screenshot. The MTV Movie Awards should have new Revenge of the Fallen footage (but for all we know could be the Bumblebee/Shia college scene again). Hopefully the footage will appear online shortly after it airs.
Scorpio has found three new toy galleries.
First is the Legends Devastator display taken by ACToys that shows the assembled Devastator. If you look behind him to the right you can see them individual Constructicons in their packaging, in English, that seems to provide verification of US release of the toys. To the right, you can see G1 Devastator components in Japanese packaging (love their use of boxes over peg hooks). Based on the size, these are probably mini-figures that were released stateside as a KB Toys exclusive in 2007.
Next up is a large gallery of Scout class Ejector the toaster. We previously saw the toy in his packaging but this time he is loose and being shown at all the angles and compared with other scout class toys. He is rather ugly but I just love it when Transformers are based on real world objects. The full gallery is here.
Brian found the below amusing video of "I'd See it If...The Movie Trailer Review Show" that decided to analyze the first Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen trailer and compare it to his other movies based on four measurements - explosions, words spoken, seconds of hot chicks, and vehicles destroyed. Their comparisons resulted in the "discovery" of The Michael Bay Coefficient (MBC) which "measures the Michael Bay-ness of a particular Michael Bay movie based on the Michael Bay trailer". I do believe that MBC should be the new measurement of all things Bay.
Sadly MSN blocks embeding on blogger so click here to view.
Based on various Transformer forums, the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen toy line is now on sale in the states but your local mileage may vary. Depending on location, Wal-Mart either started selling the toys at midnight last night, 5PM today or midnight Saturday. Brian (who also provided the pics) reports to me that Target has already started selling the toys. No news yet on Toys R Us but I imagine they will not start until tomorrow morning. GeneralTekno informs me via Twitter that Toys R Us Canada is selling the toys as of today.
Also TFormers is reporting that Hasbro Toy Store is selling the toys with free shipping for orders over $50 by using the code FALLEN.
The pic above is "Bumble Spud" based off of Mr. Potato Head line. Below is part of the display, next to that is Voyager Prime with pretty dark colors and chinese markings, and the last is another part of the display along with a toy laptop of sorts. Have fun emptying your wallets!
The official website for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen has been updated. The site now sports a Bumblebee background, 100 hundreds of fan art and photos to vote on, and movie rating to PG-13. As a site reader pointed, that designation actually started appearing the TV spots a few weeks ago. Thanks to Florian for the heads-up.
As part of the international marketing for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, a UK based website called Transformers Choose Your Side has launched. Interestingly enough the site is set up for five different countries which you can choose by clicking the flag above Bumblebee. The countries are USA, United Kingdom, Australia, France, and Germany. The content it self remains the same but interesting to see the same site in different languages or cultures (like the date order).
The fan site invites visitors to express their allegiance to either Autobots or Decepticons, through a variety of creative and compelling content including site skins for Twitter, Myspace and bebo, desktop downloads and a profile pic creator. The ‘transmitter’ and ‘banner builder’ are two personalised applications that you can embed on your social network, blog or site to deliver the latest news about the movie direct to you and your subscribers.By default the website opens to the Autbot-centric content, but just click the link at the bottom to switch to the Decepticon stuff.
Botcon started today in Pasadena, California and for those lucky attendees they will get a chance to look at and probably purchase toys from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen toy line. To mark the occasion, Hasbro has issued a press release. For the rest of us, you will just have to make do with the gallery of 112 Hasbro provided images here. At least until the official release date of Saturday morning.
PAWTUCKET, R.I.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The 2009 TRANSFORMERS fan convention, which is in Pasadena on May 28 to 31, is destined to be one of the biggest and most exciting TRANSFORMERS gatherings ever! In addition to celebrating Hasbro’s TRANSFORMERS brand’s 25th anniversary and anticipating the June 24th debut of DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, new toys and merchandise from the second movie in the franchise go on-sale from coast to coast beginning Saturday morning, May 30th.
The convention, which is known as “BotCon” (with syllables taken from the two TRANSFORMERS factions AUTOBOTS and DECEPTICONS), is annually the largest official gathering of TRANSFORMERS fans in the world and is open to both TRANSFORMERS collectors and non-collectors — and the young and young-at-heart.
BotCon will be held at the Pasadena Convention Center located at 300 East Green Street in Pasadena, Calif., and will be open to the public on May 30 – 31. Special activities are planned on May 28 – 29 for attendees who purchase multi-day packages.
On Saturday, May 30th, kids ages 5 to 14 will be able to participate in the TRANSFORMERS Challenge, which will award prizes based on how quickly kids can convert TRANSFORMERS toys from robot mode to vehicle mode. Kids may qualify in the preliminary round from 9:30 a.m. to 11:15 a.m., with the fastest competitors moving on to the semi-final and final rounds that will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. All kids participating will receive a TRANSFORMERS toy, and the fastest kids in both the senior and junior age division will receive a HasbroToyShop.com gift card worth $500. Official rules are posted on www.BotCon.com.
Additionally, BotCon attendees will have the opportunity to learn how to draw TRANSFORMERS characters from Hasbro’s designers, see toys in the new 2009 TRANSFORMERS toy line, buy, sell, and trade TRANSFORMERS toys from throughout the franchise’s 25-year history at more than 200 tables of merchandise, and attend panel discussions and seminars led by TRANSFORMERS experts. Special activities for kids will be held throughout the weekend in the Hasbro booth.
For fans not able to make it to southern California this weekend, they can head to their favorite toy retailer and be among the first to purchase the new toys based on the upcoming movie TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN.
Site reader Ally reports that her local theatre will start the pre-sale of Transformer tickets next week rather than the June 10th release date.
I just wanted to give you heads up that my local movie theater is selling Transformers tickets as early as next Friday so who knows when they are going to be going on sale in other areas. Maybe you should have a memo or something to alert other fans to check their local movie theater as well =).Just as she advises, be sure to check your local theatre in the next week or so as each chain may have their own pre-order policies and dates.
MichaelBay.com has revealed the official track list for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Soundtrack. Thanks to commanderalphanl for the link.
Burbank, CA - Warner Bros. Records will release the soundtrack to the hotly anticipated feature film Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen on June 23rd — the day before the film, the sequel to the 2007 Oscar-nominated summer blockbuster Transformers , hits theaters nationwide.
The film's director and executive producer Michael Bay asked Warner Bros. Records' multiplatinum rock band Linkin Park to provide the sonic backdrop to the live-action robot fantasy film. Not only did the band write and record the film's theme song, entitled "New Divide," specifically for the soundtrack, they were also asked by Bay, Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer, and award-winning composer Steve Jablonsky to contribute to the score. "New Divide" is currently available for purchase on iTunes.
Transfomers: Revenge of the Fallen: The Album also features music from Green Day (who contribute "21 Guns" — a song from their new album 21st Century Breakdown), Taking Back Sunday, The Used , The All-American Rejects, Cavo, The Fray, Staind, Nickelback, Cheap Trick and more.
In addition to the original soundtrack, Warner Bros will be releasing Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: The Score, which will also be released on June 23rd.
The track listing for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: The Album is as follows:
1. Linkin Park "New Divide"
2. Green Day "21 Guns"
3. Cavo "Let It Go"
4. Taking Back Sunday "Capital M-E"
5. The Fray "Never Say Never"
6. Nickelback "Burn It To The Ground"
7. The Used "Burning Down The House"
8. Theory Of A Deadman "Not Meant To Be"
9. The All-American Rejects "Real World"
10. Hoobastank "Don't Think I Love"
11. Staind "This Is It"
12. Avenged Sevenfold "Almost Easy"
13. Cheap Trick "Transformers™ The Fallen Remix"
Gametrailers.com has posted another video for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen The Game, this time focusing on Peter Cullen (Prime) and Frank Welker (Megatron) as they discuss working on the game. The video includes footage of Prime and Megatron and new shot of Devastator. Thanks to commanderalphanl for the link.
From Joystiq, a video that shows off multiplayer game play from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen The Game along with comments from the developers. The footage includes Optimus, Ironhide, Starscream and many others as they tear into each other.
Yesterday we saw the artwork of what the combined mode of Optimus Prime and Jetfire could look like and now today, as found by S250, here is the CGI version of the mode along with Constructicon Mixmaster. Overall it look extremely powerfully by giving Optimus an armored look complete with jetpack for flying. Thanks to Simbatron and Thirston for the heads-up.
Update: Here are the original links to JetPrime and Mixmaster pics on TFG2.com as they had the images first. Thanks to lonegamer for the links.
Thanks to site reader Luis, below are some pictures he snapped with his camera phone of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen posters that showed up at Sports Authority. They retail for $5.99 and show off Bumblebee, Megatron, and the main Autobot and Decepticon characters. Probably just a matter of time before they show up everywhere.
K-Mart Australia has a Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Guide Book that shows off the first wave of toys for the movie. It includes brief character profiles and images of the toys. The guide can be found here or the PDF version here. Note the prices are in AU values. Thanks to Andrew for the link.
Also I have read that Wal-Mart may start offering the toys starting 5PM on Friday but that has not been confirmed.
dorfsquest over at TFW2005 has posted a sneak peak at the Burger King's plans for their promotion with Transforrmers: Revenge of the Fallen that starts June 22nd. The 8 Kids Meal toys oddly enough do not seem to actually transform. As for the "Stacticon", it turns out it is a double cheeseburger with BBQ Sauce and bacon. Seems like it will be pretty good.
Joystiq.com has posted a hands-on preview of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen The Game along with additional screenshots. For those going to Botcon this weekend, there will be a playable build of the game for attendees but bring something to read for the long lines.
The article describes a tutorial in single-player mode with Starscream or Ironhide as your teacher depending on faction choice that covers the basics of control, targeting, and so forth. One complaint they cited was that transformation is not just clicking a button, instead you have to hold down a button. As long as holding it, you’re in vehicle mode, let go and your back to robot mode which can be a problem during certain game moments.
Each character has a primary weapon, secondary weapon and special ability that are toggled through by hitting the left trigger. The special abilities attempt to reflect the character so Ratchet can heal nearby troops, Prime can take damage for others, Megatron can instant kill and Ironhide fires automatic rocket fire.
First player objectives vary depending on faction. For example the first level objective was to kidnap scientists (by smashing their building) and taking them to a pin. Multi-player mode has a 4 v 4 battle (which I assume will be online also) that seems balanced. For example tiny Bumblebee can hold his own against Grindor because of his speed allows him to dodge attacks and do quick hit and runs. Other modes include Deathmatch (Autobots vs. Decepticons), control points and capture the flag. Of note is death now has a time penalty in returning to the action as have to wait for a countdown and them plummet to the ground as a meteor before rejoining the fight.
Ironically, the most improved part of the game are the transformations, which look terrific. If you jump off a building and transform into an auto or a jet on the way down, you'll either hit the ground with wheels screeching, or rocket off into the sky -- pretty thrilling stuff. A couple of the characters, like Sideways, are armed with sniper rifles, allowing you to grab a good vantage point and take a few shots before zooming off to a new spot. Translation: kablam, transform, roll out, transform, shoot again.
In an article from Stars and Stripes, Transformers 2 "beat" G.I. Joe when it came to securing support from the Department of Defense in terms of volume of assistance in terms of equipment, personnel and sites. It is an interesting article but parsing it the DoD was not playing favorites, Transformers 2 just made greater use of the military possibilities then G.I. Joe, probably due to the greater experience of Bay and his team. The full article is here.
“They wanted MRAPs just at the time Secretary Gates made a decision that emphasis would be placed on getting MRAPs to the combat zone as quickly as possible, so unfortunately we couldn’t help them with that,” Ogilvie said.
That pretty much ended the conversation until much later, when filmmakers asked and received permission to film at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., he said.
Meanwhile, the “Transformers” filmmakers had been allowed to film helicopters, tanks, a submarine and an aircraft carrier, said Philip M. Strub, director of entertainment media.
The disparity does not mean “Transformers” painted a more flattering portrayal of the U.S. military than does “G.I. Joe,” Strub said.
“The difference has less to do — in many respects — with us than the filmmakers,” he said. “I mean I think in the case of ‘G.I. Joe,’ looking back, I think we feel that the filmmakers belatedly realized that we could have provided more support.”
In contrast, Strub persuaded the “Transformers” filmmakers to include the Navy and Marine Corps in their portrayal of the military so that the Defense Department could give them more stuff to use, he said.
IDW has posted five pages for the next issue of Transformers: RoTF Adaptation #3 issue that is coming out next Wednesday. Issue 2 comes out tomorrow or info suggests that the entire trade may already be available at Target. The preview is here. The best part is the cover by Josh Nizzi (who designed Long Haul for the movie) that shows the merge of Optimus Prime with Jetfire that looks fantastic. While I wasn't impressed with the toy, I am looking forward to the CGI look of the combined mode. Thanks to Diego for the heads-up. Oops, removed the prequel references.
It looks like the Transformers 2 marketing campaign that started at the Luxor, moved to an LA building and now in New York City with a billboard of Optimus Prime on Broadway and East Houston Street. Thanks to Josh for taking and providing the picture.
Attendees to the LA Film Festival that runs from June 18th-28th will have a chance to see Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen a few days before anyone else, assuming you have enough money anyway. According the emailed flyer, tickets are exclusive to Fast Pass ($1000-$800), Industry Pass ($600-$500), and Discovery Pass ($300-$400) holders attending the festival. Exact date, time and location for the movie was not provided but festival tickets start going on sale May 29th at 10AM. For details hit LAFilmFest.com. Thanks to Sergio for the info.
Gamespot has posted an interview with Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen The Game Creative Director Chris Tremmel. He discusses the multi-player mode of the upcoming game and its various play modes. Of note is the continued Blackout vs. Grindor debate, this time with a tick for the Grindor side as that is how the character is referenced in the interview. Thanks to Adam for the link.
Marco found an interesting theory regarding The Twins on IMDB.com (usually not all that reliable for unreleased films).
"The AutoboTwins were each specially designed to as a reflection/half of the other: Skids has an oversized left arm/eye and Mudflap has an oversized right arm/eye; Skids's face is composed of the top part of the Autobot face and Mudflap's face is composed of the bottom part; and both their feet are of the same mould."Marco took the two face images of Skids and Mudflaps and superimposed them on each other. Result is rather interesting and seems to prove that they are reflections of each other.
Here are two more trailers that combine various Transformers trailers and TV spots that combined with solid music results in re-edits as good, if not better, then the orginials.
The first was found by RY and does a great job of editing to the music (which kicks in at the 1:29 mark) and the second one was created by TIMtationX and combines clips from the first and second movie together for one trailer. For the second video below, the song is Let It rock by Kevin Rudolf featuring Lil Wayne (thanks Scott for the info).
Its seems that a few Transformer galleries have popped up online. Except for the awesome picture of Optimus Prime from Collider, most are not really new. I was aware of the Prime pic yesterday but was hoping that was an indication that more "exclusive" images would pop up on other sites but that didn't happen. Here are a few galleries that people have found. Thanks to commanderalphanl, skidz180, Scorpio, Thirston, Ronnie, and others for the links.
German site Widescreen Vision has posted an interview with Transformers 2 star Megan Fox. Below are a few segments from the article. The site is in German so click here to read it as translated by Google. Since a computer translation, it can be a somewhat choppy but good enough to get the point. Thanks to Michael for the find and the translation link.
The first part presents itself as a vehicle Mikaela trained Schrauberin. If it is this passion in Transformers 2 continue to go after? [I think this is asking, "does the character continue her passion for cars?"]
Yes, it works in the continuation in a motorcycle shop, repaired Ducatis. I have in the film in several scenes Motorradfahren [ride motorcycles?] what I did in fact can not. During the filming, I was always accelerate from behind (laughs).
[gist: I have several scenes where I ride motorcycle but is not me as I don't know how.]
How has your life changed since the success of Transformers?
It is mad: Before Transformers I had never seen a proper film. I was an absolute greenhorn and paniced before every scene. Sometimes I stood around like petrifies and brought no word out (laughs). Meanwhile, the course changed. A big change for me was also that I suddenly the whole world as well. Before I owned Transformers not even passport.
[gist: I had no film experience...sometimes to scared too speak...got to travel the whole word...didn't own a passport before movie]
Transformers - The Revenge was filmed in Egypt and others. How did you like it?
The pryamids are the hammer! They told me that we have the first film crew since 1930which here was allowed to rotate on the spot. I do not know if that's true, but nevertheless, this location is something special for me. I spoke with Scott Farrar, our special effects man of ILM, that the pyramids is one of the last great mysteries of our planet. Until today we do not know exactly how they are in front of thousands of years have been built - with simple ropes and tree trunks. Unbelievable!
[gist: amazing that pyramids have stood for thousands of years and even today we are not sure how they built them]
Is it true that you had to grow Transformers 2? [Did you have to gain weight for the movie?]
Yes, but only because I, for my previous film Jennifer's Body had removed 15 pounds. I was downright skinny, it was no longer healthy. Michael Bay has given me therefore a cake diet prescribed. The best diet that I've done. (laughs)
[gist: Using a cake diet prescribed by Bay, I regained the 15 pounds I lost for my previous movie.]
Which is your favorite Transformer?
Devastator. The guy just destroyed everything around them.
[gist: I like destruction on a massive scale :P ]
Thanks to Mike and the quick thinking of his six year old son, here is a better quality recording then before of the fifth TV spot for Transformers 2. Also thanks for letting me know. The direct link is here or view below. Hopefully soon the HD versions will be released by the studio, surprised that hasn't happened yet.
Activision as released a new trailer for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen video game that shows off some game play and lots of cinematic. The trailer is named "One Shall Stand" for the famous line (at least for Transfans) from the animated movie. Below is the embed or a larger version is here. Thanks to Scalan15 for the link.
M&Ms has updated its website (a week late) for their tie-in promotion with Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The content is noted with colored circles near clickable objects. Currently the site has the first trailer, trucker "translations", and trucking "missions" to unlock Transformers content with codes. Below are the codes I am using, no guarantee will work for all.
The first mission involved finding five symbols on a Transformer breastplate. The code I got t was 7DDM7 which opened up a PDF of various Transformers CGI images (a few below). One of them included "Blackout" which is adds fuel to the argument that the gray Decepticon fighting Optimus is that character resurrected. Also note the red M&M in Barricade costume.
The second mission was finding three symbols in YouTube videos. The code after that mission was 5XYZ7. The code provided four wallpapers of various screen resolutions of Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Starscream and Megatron along with their M&M counterpart.
The third mission is three trivia questions specific to the first movie. The code for that mission is 8TPM4. The last code provides T-Cube, a widget for the desktop that provides Transformers trivia.
The site also has a percentage that indicates the amount of "Strawberried Peanut Butter Candies" in a vault. I assume the higher the number, the more content that might become available.
Select Toys R Us stores are planning a preview night for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen toys for May 29th at 9:00pm according to MaxGoof. The toys themselves officially debut on May 30th. The list of stores participating can be found here.
AcToys has provided some close-up images of the upcoming Legends Devastator toy that has not been confirmed for stateside release but likely will be, exactly when is unknown. Sure it isn't as detailed as Supreme Devastator but if the price is right, it could be worth it. Thank to dinoraw and Scorpio for the links.
More toy images for your enjoyment. First up is a new scout class toy called Ejector that has the alt mode of a toaster. The toy looks like the robot used in the Mountain Dew commercial from last year but since there is a scene in the movie where kitchen appliances are altered by the AllSpark fragment it makes you wonder if he makes an appearance there too. The pictures are from The Arker with a few more on TFW2005.
In addition, if you’re interested in the Gravity Bots line and the related bios, a gallery of images can be found here. Thanks to Dinoraw, Scorpio and Katie for the links.
Scout Ejector Bio
Born mindless and driven by the heat pulsing in his tiny body, Ejector knows nothing but how to burn. Even when he was a simple toaster burning things was what he did best. Now that he's got a simple mind of his own, and flamethrowers to go with it, he lives to torch everything around him.
Toy World has posted scans of the July issue of a Hong Kong magazine called Figure King that featured an article on Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen toys, related merchandise and other Transformer plans such as Design Label and Alternity toys (stuff plan on starting to cover once the movie is released). Below are the pages I liked most and the full gallery is here. I am especially digging the Legends Devastator and while not a smoker I wouldn't mind having one of those lighters. Thanks to Phil for the link.
As hinted at in yesterday's Human Alliance Sideways images, The Arker has now posted their images of the Human Alliance Skids with Mikaela. Like the other toys, these are designed to allow the figure to fit in the car and on the robots shoulder. In addition, Mikaela can fit on Deluxe Arcee as a rider. Over all not bad looking. [via TFW2005]
Human Alliance Skids Bio
Autobot Skids likes to think of himself as pretty capable, but the fact is Mikaela is a better driver then he is. With her behind the wheel, and him concentrating on squeezing every last bit of power out of his engines, even the fastest, most powerful Decepticons have trouble keeping up.
Below is a fan made trailer for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The trailer was created by T-Ruff and seems to be a merge of the first two theatrical trailers and four TV spots. It does not include the new trailer and TV spot from this weekend which has not yet been released in HD. Thanks to T-Ruff for letting me know about it.
T-Ruff and others in the comments inform me that the song is "You Fight Me" by Breaking Benjamin from their Phobia album (this would be an example of how YouTube helps, not hurts, bands).
The Arker has posted a gallery of pictures of Human Alliance Sideswipe with Tech Sergeant Epps in packaging with bio. This version looks kind of like a bloated version of Deluxe Sideways as modifications were made to accommodate the Epps action figure. Also the packaging does confirm Human Alliance Skids with Mikaela set. Below is the bio and a few pics. The full gallery can be found here. I have no idea why the blurring effect was added to some of the images. Thanks to dinoraw, Elis, and Chris for the info.
Human Alliance Sideswipe and Epps
When Sideswipe arrive on Earth, he was a raw, untrained fighter, used to battling alone and outnumbered. He was teamed with Epps so the Tech Sergeant could whip him into shape as an effective member of the strike team led by Ironhide. The two have become good friends. In combat, Epps' combat-hardened instincts direct the speed and cunning of Sideswipe with devastating effectiveness.
Below is the review of Stratosphere. I thought I had already posted this for some reason but apparently not. Remember that while it has been suggested in the comics and novels that the plane makes an appearance in the movie, the character itself has not been confirmed as being part of the movie. Also the shuttle in the review has since been removed from the release version of the toy. Personally I will wait until clearance prices to consider buying. Thanks to Bruno for the link.
Toys R Us has started its pre-order page for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen toys that will officially be released nationwide on May 30th and revealed they will have a "secret action toy.”
Toys "R" Us will have even more great Transformers™ 2 toys to buy in the coming weeks and months including the mighty Devastator - so remember to keep checking back from time to time. A secret action toy will be released to pre-order on 30th May 2009.What toy could that be? I don't know but "therealeffingdeal" from the comments said "arcee supreme combiner...same category as devastator...it said pic available may 28 so this must be huge." I guess we will find out in three to five days.
It has been a really busy week in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen news so figured do a quick link fest for any stories people might have missed.
Trailers and TV Spots
Trailer #3 Bootleg - New trailer that is largely the second one with new scenes
TV Spots #2-4 in HD - Three news spots, all released on same day.
TV Spot #5 - New commercial that aired, includes longer look at Ravage
TF2 Info
Devastator Info - Article that confirms seven Constructicons and little info on complexity of creating him.
Twins Headshots - A look at Skids and Mudflaps heads in CGI
CGI Scrapper - A look at Scrapper and moment seen in the trailers
Ducati and Arcee - Article about Ducati cycles participating in movie and that Arcee is a combiner.
Michael Bay Profile - Article on Bay and his career with focus on Transformers 2
No Trilogy Plans - Interview with TF2 writers Orci and Kurtzman
"Spongebob" Joins Cast - Another Bay-centric article that reveals Tom Kenny joins voice cast, possibily as the Twins.
Tony Todd Cast - News that the actor will lend his voice to the movie, role unknown.
Posters and Images
IMAX Poster - Look at the new poster for the IMAX release of the movie.
LA Building Covered - Picture of an LA building covered in a large Optimus Prime poster
Tickets Pre-order - Heads-up that pre-order for RoTF tickets starts June 10th.
New Movie Stills - New images from the movie, mostly focused on the human cast and cars.
TF on Luxor - Update of the giantic Optimus poster on the Luxor in Las Vegas.
CGI Sideways and Stills - New images of the CGI model for Sideways and additional movie images.
Isabel Lucas and other Stills - Even more images, first look at Isabel Lucas as Alice.
Toy News
Supreme Devastator in Packaging - Pictures of the $100 toy.
Leader Jetfire Reviews - Video review of Jetfire and Jetfire combined with Optimus Prime
Voyager Long Haul Review - Video review of the Constructicon.
Voyager Long Haul in Packaging - Pictures and bio of the toy.
Voyager Grindor in Packaging - Pictures of the Blackout repaint.
Human Alliance #3 Toy - News that the Sideways with Epps is third alliance toy.
Video Games
Amazon Pre-order Bonus - Preview of the G1 Ironhide skin that is available from the site.
Neil Kaplan Cast - Voice actor for Long Haul and Protectobot in the game.
Soundtrack
Soundtrack Special Edition - Amazing is offering a special edition but no details
Tyrese, Jewel Duet Update - Sample of the new song that might be on Soundtrack, written by Babyface.
New Divide Premiere - Linkin Parks' single from the soundtrack released.
Misc
UK, Japan Release Dates Moved - Info that Japan and United Kingdom getting the movie almost a week earlier
"Bumblebee" Camaro Pre-Order - News that GM is producing a Bumblebee special edition of the Camaro
Prequel Issue #2 Preview - Five pages of the comic coming out on Wednesday
Viral Marketing Campaign - Info on three new sites related to the movie.
Movie Universe Preview - Few images of the upcoming book related to the movie.
Another TV spot has hit the airwaves. It is not yet in HD quality but hopefully Bay and co will release the high quality versions of the new trailer and this TV spot soon. Thanks to Kingsley, John and Mcat for the heads-up.
Also to the left is a new promotional picture from Megan Fox Online of Megan and Shia. I don't believe that is an Arcee bike they are sitting on as the Arcee bikes are custom Ducati cycles and that is an Aprilia model. Fox is hot but her lip injections have seriously thrown her face proportions off, I hope it isn't permanent.
Bethlehem Steel, a location used by Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen shoot has finished its conversion to a casino and opened this Friday according to the New York Times. The area was used by TF2 production as "Shanghai, China" when filming first started last June (click here for related articles). For reference, some of the scenes in the trailers involving Demolisher, Sideways and Arcee were shot there.
Sadly I had to disable all comments (which has the side effect of hiding existing ones). This is due to someone creating a macro that posted dozens of "Block Anonymous Comments" messages on the bootleg trailer post. When I disabled comments for that post, they moved on the Supreme Devastator post. The end result is had no choice but to cut them off entirely as I am not going to have my blog (or email) held hostage by children. I may re-enable them later. If I choose to disable anonymous comments is will because I decide it’s the best course of action, not because an idiot decides to create a macro to harass me into it.
In the meantime, please use the "Email" links on the left and right hand columns if you have any comments, tips, etc for the blog. I apologize for any problems. In the meantime, feel free to sign up for the Retro Reboot forums to discuss Transformers news.
Update: I am going to enable comments for a trial period. The reason I allow anonymous comments is most ease of use and log in on blogger is unrealiable. I know when I want to post a comments on sites I find it very annoying to have to go through hoops to do it so trying to avoid dong something I myself don't like. Why people take it personally that someone doesn't agree with them on minor story points is beyond my understanding. The idea is a mini community for people to discuss Transformers. So just do that.
Update 2: Well that didn't last long. Guess forced to give moderation a go. No idea how often comments will be posted but at least can start blocking "anti scorpio" (how childish can you be?) and others. This means I am enforcing a PG-13 rating on the comments now so even if good content but I judge it "R" rated then will reject. For most that probably will not be an issue since the excessive cussing and like came from the same folks forcing the moderation.
AcToys.net (found by S250) has posted the image of the Supreme class Devastator in its package from the Transformers 2 toy line. This toy is the $100 version that is comprised of six Constructicons (Mixmaster, Scrapper, Long Haul, Scavenger, Hightower, and Rampage) that form the gestalt but do not have individual robot modes. Of note is the toy is missing Overload which recent news indicates is an additional Constructicon used in the merge in the movie.
My best guess for the contradiction is Michael Bay and ILM have a plenty of room to make changes as they see fit for the move but Hasbro is locked in on design of the toys by about a year from the release date. So in this case, they had to finalize the design of Devastator around May of 2008 while Bay has had all that time in between to tweak the design as much as he wants. It would be a question worth asking at the Hasbro panel at Botcon next weekend.
Supreme Devastator Bio
The ultimate Decepticon weapon has arrive on Earth and nothing will ever the same. Constructicon Devastator is the biggest robot ever - towering above Autobots and Decepticons alike. As his Vortex Grinder snaps open and glows with power, all before him quake in fear, knowing their destruction is inevitable!
Amazon is currently offering bonuses if you pre-order the current gen versions of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen video game. The offer is a "Generation 1 Ironhide Unlockable" (for Playstation 3 or XBox 360) that repaints movie version of Ironhide in red with yellow touches.
Don't forget that Gamestop is also offering a bonus in the form of gold painted Optimus Prime and Megatron skins and a keychain. I also checked Toys R Us, Best Buy and Target and so far they are not offering any bonuses. That could change at release date however since there are plenty of skin opportunities. It is a shame that Activision doesn't release a master list of their bonus plans so people can make a purchasing choice based on their preferences.
In addition to the review of Long Haul, Peaugh has posted two additional reviews. One is Leader class Jetfire as a standalone toy and then a review of the toy combined with Leader class Optimus Prime. The combo mode is a bit more complicated and solid then you would think but still overall really worth it on its own. However, Jetfire (and Optimus) are pretty cool toys on their own so the combo mode is like a bonus feature. Thanks to Yoboy, Chris, and Sumudu for the links.
Peaugh has posted several new reviews of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen toys. First up, here is his review of Voyager class Long Haul. Over all the toy is very solid in both modes, the only complaint he had (which I agree with), is that the wheels near the head could not be rotated further back. Thanks to Yoboy for the link.
TFW2005's Dinobot Nuva has posted a scan from an article in the current issue of Nick Magazine that has comments from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen lead animator Shawn Kelly were he talks about eyes and the complexity of Devastator and merging seven vehicles. This is, to my knowledge, the first time someone directly associated with the movie has confirmed that seven vehicles combine to form Devastator. Previous mentions were second hand information in articles, a toy, and novelizations.
Devastator
Says Shawn, "Devastator is easily the most complicated character we've ever done because of his size, which is absolutely gigantic. Just trying to figure out how he might form into this giant thing and then walk around was a huge challenge." Animating Devastator required so much computing power that one artist's computer overheated and its insides melted!Emotion via the Eyes:"We tried to make a scary transformation for [Devastator] where things are slamming together and getting pulled around. All seven vehicles are shoving themselves together and clicking into place as he grows into this giant, scary dude."
An important part of making the robots look real is their eyes. According to Shawn, "We had to pay a lot of attention to the robots' eyes because a lot of them don't have much more to their face. As long as we can bring the eyes to life, it works pretty well." To do this, animators spent time studying real eyes to see how they move and blink. They also filmed each other and studied the eyes of different actors as they recorded their lines.
In an idea similar to the Luxor in Las Vegas, a building in Los Angeles has been plastered with the visage of Optimus Prime. Thanks to Darin and his friend for the picture.
Update: Darin provided the location and link to the site from his friend Jeremy. The building is in the Hollywood area around Wilshire and La Brea intersection. Click here for a street view link of the location (use your mouse to tilt up) to see the location pre-Prime poster.
Two more CGI images, this time from ACToys, to go with Scrapper. These are just the heads of Skids and Mudflap, complete with gold tooth. Yay, the Twins as Hollywood's vision of a southern redneck. That voice work will have to spot on because their design isn't doing them any favors. Thanks to Scorpio and ghola_tleilaxu for the links.
Amazon has a new listing a special edition of the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen soundtrack. The CD will be released on June 23rd and costs $22 rather then the $15 of the the standard edition. Exact details on what makes this "special" are currently unknown but usually these things include a few additional tracks or an extra CD or DVD with videos and the like on it. More details will probably be released as get close to the release date.
TFG2.com has posted an image, found by TFW2005's S250, of what Constructicon Scrapper may look like in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The result is rather interesting and based on the detail level, I am guessing it is based on the upcoming video games. Thanks to ghola_tleilaxu and Phil for the heads-up.
Update: For those wondering, yes it is Scrapper that is chasing after Sam and Mikaela in the trailer, the moment when you see a yellow Transformer looking around the side of the building just before its roof blows. Below is a screenshot from TFG2 of that scene to compare with. Thanks to Yoboy, Andrew and Phil for the info.
Below is the poster for the IMAX screening of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. While similar in design, this poster is not identical to previous posters as Bumblebee is in a new pose and the detail is greater. Thanks to ghola_tleilaxu for the link.
Not sure how I missed it since the news is a couple of months old but I just learned today, thanks to Ellis' efforts, that pre-order tickets for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen starts June 10th. I expect that IMAX showings for TF2 will be popular so pre-order will probably be necessary for seeing the movie in the first couple of days. This date is subject to change and may not be nationwide but Star Trek ticket pre-orders started about two weeks before release so don't see why this would be any different.
Filmed on location at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, and including several scenes shot with IMAX cameras, "Transformers Revenge of the Fallen" promises to be the most action-packed IMAX experience of the summer.
"Transformers Revenge of the Fallen" is scheduled to open Wednesday, June 24 at the Airbus IMAX Theater in Chantilly, VA. Tickets will go on sale Wednesday, June 10.
Edmunds has a brief article that discusses the use of Ducati motorcycles in Terminator Salvation and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Specifically, they are a new source, outside of the novelizations, to confirm that the Arcee bikes do have a combiner mode.
The Hypermotard ("super biker") will fight for good in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen when that film opens on June 24. The Ducati will join with two other motorcycles to create Arcee, a female Autobot to stop the Decepticons as they return to Earth.RetroSBK actually created the three Arcee bikes (well probably more since have stunt, hero, and backup bikes for each character) but looking at their website Ducati motorcycles seemed to be used as their base for their customizations. Thanks to Jon for the link.
Based on a report from Trent, it looks like Michael Bay decided to go ahead with releasing alternate cuts of the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen trailer with Terminator Salvation (which is getting savaged by reviews so no threat to goal of TF2 claiming box office champ).
For some reason I have not seen this trailer talked about anywhere. I even posted it in the IMDB forums and everyone that has replied said it didn't show at their theatre. The trailer contains: a longer cut of BB in the garage (shorter than showest though), sideswipe doing his thing, a new shot of Arcee, both of the twins talking (something about not being able to read), extended shot in the school library, and more that I can't remember. Just a heads up for you to be looking around for it!Now keep in mind that theatres don't have to bother using any trailers they get so just because an alternate cut exists doesn't mean it will being showing with Terminator 4. Hopefully any alternate cuts that get produced will show up online so Transfans worldwide can enjoy them.
- Trent
At my local theater, I had the opportunity to prescreeen a copy of Night at the Museum 2 and the new cut trailer was on there. Some of the footage was old, but more than half was new. Here's what I remember seeing that was of note:Speaking of Terminator, here is a mix-up of T4 and TF2 trailers called "Transforminator" that Yoboy found for your entertainment.
-Bumblebee crying (Showest footage)
-Twins actually speaking (Sam shows them a tattoo on his arm and they say they can't read. If you listen VERY closely, one of them sounds like Spongebob. XD )
-Galloway and Epps having a conversation that goes like this
"It looks like a normal truck"
*Optimus transforms* (this is a better, fuller version than the T.V. spot)
Epps: "Freaky, right?"
-Better images of Arcee, but I didn't see her fully combined.
Don't remember if there was anything else noteworthy, but I'll make a second look just in case. Please remember that trailers are only selective to certain theaters and it may or may not be on the Night At the Musuem 2 that you watch.
Paramount Pictures has released some more images from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen that hint at some of the action and the human characters. About half of them have been previousily released and below are a few new ones (at least to me). The full gallery can be found here.
As part of a sneak peek of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the LA Times also wrote a profile on director Michael Bay where he discusses his career and working on TF2. Below are a few highlights and the full article can be found here.
"This one," he said, "is barely going to make it to theaters. You have no idea how complicated my life is."Personally I always liked a realistic tone to Transformers. It has always fit the franchise like a glove; just see last two seasons of Beast Wars and pretty much all of Machine Wars. It just takes creators with the right approach and open mindedness to get the full potential. Shoot the comic films and the like that work best (Spider-Man, Batman, X-Men, etc) work best when writers and directors approach it as very real rather than tongue in cheek. If they are unable to take the material seriously then they are no appropriate for the job, thankfully something Steven Spielberg recognizes. As for the McG/Bay thing, it was essentially two guys comparing sizes ("my movies is bigger", "no mine is", etc) and contained no Transformers 2 information so I just chose to ignore it.
With this new film, he describes the "huge canvas" of its visual effects in terms of computer memory -- at Industrial Light & Magic, the San Francisco effects house, the first "Transformers" movie took up an astounding 15 terabytes; the new one required 140 terabytes. "That breaks every record," said Bay, who is far more Barnum than Bergman.
"The way I do it, we work hard, we work fast," Bay said. "We shoot 12-hour days. . . . One thing I can't stand about Hollywood is waste. I've gotten to be a very, very efficient shooter. On average, these type of sequels run in the $230-million to $240-million range and we're shooting this for a flat $200 million. A lot of these directors have second unit the entire time, that's millions of dollars just wasted. We do it all ourselves."
Bay likes to conserve his budget so he can film in exotic places that other directors find too difficult to access and, along with emphasis on pyro work and stunts, gives his productions the vibe of daredevil tourism. On this new film, he "weaseled" his way into the Giza pyramid complex in Egypt ("We were the first movie in 30 years to shoot physically on the pyramids") where he shot with a 150-member crew for three days and, a few days later, he took his team to the top of the rock-carved architecture of Petra in Jordan, where military helicopters ferried 36 loads of gear to the perilous perch.
The choppers, by the way, were thanks to a Jordanian prince who loved Bay's first robot movie, while in Egypt it was Zahi Hawass, the secretary general of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, who turned out to be "a big fan of 'Transformers,' " Bay said, sounding surprised himself.
"We're still not quite sure how he does it when he's directing," says screenwriter Alex Kurtzman, who worked on both "Transformers" films. "People who work closest with him call his method 'Bay-os' because it feels like wartime chaos. There are explosions going off in every direction and half as many cameras flying all over the place, and you stand there thinking none of it's going to make any sense, then you watch the scenes cut together and realize something shocking: He's choreographed a ballet. He knows exactly which pieces he's going to use from each camera and he'd already cut the scene together in his head."
"To make a movie like 'Transformers,' " he said, "you have to shut out everything that's out there . . . we work on it every single day for two years."
He sounded skeptical about directing a third "Transformers" and still surprised that he made the first two. Steven Spielberg came to him with the pitch 3 1/2 years ago, but Bay, no fan of superhero cinema, thought a franchise about alien robots sounded like "a very bad idea." He changed his mind when he considered a dark, realistic tone instead of a shiny, cosmic tale.
In recent weeks, Bay has been in a public spat with McG, whose "Terminator Salvation" has giant robots that Bay feels look too much like "Transformers." Bay has had a number of feuds (because, he explained, "I say what I think") but it turns out that sometimes the explosions are fake. With a wink, he admitted that he phoned McG to turn up the volume. "I told him, 'We're like boxers going at it this summer,' " Bay said. "We have to have some fun with it."
Glancing at the official global release date site (also on top left column), good news for the United Kingdom and Japan as they are getting Transformers 2 earlier than the rest of us. Now the release date for the UK is June 19th and for Japan it is June 20th.
This may be a result of the planned premiere parties in each country. The world premiere of the movie is on June 8th in Tokyo, Japan and the UK's premiere party is for June 15th in London. The United States premiere has not yet been announced.
Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, while taking about Star Trek, also discussed Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen with Newsarama. Below is a few segments with the full article here.
Did the success of the first one allow you to go even bigger with this installment?
Kurtzman: Certainly the movie is bigger, but that is definitely not how we thought about it. We feel like the action scenes in these movies are a given to some degree, but they always have to have a serious emotional context or they mean nothing. That means you have to have a small character story at the heart of whatever movie you’re making. For us, it was really coming up with an emotional story that we believed in and felt was sequel worthy.
Orci: And yes, it’s bigger. We have more resources for effects and some of the locations which are just gorgeous and amazing.
NRAMA: With all the destruction they caused, how does the government view the Autobots?
Kurtzman: The Autobots are in partnership with our government, but not everybody here at home trusts them. There’s the question of whether the Autobots are really welcome on this planet, or aren’t they? That’s part of the story that plays in the relationship with the military and soldiers they met in the first one. Because Mission City was under a communication black out, the world is not fully aware of The Transformers. It’s become like the Area 51 which is something that plays out in the movie. Can the secret be kept?
NRAMA: Ehren Kruger is also credited on this script. How much input did he have?
Kurtzman: He was our partner. We all wrote it together. Two weeks before the writers’ strike, we all agreed to do it and literally had a short time to come up with an outline.
Orci: We lived in a hotel room together for three months. Director Michael Bay would come every day to check on our progress. Ehren was on one side of the room. There was a dividing door and Bob and I were on the other side. At noon, we would meet in the middle and trade pages, go back and forth to our respective sides, read each other’s work, and give notes. We were a partnership of three on that one.
NRAMA: Do you see these Transformer films as complete stand alone stories or a trilogy?
Kurtzman: That was not our conscious intent. And Michael was very clear too. We just wanted to make one big gigantic Transformers movie at the time.
TF08.net has posted a look at Voyager Long Haul in his packaging. He is a pretty sweet looking figure and quickly becoming a must have for me. Thanks to Yoboy for the link.
Voyager Long Haul Bio
Long Haul is too bitter to be an effective soldier on his own. Despite the fact that he is part of one of the most destructive and terrifying Decepticon squads of all time, he is often treated as little more then a cargo hauler. Other Decepticons sling their gear into his bed without a second thought, and order him to carry it around for them. Rather than confront them, he'd rather grumble about it privately, then stop on the way and destroy whatever he's been given responsibility for.
LA Times has posted an interview with Michael Bay has he discusses his ongoing work editing the movie and working with Shia LaBeouf. The writer, Geoff Boucher, was even able to view about 25 minutes of footage from the film. We also learn that Tom Kenny (the SpongeBob Squarepants voice) has been cast in the film. As who is not specificed but it sounds like Wheelie. Below are snippets from the article, which can be found here.
He showed me a comedy sequence with the Witwicky family getting young Sam (Shia LaBeouf) ready to go off to Princeton University. There was a lot of "empty nest" humor with Sam's mom, Judy (Julie White), and dad, Ron (Kevin Dunn), and then the house is all but leveled by an unwelcome metallic visitor. The scene has a lot of humor in it but Bay said the film, overall, is darker than its 2007 predecessor. "This one," Bay said, "is less quippy."Thanks to Mcat and Austin for the link.
There was the first scene in the film for the nubile Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox) and of course she was wearing very little and posed like a grease-monkey hottie on a garage pin-up poster. "Of course we had to get that out of the way," Bay said with mock resignation. There was plenty more of Fox in seductive mode and a romantic rival as well -- at Princeton, a curvy mystery girl [Alice, played by Isabel Lucas] pounces on Sam in his dorm-room but there's something a little alien about her. Maybe it's the nasty steel tail that suddenly emerges from under her skirt like a scorpion's stinger.
"People I've shown this to instantly feel like, 'Hey, I know that family, they’re fun to watch.' It’s like when you watch a favorite TV series, there are things about familiarity you like and it can be satisfying. There are other benefits from doing it a second time. Movies do take a life. Things spark and take a life, things you thought would be important drop away and a tone is set. With the sequels, you know the tone. That’s a huge thing."
There was also a section of the film in a Princeton classroom with a leering Lothario of a professor (Rainn Wilson) who has a run-in with new student Witwicky, who is suddenly a sputtering genius thanks to his encounter with a powerful shard of alien technology. Bay based the sleazy Wilson character on a randy film instructor he remembered back at his alma mater, Wesleyan University, who wore leather pants and had a whispered reputation for seducing coeds.
He showed me a sequence with a cranky new Autobot [Jetfire] with a lot of stylized personality (think of a windy old geezer with the metallic equivalent of a braided beard) and he mentioned that the smaller robots will be a key part of this film. Tom Kenny (the star voice of "SpongeBob SquarePants") and ubiquitous voice veteran Frank Welker are on board and I think little kids in particular are going to seize on this movie. "Jeffrey Katzenberg gave me advice once. He said it's great to have little characters with these big huge voices," Bay noted of some of the manic little bots.
"Shia came in and auditioned and he was this little skinny kid. ‘Dude you’re like this action king!’ he was so giddy and he wanted to be in action movie so bad. I told him, ‘All right, all right, just calm down.’ I instantly loved his acting because he is disarming, he is great at improv. He’s got this everyday kind of guy that thing. He’s much more charismatic in this movie, too. He’s coming into his own. He’s a smart actor. You sometimes have to push him when he doesn’t believe it. He’ll go through a dark period. With actors you’ve got to be a psychologist. You have to see the darkness coming, especially with funny actors. I can see it coming on and I have to say, ‘Shia…’ and pull him aside. I explain it to him and he’ll come out of it. And then he’ll say, ‘You’re right, you’re right, I was in that mood…’ The reason is they're scared of things sometimes. It’s not easy being an actor and putting yourself out there.”
On Fox: "I brought Megan in when I was producing a different movie and she auditioned for a two-day part. We gave the role to someone else but I remembered her when it came to this movie. There were a lot of young women that auditioned for ‘Transformers,’ but she got it. She was very junior as an actress. There was a chemistry thing, though, between her and Shia. She’s vastly improved over the last one."
According to Jalopnik, GM has wisely decided to take advantage of the Transformers tie-in to create a limited 2010 Chevy Camaro Bumblebee Edition starting June 1st. The production run of the car will go from June 24th to December and will include Bumblebee specific touches of "rally yellow coloring, black stripes and Transformers badging inside. ...this special Transformers-badging will be on wheel centers, sill plates and embroidered console lid and the package will be available in LT or SS models." I cannot really afford a new car but does make you at least think about it. Hopefully dealerships (at least ones not closing) will get a floor model to drool at in person. Sadly costs and so forth are not revealed, I guess dealerships would have to answer those questions. Thanks to Believer and others for the link.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Movie Adaptation #2 will be hitting newsstands on May 28th and IDW has provided a sneak peak here. Including bits is a look at the Nemesis (Decepticon flagship, counterpart to the Autobots Arc from G1 cartoons), a few corny lines from Megatron (that I hope isn't in the movie unless the line reading is just kickass), and bits of Sam looking foolish in class as Wheelie spies on Mikaela. Thanks to ghola-tleilaxu and DeceptiFreak for the heads-up.
From TFW2005, Neil Kaplan's facebook page reveals he has been cast as the voice of Long Haul and Protectobot (essentially a Ratchet repaint) in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen video game.
I am THRILLED to announce my return to the "Transformers Universe". This summer you can find my work on "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen". This brilliant video game is from the geniuses at Activision. I play both sides of the fence as Decepticon - Long Haul and Autobot - Protectobot. So... I can help you save or destroy the Earth. Just try to let me know ahead of time... nothing worse than tearing down what was meant to be saved.Kaplan's credits are long, sticking mostly to video games with some cartoon work including being the voice of Optimus Prime for the Transformers: Robots in Disguise cartoons back in 2001. Keep in mind that doing a voice in the game doesn't necessarily mean he is doing a voice in the movie or that Long Haul even has any lines in the movie. Thanks to Scorpio for the link.
The huge billboard that was being placed on the Luxor in Las Vegas, Nevada is now nearing completion according to TFormers. Not really sure what they are putting on the other face though. It almost looks like Optimus is bursting from the building that is very cool looking. Below are two example photos but an additional 12 can be found here.
Feeling a touch lazy so just combining all these stories into once story since all of them are brief anyway.
First up, MichaelBay.com has posted a CGI image of Sideways. It’s cool looking but the detail makes me think it’s from the video games rather than the movie. Also, the site has three additional set photos that show Bay and Shia working/posing including a neat pic on an aircraft carrier deck. In addition, go to Megan-Fox.net for four more movie images.
Next, for the MTV Movie Awards airing live on May 31st at 9pm/8pm CST, it has been confirmed that the show an exclusive clip will be aired and introduced by Megan Fox and Michael Bay. Shia LaBeouf will also present an award. Hopefully that clip will pop up online shortly thereafter.
Last is a single image of the repaint of Deluxe Scorponok for the Transformers 2 toy line. It appears that all the gold of the original figure has been swapped out for black and gray.
Thanks to Moises, Phil, Darin, Mcat, and Dave for the links.
Update: The commecial mentioned above is now on YouTube for our embedding pleasures. Thanks to medabotsoundwave for the link. In addition, The Chief sent me the Sideways and Bumblebee renders the other day but I completely forgot to post them, so here they are now. Sorry about that.
Despite being the repainted twin of Blackout (with slightly altered head design), based on the Voyager packaging below, it appears the name Grindor is here to stay as first indicated by the Fast Action Battler version. The question is what he will be referred to in the movie. One theory is he is the resurrected Blackout and the other is he is a new character of sorts. Either way, I get the feeling he will not last long under Prime's blades.
In addition, Hasbro has posted the first commercial for the Revenge of the Fallen toy line with a special focus on Leader class Optimus Prime, click here to view. Sadly no embed option for the video. Thanks to Phil for the links and the bio write-up.
Voyager Grindor Bio
GRINDOR is a born soldier. He is both a highly talented fighter, and an instinctive strategist. Every moment of a battle is laid out in his head before the first shot is even fired. He is so talented at anticipating his enemy's moves that he is almost never surprised. Whenever he can, he ensures himself a place at the direct center of a fight so that he can bring his powerful weapons to bear on the AUTOBOTS around him, destroying as many as he can as quickly as possible.
Linkin Park just released their single New Divide (finally out on iTunes for $1.29) for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen soundtrack. Tyrese Gibson has working on a duet with Jewel for the soundtrack. Tonight he has tweeted an update on the collaboration and posted a public voice message.
From Twitter:
I was recording with Babyface last night the song with me and @JewelJk is turning out amazing!As for the voice message (below) Tyrese provides a brief sample of "Make It Last" that is probably a pre-mixed version of the song. The track is not yet part of the soundtrack as he still has to present it to the album decision makers (including Bay). The rest of the message is not Transformers specific as he talks about being careful with information revealed to others and the choices people can make.
The song is called "Make it Last" it's for the Transformers 2 soundtrack! The song was wrote for tender moments with Megan and Shia..!!
The official Tony Todd website has revealed that the actor has been cast in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.
If you watch movies and television on even a semi-regular basis you probably recognize the face. His most recent roles included playing CIA Director in the first season of Chuck (before getting blown up), playing the dictator in just finished season of 24, Candyman from those movies and a just really long list of credits. He is part of that large group of character actors that helps keep the Hollywood engine running, just plugging away working and yet rarely gives the proper credit for their efforts.
The note from the site:
We've been waiting to announce this for a little bit and here it is:That indicates the deep voiced actor is playing a Transformer, which one is the question. He sounds like a Decepticon to me, possibly one of the Constructicons (my guess is Mixmaster). Congrats to Tony, hopefully not a Decepticon (alternate suggestion is Sideswipe) or it will just be a one movie role. More than likely Tony recorded his voice work months ago.
Tony will be taking part in this summers biggest blockbuster ...
TRANSFORMERS 2 !
Now who he is going to play is still under wraps, but we can say...
don't look for him because you wont see the man himself...!!
Thats all we can say for now!
This is going to be one helluva a summer !!
From MichaelBay.com, here are all three new TV spots in HD for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Between these spots, Linkin Park's new song, new movie stills, and the start of the viral marketing campaign, it is pretty clear that the campaign to get seats into theatres for the movie has officially begun.
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.
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.
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.
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.
