Transformers 2 Loses Top International Spot

The actual numbers are in and sadly Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs has taking Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen as the top movie of the year internationally with an overseas total of $430.9 million to TF2's $396.6 million. However, this position will not hold as it appears that Harry Potter and Half Blood Prince is well on its way to reaching a billion dollars.

HP6's first five days of release in the states came to $158.0 million and overseas was a record breaking $236 million making it the highest grossing foreign opening ever beating Spider-Man 3's $230.5 million. As I indicated before, if the movie maintains its popularity overseas, odds are very high it could become the fifth movie to surpass the billion dollar mark, something that Transformers 2 is not going to achieve.

Speaking of Revenge of the Fallen, the final weekend numbers is third place with $13.7 million estimate was accurate bringing its domestic total to $363.8 million and ranking it 13th in the all time top grossing movies chart (88th if adjust for inflation). Overseas sales came to $13.5 for an overseas total of $396.6 bringing its worldwide total to $760.4 million. At this rate the movie should pass the $800 million mark by the end of the week.

Box Office Totals (in millions)

Date	US	Intl	Worldwide
6/19-6/23	$0.0	$24.1	$24.1
6/24-6/28	$200.2	$166.2	$366.4
6/29-7/02	$50.9	$52.7	$103.6
7/03-7/05	$42.3	$55.0	$97.3
7/06-7/09	$21.6	$35.1	$56.7
7/10-7/12	$24.2	$31.4	$55.6
7/13-7/16	$10.9	$18.6	$29.5
7/17-7/19	$13.7	$13.5	$27.2
7/20-7/23	$7.3	$7.7	$15.0
Totals	$371.1	$404.3	$775.4

*estimate of sales

EZ Collection Devastator Gallery

The EZ Collection Devastator gallery for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen has popped up online that provides close-up look at the seven vehicles and their alt modes. Each individual robot is similar in size and detail as the other Legends class line and currently limited to a Japan only release or at least nothing for the States or Europe has been announced. The combined Devastator mode is about the size of Deluxe Skids and actually looks surprising good. Below are select images with the full gallery here.

Harry Potter 6 Fails to Beat Transformers 2 in States

Despite a huge advertising blitz, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince failed to catch Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen in first five nor first weekend of release in the US based on early estimates. HP6 weekend is first weekend is looking to be around $79 million bringing its five day total to $159 million. Transformers 2 first weekend was $108.9 million, five day was near record breaking $200.1 million.

Having said that, the numbers are not in for the international gross which is important as the film is likely to do very well overseas. Where TF2's totals are split evenly between US and international sales, the Harry Potter series traditionally does 3 times as well overseas. That proportion resulted in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix to earn a worldwide gross of $938.2 million, 68.9% of that total from overseas sales. If that pattern holds then the five day international totals could be as high as $230 bringing the worldwide gross to $389.7 million, easily surpassing Transformers 2's $366.2 million.

The net result of all this estimated number crunching (assuming they closely match Monday's actuals) is it is pretty much a lock that Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen will remain the top movie of the year in the States but Harry Potter 6 will be the top movie in worldwide totals and could possibly become only the fifth movie in the world to pass the billion dollar mark (not adjusting for inflation). Just something to keep in mind if planning on any "I told you so" fun with friends.

Box Office Totals (in millions)

Date	US	Intl	Worldwide
6/19-6/23	$0.0	$24.1	$24.1
6/24-6/28	$200.2	$166.2	$366.4
6/29-7/02	$50.9	$52.7	$103.6
7/03-7/05	$42.3	$55.0	$97.3
7/06-7/09	$21.6	$35.1	$56.7
7/10-7/12	$24.2	$31.4	$55.6
7/13-7/16	$10.9	$18.6	$29.5
7/17-7/19	$13.7*
Totals	$363.8	$383.1	$746.8

*estimate of sales

Devastator Size Comparison

Thanks to TFG2; here is an image that compares the size of Devastator with its component parts to give you an idea of the scale for each. Sadly High Tower was not "cloned" in the movie so no robot mode exists. Of note is it appears that Long Haul may get a toy release.

Tokyo Toy Show Gallery

From the recent Tokyo Toy Show (that technically was "no photography allowed") are a few images that show off Buster Optimus Prime, the Alternity Bumblebee mold, Human Alliance Bumblebee and Skids, and the Device Label line. Below are few pictures but the full gallery that includes images of the Supreme Devastator and other ROTF toys can be found here. (via TFW2005)

Device Label Transformers

In the States our Transformers options essentially consist of Transformers: ROTF toys and left over Animated toys. In Japan, they get to purchase all that and more, often called "Labels" based on various grouping choices. I have posted previously of Disney Label, Alternate and others. A few months ago "Device Label" joined the line and it’s pretty darn cool but also expensive.

The line is essentially a transforming "computer" package of a laptop, mouse and a working USB thumb drive. The line will be five characters total, two of them repaints. The laptop is Blaster, the thumb drives Ravage and Tigatron and the Mouse will be Grimlock and Trypticon. Each toy will cost you around $50 to $60 to purchase with an estimated release date in September. Below are a few images with the full gallery here.

Human Alliance Sideswipe, Nemesis Soundwave, and Fearswoop

More Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen galleries has popped up online for toys from the line that have not yet been released.

The first is a new gallery of Human Alliance Sideswipe that is looking pretty slick. I think the Deluxe toy is the best of the line and this one looks like a keeper to. No idea when it’s coming out, have not even seen HA Bumblebee on shelves yet. The full gallery with lots of close-ups is here. Thanks to Chris for the link.

Next is another gallery of images of Toys R Us exclusive Gathering at the Nemesis set with Deluxe Soundwave repainted in Generation One colors. As the picture shows, the look suits him. No info on cost or release date. The full gallery can be found here.

Last is another exclusive set, this time for Wal-Mart called "The Fury of Fearswoop". Sadly the one image is all we have so no bio, price or release date info. The set appears to include Legends class Sideswipe and Mudflap and Deluxe Fearswoop. Fearswoop is a repaint of Dreadwing figure from the first movie line and the according to TFW2005, the color scheme is a nod to Generation Two character Hooligan. I am guessing the reason for "Fearswoop" rather than Hooligan has something to do with inability to get the copyright for the name.

AutoAssembly Convention in UK

America held its annual Transformers convention with Botcon and now it appears the United Kingdom is planning their own with AutoAssembly Transformers Convention. AA09 will be held from the 15th to 16th in Birmingham, England. The guests so far are Greg Berger voice of Grimlock and Jetfire in the Generation One cartoons and Ian James Corlett who voice Cheetor for Beast Wars and Beast Machines. Based on level of pre-registrants they also might be able to get Neil Kaplan who was Optimus Prime for the Robots in Disguise cartoons.

For all the details include cost, attendee packages and non-attendee packages go to the official Auto Assembly website here.

Transformers 2 Holds Wednesday Record Holds Up

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen remains king of the Wednesday opening as Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince just fell short with a $58.4 million opening day compared to TF2's $62 million first day. This is despite a record breaking $22.2 million in midnight screenings that easily surpassed Revenge's $16 million and The Dark Knight's $18 million.

It seems that Transformers 2 $201 million five day opening may just hold up which would indicate that race for box office king for the year is going to much closer than expected. Overall the reviews for the film have been very good but this movie doesn't have as much effects or action as the previous films as it’s essentially a setup for the final two movies. Still worth seeing but not really full of moments that might lead to repeat business (to me anyway). Thanks to Darin for the link.

New Alternity, Encore Cassette Set and More

If you live in the land of the rising sun you already know that you get the best Transformers made on the planet. In non-movie related news, Takara has released a bunch of new toys it’s releasing for its various lines for Transformers that are exclusive to Japan.

A new Alternity vehicle to join Optimus Prime and Megatron. The new figure will be Bumblebee which will come in "champion yellow or "red pearl" (aka Cliffjumper). The Alternity line is 1/32 scale Transformers (so about Deluxe sized) with a license from Japanese companies for the alt mode that has die-cast parts. The tentative release date is November 2009 and costs around $50 each.

The Disney Label has two new additions with Donald Duck as Bumblebee with a white paint job and VW Bug alt mode and Mickey Mouse as Optimus Prime with Halloween paint job. The first release with Mickey Mouse is now hard to come by, costs $50 and seems big but is really about Scout sized.

Next up is Encore Re-issue #19, Cassette Big Mission 3 Set. This is a continuation of the re-release of the entire cassette Generation 1 Transformers. This set includes Frenzy, Rumble, Overkill and Laserbeak, costs about $50 and estimated release date is November 2009.

In movie related news, Generation One character Hoist gets homage with a repaint of Longarm from the first movie's toy line. Longarm was released as part of the Human Alliance set and later as a Deluxe figure. Full gallery here.

Finally, it appears the Transformers will get the bobble-head treatment based on the image provided by Brian and his sister (thanks!) that was found in Hawaii. I am not sure what others are involved but safe to assume it includes at least Megatron and Bumblebee.

If you are interested in getting most of these toys, especially the Japan only releases, you are going to have to order online. Most websites do have pre-orders and yes in most cases the cost is higher than your use to but that is the price of buying imports. The release date is just estimates, I have waited sometimes up to a year to get items I have pre-ordered (due to delays of the manufacturer) so patience is a requirement. Sites I have used in the past without problems and can recommend is tfsource.com, bigbadtoystore.com, and digital-toys.com.

Giant Gundam Replica in Action

The giant Gundam robot replica I reported about last year is now up and running and the result is pretty spectacular. Apparently this is a first of a series of replicas. The next one is Tetsukin (Gigantor) which is already under construction. I just want to know when it will be Transformers turn. Any case below is a video of the completed robot/statue doing its thing.

New Content for ROTF The Game

Activision has announced that a downloadable expansion pack for Playstation 3 and XBox 360 version of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen The Game will be released later this summer that will include 10 new characters, three new maps and a new difficulty mode. The price and exact date has not been released. Thanks to Lady Owl for the link.

The highlights:
- New characters include Generation 1 Starscream and Sideswipe.
- New characters are for multi and single player mode.
- "Expert" difficulty mode will have new leader boards
- New Achievements and Trophies will become available.

ROTF Leader Optimus Prime Variant

According to TFW2005, a variant version of Leader class Optimus Prime may be released in November (currently Japan only) that has modified gas tanks that combine to form the big gun Prime wielded against Megatron in the movie. He will also have a modified head sculpt that removed the faceplate. Hopefully this will also get released on the states.

Revenge Passes First Movie in Worldwide Gross

After the release of Monday's box office numbers, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen has passed its predecessor in worldwide gross total with $711.6 million to Transformers $708.3 million and did it in only 20 days. At this rate it does appear the movie will cross the $800 million worldwide total threshold but not get much further than that. What impact Harry Potter 6 will have should be interesting since both movies are after essentially the same audience on HP6 is getting much better reviews over all (95% rating).

TF1 vs. TF2 (in millions)

Date	US	Intl	Worldwide
TF1	$319,246,193 (45.1%)	$389,026,399 (54.9%)	$708,272,592
TF2	$342,305,825 (48.1%)	$369,314,131 (51.9%)	$711,619,956

Ask Orci, Final Edition?

It has been a few months since checked the Don Murphy and TFW2005 Ask Orci (writer of Transformer films) and did a summary. Main reason is because he took a break for the Star Trek world tour. This could be the last edition but hopefully not, time will tell. Orci covers topics from the Twins language, why no vocoder for Soundwave, more Prime action, and more. My comments in brackets [].

Wankertron: Who's idea was it to include questionable language in the robot's dialogue? I refer to Wheelie calling people "bitch", and the twins coming out with "pussy". It's one thing for a kid to repeat bad language after watching, for instance, a Schwarzenegger movie. Because then one can say "Well, what were they doing watching that?", and the blame can be laid elsewhere. But In Transformers? A movie designed for kids? I felt it was inappropriate. What's your take?
Those examples were improvised or added by Michael. We actually arm wrestled about it. I think it's appropriate barely as you approach 13. If we had final cut, those lines would not be in the movie. But I'm not going to cry that Michael left them in, or condemn him. Can't argue with results, right? Certainly the first movie walked the line, and there's been no false advertising, or at least not MUCH!
[The Twins were specifically created and marketed for the kids and then preceeded to use frequent adult language. The PG-13 rating is Bay's excuse for bad behavior but at the end of the day he screwed up, plain and simple. If he wanted to use adult language, he shouldn't have created characters designed for kids. Its not rocket science.]

Master Fwiffo: what exactly was the intent with Arcee? Is she supposed to be one bot in three bodies, or three separate bots, or what?
Wrote her as one who made up of three. Bay kept them as individuals.
[On the bright side, even with one of the three dead, they were never named or directly implied to be seperate so the third film could go with the writer's orginial concept with ease.]

BRAWN1228: Can you tell us what scene it was that Bay put in the movie where he said "The fans are gonna love this."
He said that about a few things, I think. Certainly, Megs abusing Starscream.

butz: which fandom was crazier; the Transformers fans or the Star Trek fans?
too close to call

neospark1: ...not vocoding Soundwave's voice is an incredible injustice/mistake. How hard did you go to bat for this? Soundwave's "look," personality, and his voice are the three top iconics on him.
We hassled him about it many times, but we can't be there every second to make sure he behaves! We got day jobs!

Chris B: How did you come to decided the alien satellite alt. mode for Soundwave? What other alt. modes did you consider for Soundwave? Were there any particular Autobots and Decepticons that you had planned on including but were cut?
On Soundwave we recall that as a Boom Box, he was one of the true SPY Decepticons who could blend in anywhere and record things. So a SPY SATELLITE who can see everything seemed like an interesting update. We considered a super rigged up audio kind car and, of course, it's original boom box form. I wanted every Autobot in there!

The Mad Artist: 1. Was Barricade ever meant to be in the movie? 2. Do you see Devastator as being made up of individual robots, or just separate pieces? 3. Was there ever thought of him having more of a role on the battlefield, or was he always meant to be the eye in the sky? 4. Was that Blackout? Was he just revived off camera along with Megatron? 5. ...was there any roadblocks to getting Prime so much hero time? 6. Speaking of BB, were there ever plans for him to speak?
1. Considered it. Honestly can't remember reasons for decision!
2. I suppose since we didn't commit either way, I wouldn't want to tie the hands of future writers with my non-canon opinion.
3. Fought to have him come down, but so many robots to service and he had his moments -- his main draw is as a spy.
4. Could explain it that way, but I can't remember if he's ever called Blackout in the movie. Is there a Revenge of the Fallen Blackout Toy?
5. We knew we had to do A LOT more with Prime this time, and if we could do it again we would have EVEN MORE time with Prime.
6. We discussed it, but we all loved the musical ability so much, and Bay wanted to focus more on the twins because, as he said, he thought kids would like them

mattjy: 1. There were five new Autobots (Sideswipe, Arcee, Jolt and the Twins), yet only the twins had a large degree of screentime. What was the reasoning behid this choice? 2. Was the fact that the Autobots spent so much time in vehical mode, even when they were beign transported an artistic decision or a practical one?
1. Michael loved the idea of the twins and wanted to feature them to make the movie, as he said, kid friendly.
2. I don't disagree. Money can be tight!

Read more...

Transformers 2 Defeated By Bruno

Based on current estimates Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen's weekend run at the box office has come to an end as Bruno took the top spot with $30.4 million. The news gets a little worse as Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs took the second spot with $28.5 million. Revenge came in third with $24.2 million raising its domestic total to $339.2 million and now has passed the first movie's domestic total of $319 million with ease.

I found some international estimates which shows TF2 made an additional $31.4 million for an overseas total of $364.5 for a worldwide total of $703.7. This is just $4.6 million short of the first movies worldwide take of $708.3M which took months and the sequel only 20 days to surpass. Harry Potter 6 is about to land in three days so whatever momentum TF2 has is about to come to a screeching halt. Transformers 2 currently holds the top spot for the year but will HP6 grab it away?

Box Office Totals (in millions)

Date	US	Intl	Worldwide
6/19-6/23	$0.0	$24.1	$24.1
6/24-6/28	$200.2	$166.2	$366.4
6/29-7/02	$50.9	$52.7	$103.6
7/03-7/05	$42.3	$55.0	$97.3
7/06-7/09	$21.6	$35.1	$56.7
7/10-7/12	$24.2	$31.4	$55.6
7/13-7/16	$10.9	$18.6	$29.5
Totals	$350.1	$383.1	$733.1

*estimate of sales

ROTF Writers Talk Racism and The Twins

One of the things I have noticed in recent interviews with Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman is a small degree of distancing from the more crass humor in the movie, especially from the Twins and "testicles" on Devastator. The duo spoke with Film School Rejects about The Twins and completed the "don't look at me" transition.

Cole: I heard that the gold tooth was Michael Bay’s idea, but do you have any response to those who found The Twins offensive?
Orci: Number one, we sympathize. Yes, the gold tooth was not in the script, that’s true.
Kurtzman: It’s really hard for us to sit here and try to justify it. I think that would be very foolish, and if someone wants to be offended by it, it’s their right. We were very surprised when we saw it, too, and it’s a choice that was made. If anything, it just shows you that we don’t control every aspect of the movie.

Cole: Were you offended by them?
Kurtzman: I wasn’t thrilled. I certainly wasn’t thrilled.
Orci: Yeah, same reaction. I’m not easily offended, but when I saw it, I thought, ‘Someone’s gonna write about that.’”

From what I have read, pretty much the source of most of the humor that people have groaned about and found offensive came from the mind of third ROTF writer of Ehren Kruger and director Michael Bay. I am sure there is some mix and match from all four but based on the duos previous writing efforts the rumor has validity. I guess depending on your view of the movie's humor, this makes Kruger a new writer to watch or one to avoid. (via TFW2005)

DVD Release of ROTF In September?

Previously it was indicated that the DVD and Blu-ray release of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen might be in October 24th. Now a new page on Amazon for the Special Edition version indicates a September 2009 date. The page is for a comic book store and the most recent issue of Previews (for September sales) did have Revenge listed so might be related to that. Also TFAW.com indicates September 30th as the date. The first movie was released on October 16th, 2007 and the window between theatrical run to home video keeps getting smaller so the date is plausible. Hopefully something will be released soon to verify Paramount's home video plans for the movie. I would hold off ordering anything until a date is officially confirmed, besides the prices will be better and might include exclusive stuff depending on store. Thanks to MovieMakerKid14 for the links.

Product Description:

From Paramount Home Video! The battle for Earth has ended - but the battle for the universe has just begun! Returning to Cybertron after bitter defeat at the hands of the Autobots, Starscream assumes command of the Decepticons with a singular purpose - to return to Earth in force! Meanwhile, the Autobots, believing peace possible, discover that Megatron's remains have been stolen from the US Military by Skorpinox, who revives him using his own spark. Now reenergized, Megatron seeks revenge, and with Starscream and his Decepticon reinforcements on the way, the Autobots may have more to deal with than meets the eye! Director Michael Bay returns to helm this super-charged sequel to the highly successful, big-screen adaptation of everyone's favorite 'Robots in Disguise' for DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures, starring Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, and John Turturro. Scheduled to ship in September 2009.

New Alliance Sideswipe, Skids Images

New images of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Human Alliance Sideswipe and Skids have appeared on AmiAmi. Sideswipe will come with Tech Sergeant Epps and Skids with Mikaela who is also sized so also ride Deluxe Arcee. Below are a few images, the rest can be found here.

Plans in Motion for Transformers 3?

The debate seems to continue as to whether Paramount will push for Transformers 3 to be released on July 1st, 2011 or if they will concede to director Michael Bay's preference of a break and push it back to June 2012. Associated Content revisits the debate and seems to indicate that while Paramount would prefer 2011 the decision on Michael Bay returning for TF3 will ultimately decide things. Thanks to Hanna for the link.

Though it is debatable whether a new Transformers movie could be made by 2011, but is looking to be a certainty is two of the main players coming back for a third installment. Director Michael Bay has stated that he wants to come back to the third chapter after a small break from "fighting robots", and star Shia LaBeouf has also stated that he would come back at least one more time. It's a smart decision, as this is a franchise that could continue to make both parties very wealthy over the long term.

Two Exclusive ROTF Box Sets

The Arker has revealed two exclusive Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen box sets that will hit stores soon for Target and Toys R Us. The Target set is called "Straightaway Shootout" features in Legends class figures of Ironhide, Mudflap, Runamuck, Sparkcrusher, and Swerve. The Toys R Us exclusive called "Gathering at the Nemesis" is a bit larger with Voyager class Megatron, The Fallen and Deluxe Soundwave repainted in Generation One colors. No idea on price but I am guessing around $25 for Targets and $50 for TRU.

Gathering at the Nemesis bio
On the surface of an old world lost in the deep black of space lies the wreckage of an ancient, powerful battleship. Long views as a sacred place by Decepticons, it represents the height of their powers and it is there that three of the evil robots meet to discuss their plans for final victory over the ? Autobots. For the first time, The Fallen reveals himself, and opening explains the plan that will not only allow the Decepticons command over the Earth, but over the entire galaxy.

Straightaway Shootout bio
An Autobot hunter squad has found more Decepticons hiding among the vehicles of Earth. Both are famous among the Autobots - Sparkcrusher for the near-invulnerability of his armor and the destructive power of his cannon, and Runamuck for his insane speed. Even in a three on two fight, the Autobots will have to use every bit of Firepower at their command to bring Sparkcrusher down and stop Runamuck before he escapes.

Life-Size Optimus Prime and M&M Statues

In an event in Hong Kong for Transformers that showed the toys from G1 days to present, there was a life sized statue of Optimus Prime on display along with a silver statue of the Prime M&M. Few pictures below, rest of the gallery is here. As for the bronze M&M Prime statue, that can be yours for $100 shipping and whatever the winning bid is on eBay. (via TFW2005, TFormers)

Cash Rolls in For Hasbro, Bay

The Wall Street Journal reporting that even though not even half of the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen toy line is at retail, already Hasbro is expecting "merchandise sales topping the 2007 product lineup by as much as 25%" as a result "merchandise sales topping the 2007 product lineup by as much as 25%, analysts say."

As io9.com points out, the more than $600 million in ticket sales plus $600 million in toys sales plus probably same ballpark for DVD sales is going to result in boffo cash for Paramount/DreamWorks, Hasbro and Michael Bay thanks to the "incestuous relationship" between everyone. Paramount/DreamWorks has to pay a license free for Transformers (which probably includes portion of the profits) but in turn Hasbro has to pay them a portion of the toy profits.

In addition, Michael Bay has a profit sharing deal with Paramount that netted him an estimated $75 million on the first movie and has a deal with Hasbro for 8% of their profits. Before the dust settles it wouldn't surprise me if he clears $150 million off the movie. Considering the money involved, do you really think he would turn down doing Transformers 3? I don't.

Deluxe Jolt Review and Power-Up Prime Followup

Peaugh has posted a video review of Deluxe Jolt who has a blink or you miss it moment in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (helped provide the electrical power for Prime/Jetfire merge). Speaking of the merge, he has also provides an update to his Power-Up Prime review that suggests an alternate configuration for the Prime/Jetfire combo.

What Extras Want on ROTF DVD/Blu-Ray?

Chances are all the extra features for the DVD/Blu-ray edition of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen are locked down and more or less complete. However, for the sake of argument let’s say there is still time to add more.

Things I know I don't want include the extended advertisements that are HBO First Look type features that are focused on selling the movie while the stars, directors and producers taking turns kissing each other’s rears. If people are watching the extra features then it’s safe to assume the sales pitch is already successful and it is no longer needs to continue. Instead they should focus on the who, what, when, where and how.

With that in mind here are some features I want to see, starting with the commentaries. I wouldn't mind a director and a full cast commentary. Yeah I know the cast feels too important to bother but consider it good PR with your fan base. By full “cast” I mean the voice cast too as they deserve some attention. In addition give the spotlight to those folks that really carried the film - those magicians at ILM and Digital Domain. Let them explain how they do what they do. A final commentary would be a fan commentary. Get two or three knowledgeable (and fair) fans that will breakdown all the eye candy, point out the G1 references, provide the back story and of course occasionally nitpick.

The next group is the "How they do that?" part. Do an anatomy of a scene (say The Forest Fight or Desert Battle) from words on page, to discussion, sketches, design, storyboard, to film, to CGI creations, to edit, sound mix and the final cut. Show the huge effort that went into what was on screen. A separate feature should be on the Transformers creations again from the tossing of ideas all the way up to the final CGI creation in the computer. The writer’s deserve some attention to so let them follow the process from tossing around ideas to treatment, the effect of the writers’ strike and then the race to deadline. Also Bay likes to brag how he keeps films on time and on budget. I say prove it. Show the many decisions, big and small that led to what show up on screen and $4 million under budget. Basically, consider it a crash course in how to be a director and manager, the Bay way. Another behind the scenes should be "Bay-hem" that focuses on that love of pyrotechnics, how the explosions are done and how Bay gets that look, camera angles and so forth that is his signature. Final feature I would love to see is how a Transformers toy is created. What is the process from an idea to sketch to prototype to factory construction to package on store shelf?

With Blu-ray, all these features could be tied together in an amazing way. Watchmen's Maximum Movie mode is the perfect model to tie all this together and something that Transformers 2 should seriously consider emulating.

I know I am not thinking of everything, so what extra features would you like to see for the DVD/Blu-ray edition of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen?

Transformers Crosses $300 in US

Monday Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen cross the worldwide $600 million mark in 13 days and now on the 14th day of release it has passed the $300 million threshold in the United States. A press release from Paramount provides the details.

$300 Million in 14-Days for Transformers Sequel

After only 14-days in release, the worldwide hit "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" became the 2nd fastest film in movie history to earn $300 million in U.S. ticket sales, eclipsing the previous record-holder "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," by 2-days. From director Michael Bay and executive producer Steven Spielberg, the Paramount Pictures release trails only "The Dark Knight" in this record-setting achievement.

"Moviegoers everywhere propelled the film to this great success, paving the way for a phenomenal run," said Paramount Pictures Vice Chairman Rob Moore.

2007's "Transformers" earned $319.2 million in its theatrical run, and more than $700 million worldwide. The sequel has already taken in over $600 million worldwide to date, conquering several records including:

-- Biggest Wednesday-Sunday opening of all time.
-- Biggest Wednesday opening of all time.
-- Paramount's biggest international opening of all time.
-- 3rd biggest worldwide opening weekend of all time.
-- 4th biggest international opening of all time.

At the rate the movie is going it should easily reach the $400 threshold ahead of Shrek 2 (43 days) for the second spot. The Dark Knight will remain the undisputed number 1 by crossing that mark in only 18 days.

Box Office Totals (in millions)

Date	US	Intl	Worldwide
6/19-6/23	$0.0	$24.1	$24.1
6/24-6/28	$200.2	$166.2	$366.4
6/29-7/02	$50.9	$52.7	$103.6
7/03-7/05	$42.3	$55.0	$97.3
7/06-7/10	$21.6	$35.1	$56.7
Totals	$315.0	$333.1	$648.1

*estimate of sales

Transformers Nikes in G1 Packaging (Updated)

Nike has been on the Transformers bandwagon for a while making TF related shoes every now and then for years but now they have kicked it up a notch with a packaging design that mimics the toy box design from the 80s complete with back of the box artwork and tech specs. The limited edition shoes will come in three versions - Megatron, Bumblebee and Soundwave. They are expected to hit select retails in July and will run you $100-$120 assuming you can even find them at retails. More details and pictures here. (via Gizmodo)

Update: Click here for another gallery of pictures of the new TF Nike shoes. Thanks to Brian for the link.

Digital Domain's CGI Work for ROTF

I have posted a few times about ILM's efforts for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen but now its Digital Domain's turn with two articles.

The first article from Gizmodo covers how Alice (Isabel Lucas) was transformed into a dangerous robot by the company. The process involved "advanced particle simulation to tear 10,000 pieces of skin away" that Bay found lacking so 40 frames were added of a close-up with 50 pieces being removed that was done by and by five guys over three months for those two seconds of action. The full details with pictures is here.

The second article from CGSociety also covers the Alice sequence but also touches on four others that Digital Domain worked on - the kitchen bots (8 in total), Wheelie, Soundwave and Reed Man. The total shots were about 130. Reed Man is razor thin robot that forms from the combined nano-bugs that Ravage spit out in the movie. The article covers some of the technical hurdles necessary to create the scenes and Bay's creative input on putting the scenes together. The full two page article is here.

Revenge Crosses $600 Million Mark

After 13 days of release, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen crossed the $600 million threshold in worldwide sales of $607,683,781. Monday sales took the movie over the top with $6.4M from the US and $9.9M ($299.8M total) from international sales ($307.9M total). For comparison it appears it took an estimated 40 days for the first Transformers movie to reach that mark. The first movies worldwide total was $708.2M ($319.2M US, $389.0 International). It appears that at this rate the movie might cross that value by the end of weekend.

Box Office Totals (in millions)

Date	US	Intl	Worldwide
6/19-6/23	$0.0	$24.1	$24.1
6/24-6/28	$200.2	$166.2	$366.4
6/29-7/02	$50.9	$52.7	$103.6
7/03-7/05	$42.3	$55.0	$97.3
7/06	$6.4	$9.9	$16.3
Totals	$299.8	$307.9	$607.7

*estimate of sales

Optimus Prime Presents the Top Ten List

Last night Optimus Prime (CGI version) with Peter Cullen doing the voice appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman to read "Top Ten Things That Sound Cool When Spoken By a Giant Robot." Cullen does the best he can with weak material but the CGI wasn't bad for something put together for a comedy segment. Thanks to Feris for the link.

Optimus Prime Replica for Sale

A 1997 Peterbilt 379 Extended Hood replica of Optimus Prime is for sale on eBay. As I write this the bid is already up to $20,300. Click here for the full gallery of pictures which shows its exterior and interior paint jobs.

Roger Ebert Rebukes Transformers 2 Fans

Robert Ebert is one of many critics that disliked the movie but his review was one of the most vicious. He hated the movie on a fundamental level, liking nothing about it. His review is essentially a series of insults that comes down to a crappy plot with stupid characters and loud confusing visuals that lasted too long. Only he didn't put it in such simple terms. Personally I just thought he clearly isn't the audience for this movie (much older males) and his review very clearly reflected that. I think my review more accurately reflects the audience this movie was aimed. He is a good example of why I read more than one opinion to get a wider viewpoint as often most mainstream critics have a set of expectations that I don't.

His review apparently led to outrage from Transfan that loved the movie and they let him know what they thought of his write-up. His response to that is a blog post entitled "I'm a proud Brainiac" (found via MB.com). At the heart of this, he basically believes that those that like Transformers 2 are idiots. In turn those that liked the movie think Ebert is an idiot. His response, essentially comes down to "no I am not stupid, you are!" What I have a problem isn’t that he disliked the movie, so what many people did. My problem is I think he (and many others) fail to do their jobs as a movie reviewer.

He says "it's not a critic's job to reflect box office taste. The job is to describe my reaction to a film, to account for it, and evoke it for others. The job of the reader is not to find his opinion applauded or seconded, but to evaluate another opinion against his own." Except this is bulls#@t. If this was true, reviews would come after the movie reaches theatres not before. How can I evaluate my opinion against his when he has seen the movie and I have not?

A critics job, in reality, is to provide an opinion (i.e. a "review") and "account for it" to assist their readers in making an informed decision on how they will spend their time and money. If a job of a movie critic is only to watch out for the next great piece of cinematic art then he wouldn't have a whole lot to write about. His job is to inform with his opinion and arm people with the information they need to commit to a choice. That he doesn’t seem to know this after all these years disturbs me.

A primary problem is Ebert seems to think his job is to judge a movie on its artistic merit only. If his audience was other critics, that measurement would be sufficient. However, he is speaking to more than just fellow critics. He is speaking to the average movie goers and their criteria tend to extend to entertainment value. As a result, a critic should judge a movie not just artistic value but by its entertainment value and provide readers with the proper set of expectations for a particular movie. All three should be a core to any review. Often only one is. The result is you get artistic films that gets loud accolades from reviewers but lacks in any entertainment value or vice versa. Often films may achieve both but still fall short for the average audience because the critic fails to set the proper expectations for a film. The thing is this disconnect between what the critic says about a movie versus what the audience ultimately decides on entertainment value occurs after the money and time has been spent and when this occurs the reviewer has ultimately failed at their job.

He felt the movie had no meaningful artistic value as his snarky review and blog post makes clear. What about entertainment value? Will it entertain me and why or why not. He was focused on how loud and poorly developed it was. I don't really argue that but I still found it to be highly entertaining. His review never indicated if that event could occur because it probably never crossed his mind because his expectations are set to a far different set of criteria then mine were.

I went into Transformers 2 expecting a loud, CGI fest with great action scenes with minimal story and character development and that is what I got. Can I demand more? Sure. The movie is made though and you should go in to any movie with a certain mindset appropriate to what is coming and what you want. If you wanted just a fun two hours of entertainment, then Transformers 2 probably met those expectations nicely. If you wanted something with more story and character development you were probably very disappointed. A properly written review would have prepared you for either scenario so you could decide if it was worth your money to view the movie.

Does this mean a critic can't demand more? Of course not. Most of the reviews that measured the film on more than just artistic merit (even the overwhelmingly positive ones) were quick to point its flaws but they also made sure to inform you of its entertainment value and set your expectations accordingly so if you spent your money and time you were less likely to be disappointed.
Ebert can feel like a "Brainiac" all he wants, his bruised ego isn't important to me. I just want him to actually help me in making an informed decision on my movie choices. Instead he has become the opposite of that. When he likes a movie, I become concerned as he consistently fails to measure a film on entertainment value and that is my (and many others) primary consideration when choosing what films to see.

The primary lesson here isn’t so much about Ebert but to try and figure out what information is important to you when reading reviews and find critics that consistently meet them. Equally important is to read more than one review to make a truly informed decision. Use Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic to try to find a set of reviewers that tend to meet your taste in movies and when they reach a consensus, you know what to do and when they don’t maybe more research is needed. Better yet, just let your friends are the guinea pigs.

Read more...

Transformers: ROTF Special Edition Album Cancelled

If you have been holding out on buying Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen The Album because of Amazon's Special Edition listing, you no longer need to wait as it has been cancelled according to an email TFormers received from the company. Considering no details were ever released about the edition I can't say I am surprised.

Transformers 2 #1 Second Weekend in Row

All week long since Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs came out last Wednesday the two movies have been battling it out at the domestic box office trading number one spots pretty much every other day of the week. The weekend ended with an estimated $42.5 tie between the two movies, the last time this occurred was 11 years ago between The Man in the Iron Mask versus Titanic.

Now the final numbers are in an Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen can claim itself as the number 1 movie for the second weekend in a row with a $42.3 million take to Ice Age 3's $41.7 million. The victory could either be credited to the additional 233 theatres TF2 is in or $4.6 million from IMAX sales. Take your pick. This increases TF2 domestic total to $293.4 million. The international take has not been reported and remains at the estimated $55 million for a total of $298 million bringing the worldwide total to $591.4.

With these new totals, ROTF moves up in rank on a few major listings:
- #31 on the All-Time Domestic
- #46 on the All-Time Worldwisde
- #10 on the Best Independence Day weekend

Overall, Revenge took a 61.2% nosedive from last weekend’s near record breaking high so the longevity of this film is still too tough to call as next weekend will provide some usable numbers but the following week Harry Potter 6 lands and all films are going to be shoved to the side in favor of that blockbuster.

Box Office Totals (in millions)

Date	US	Intl	Worldwide
6/19-6/23	$0.0	$24.1	$24.1
6/24-6/28	$200.2	$166.2	$366.4
6/29-7/02	$50.9	$52.7	$103.6
7/03-7/05	$42.3	$55.0*	$97.3
Totals	$293.4	$298.0	$591.4

*estimate of sales

Two Arcee Bikes From ROTF

RetroSBK, the creators of the Arcee bikes used in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, has posted a few images (below) of the bikes. In a seperate post they provide some additional information about the base models of the bikes before they added they worked their magic. (via Seibertron)

I wanted to take a minute to end the speculation about what really makes up Arcee…

No buell… never was. Quite frankly, I never thought of Arcee as overweight and under powered! Svlete and sexy or muscular and ready to rock, but not loud and slow!

The Pink bike is a Ducati 848, The Blue is a Suzki B-king. The purple is another bike, but she gets.. well see the movie, and you know what happens…

Escalating Visual Effects for Transformers 2

A new article from VFX World talks about how Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen raised the bar in visual effects for movies. The challenge for Industrial Light & Magic was creating the more complicated effects of 46 robots rather than the first movie's 16 while making them bigger, more complicated and at the scale IMAX requires all in the about the same amount of time it took to do the first film. Below are the highlights from the three page article that is worth the read as its amazing the details that have to be considered when creating a CGI sequence. Thanks to a site fan for the link.

- 46 robots in sequel, 14 robots in first
- ILM had about same amount of time to do the increased demands of the second movie as did for the first.
- Takes around 12 weeks to build the model and then another 12-15 weeks to do the rigging and painting for each robot in the computer.
- ILM created 60 builds for ROTF, Digital Domain also designed a few including Alice.
- Disc storage went from 20TB for first film to 150TB.
- Crew size maxxed out to 350 to reach deadline.
- Devastator, if in the real world, would be 150 feet high and Jetfire would be 50 feet tall.
- "both Michael Bay and Scott Farrar wanted to introduce the fact that these characters are alive. Drooling and spitting and bleeding and breathing. Rather than mechanical beasts standing around."
- "[Jetfire] has a sneer at one point, so we had to redesign the face and the eye area so he could wince," Farrar explains.
- "We utilized a lot of martial arts influences and spent about two months doing previs for forest fight sequence and did a full three-minute animatic (in Maya) before the plates were shot for that sequence. "
- "It took 72 hours per frame to render Devastator. We tried a little bit of everything for the forest fight. It's still an action sequence but the hard part was shooting thematically. We know the IMAX people tell you to slow the camera down and lock it off. Well, that's not how Michael shoots. We have pause moments, where you see the characters slow down, but then we have high speed and go back and forth that way."
- "People in computer graphics don't want to reduce motion blur, but the problem with the robots is that they have so many little pieces that they become artifacts with so many sharp things moving through the frame. I found it's better to reduce motion blur in certain moments, like when Bumblebee comes close or Starscream has moments in the forest fight and Optimus and Megatron, where we reduce motion blur to half, a third and an eighth."
- ...the breaking apart of a pyramid top was eight times bigger than the previous ILM rigid simulation record. It only required four or five shots but that took seven months just to create the simulation of the blocks tumbling and being torn apart by Devastator.

Alternity Megatron and Prime Video Review

In an attempt to cover more about Transformers then just the movie here are two more reviews from Peaugh for two Alternity line toys. This line is essentially replaces the Binal-Tech (Alternators in US) from a few years ago. However, like Binal-Tech (but not Alternators) these have some die-cast parts that makes for a heavy toy despite its Deluxe class size, they also seem to cost around $50 and up from toy sites that I used in the past like BigBadToyStore.com, TFSource.com, and Digital Toys.

The first review is for the upcoming release of Alternity Megatron and the second is for Optimus Prime. I have the Optimus Prime toy and while expensive found it to very cool and looking forward to getting Megatron.

Transformers 2 "Most Movie Mistakes of 2009"

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was recently crowned the top movie of the year worldwide and in the US but it also has a more notorious "award" according to MovieMistakes.com. Currently it is considered the most error prone movie of the year with more than 40 mistakes. Some of them seem to be nitpicks but the second closest movie is Angels & Demons with 19 mistakes so even if half of them removed Transformers 2 will retain the title of most movie mistakes (so far) for 2009. To read the full list, click here (via Seibertron)

The Doctor and Superion Video Review

Peaugh has posted two more video reviews of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen toys. The first one is Scout class Scalpel, aka The Doctor that turns from microscope to spider-thing. The other is Superion which is the Transformers: Energon toy with a new paint job and packaging. There is a reason the classic combiners remain a favorite for many as Hasbro has not quite figured out how to re-crack that nut as their combiner attempts have been weak.

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If your curious about the Superion upgrade kit that Peaugh is referring to, click here for concept pictures.

Transformers ROTF Officially Top Movie of Year

Wth the Sunday estimates indicating a horse race for weekend box office king with Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the estimates are enough to officially crown the movie "Number One Movie in the World" 2009 due to its domestic and worldwide totals, as the official website is happy to brag about (thanks NHLfan).

However, the Sunday night "we are number 1" from the studios will have to wait as the estimates continue to indicate a too close to call race for US weekend box office king with both three-day totals at an estimated $42.5 million. Currently Ice Age is estimated to take in $14.3 million to Transformers 2 $14 million, causing the tie. For the five-day opening (Wednesday to Sunday), Ice Age will probably claim the win with an estimated $67.5M to TF2's $64.9M and with international total of $148M has a five day worldwide total of $215 million, the most for a cartoon so plenty to crow about for the studio.

Internationally for Transformers 2 took it an estimated $55 million. The net result is Transformers 2 will probably cross the $600 million threshold tomorrow with a US total of around $292.8M, overseas total of 298.0M, for a worldwide total of $590.8 million. Hopefully the actuals tomorrow will solidify these numbers.

Box Office Totals (in millions)

Date	US	Intl	Worldwide
6/19-6/23	$0.0	$24.1	$24.1
6/24	$62.2	$60.0	$120.7
6/25	$29.1	$20.0	$48.6
6/26	$36.7
6/27	$40.2
6/28	$32.0	$86.2**
6/29	$14.8	$14.1	$28.9
6/30	$13.5	$16.8	$30.3
7/01	$11.0	$14.2	$25.2
7/02	$11.5*	$7.6*	$25.5
7/03	$17.8*
7/04	$10.0*
7/05	$14.0*	$55.0*,**
Totals	$292.8	$298.0	$590.8

*estimate of sales, **no day to day breakdown available

Transformers 2 vs Ice Age 3 Race Continues

The weekend estimates are in (yep they do that even with another full day to go) and it appears to be a pretty good weekend for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen but is expected to take an estimated 60% drop compared to last weekend. It could just be a blip because of the holiday weekend but not something Paramount wants to see occur every weekend. The drop is in part because its first weekend numbers were simply unsustainable, partly due to new competition in the form of Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs and Public Enemies (which did fine but non-started compared to TF2's numbers) and probably because word of mouth wasn't as strong as hoped.

Transformers 2 was already the top grossing movie worldwide but as of Friday July 3rd, it passed Up as the top grossing movie of the year in the US by taking in an estimated domestic gross $17.8 million for a US total of $268.7 million compared to Up's domestic gross of $261.0 million. Up's total took 36 days to achieve, Transformers 2 took only 10 days.

In addition it just eeked out a win for Friday versus Ice Age 3 with $17.8M to $17.0M. So far Transformers has been number one two out of the first three days of Ice Age's release.

As for Saturday and Sunday, both are expected to make an estimated $43 million for the three day weekend but exactly which will be crowned #1 at the box office is too close to call. Saturday numbers put Ice Age 3 back on top with an estimated take of $11.0 million to $10.0 million (for a 2-2 tie). As for Sunday, Transformers 2 is estimated at $15.2M to Ice Age's 3 $15.0 million but the day has barely started so consider those numbers just placeholders until more solid numbers come in by the late afternoon. I was unable to find any numbers for the international box office so that remains blank on the chart below.

Box Office Totals (in millions)

Date	US	Intl	Worldwide
6/19-6/23	$0.0	$24.1	$24.1
6/24	$62.2	$60.0	$120.7
6/25	$29.1	$20.0	$48.6
6/26	$36.7
6/27	$40.2
6/28	$32.0	$86.2**
6/29	$14.8	$14.1	$28.9
6/30	$13.5	$16.8	$30.3
7/01	$11.0	$14.2	$25.2
7/02	$11.5*	$14.0*	$25.5
7/03	$17.8*		$17.8
7/04	$10.0*		$10.0
7/05	$15.2*		$15.2
Totals	$293.9	$249.4	$543.3

*estimate of sales, **no day to day breakdown available

Transformers 2 Blu-ray/DVD Release on October 24th?

Blu-ray.com has a listing for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen that seems to indicate an October 24th release date for the Blu-ray and DVD disc release of the movie. This has not been officially confirmed by Paramount but the first movie was released on October 16th, 2007 so there is precedent for the quick turnaround. Thanks to Mauricio for the link.

Optimus Prime on Letterman?

I was watching the Boston 4th of July celebration and there was a commercial for the Late Show with David Letterman saying that Optimus Prime will be reading off the Top 10 list Monday night. I am not sure if they mean some CGI thing with Prime (and probably using the first or second movies scenes) or if Peter Cullen is stopping by and reading the list in Prime's voice. I guess we will have to watch Monday night find out.

Transformers Nintendo DS Lite Case

Turns out there is a Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Bumblebee Nintendo DS Lite Armor case with stylus as found on Engadget (which has a contest for it) and thought it was goofy enough to post about. There is also a Megatron version. The cases look kind of cool but isn't the whole point of the Nintendo DS its portability and doesn't a rather large case with huge stylus defeat that purpose?

Bay vs Fox? No

For some reason a Wall Street Article from two weeks ago is gaining traction on various gossip sites about a supposed feud between Megan Fox and Michael Bay.

All that occured is Megan Fox told Entertainment Weekly:

I mean, I can't s--- on this movie because it did give me a career and open all these doors for me. But I don't want to blow smoke up people's a--. People are well aware that this is not a movie about acting."

Here is Bay's response (and my comments at the time):

It’s interesting that you want to focus on acting. Megan Fox, one of the leads in “Transformers” has criticized your films for being special-effects-driven and not offering so many acting opportunities. Do you agree?
Well, that’s Megan Fox for you. She says some very ridiculous things because she’s 23 years old and she still has a lot of growing to do. You roll your eyes when you see statements like that and think, “Okay Megan, you can do whatever you want. I got it.” But I 100% disagree with her. Nick Cage wasn’t a big actor when I cast him, nor was Ben Affleck before I put him in “Armageddon.” Shia LaBeouf wasn’t a big movie star before he did “Transformers”—and then he exploded. Not to mention Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, from “Bad Boys.” Nobody in the world knew about Megan Fox until I found her and put her in “Transformers.” I like to think that I’ve had some luck in building actors’ careers with my films.
(Bay didn't actually counter Fox's comments. He has an eye for talent and definitly builds careers but his movies are not studies in acting. - TFLive)

That is the extent of the feud. What do you expect Bay to say "Yeah she is right, my films require no acting skill whatsoever." Closer to the truth but part of his job is to sell himself and his films and that wouldn't help.

Box Office: Transformers 2 Tops Ice Age on Thursday

It appears this weekend is going to be a horse race between Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen if Thursday's box office is any indication. Transformers 2 took in another estimated $11.5 million to Ice Ages $11.1 bringing the movies' US gross $250.9M. Overseas the numbers are not but I estimate another $14 million. If that proves true, then Revenge will just cross over the $500 million threshold. No idea when final numbers will be released.

Box Office Totals (in millions)

Date	US	Intl	Worldwide
6/19-6/23	$0.0	$24.1	$24.1
6/24	$62.2	$60.0	$120.7
6/25	$29.1	$20.0	$48.6
6/26	$36.7
6/27	$40.2
6/28	$32.0	$86.2**
6/29	$14.8	$14.1	$28.9
6/30	$13.5	$16.8	$30.3
7/01	$11.0	$14.2	$25.2
7/02	$11.5*	$14.0*	$25.5
Totals	$250.9	$249.4	$500.3

*estimate of sales, **no day to day breakdown available

Supreme Devastator Video Review

Below is three part video review of Supreme class Devastator from the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen toy line done by frenzyrumble.com. This is the $100 version that goes from 6 construction vehicles to combined mode with no individual robot mode. Overall the combined mode looks good and the individual vehicles are fine but it just isn't doing it for me. Thanks to Yoboy for the links.

Transformers: ROTF Top Grossing Movie Worldwide

As of Wednesday, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen surpassed Angels & Demons as the top grossing movie of 2009 worldwide with a total worldwide total of $474.8 million to Angels $461.6 million. It still remains behind Up ($256.5M) and Star Trek ($256.5M) for the top rank domestically with a total of $239.4 million. Wednesday also marked the first time since its release that Transformers 2 was not ranked number 1. It took in a US box office of $11 million to Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs' first day gross of $13.8 million. This is an 82% drop in sales from last Wednesday but then anything close to that first day total of $62 million is unrealistic expectation.

International sales added an additional $14.2 million to the coffers. In general, it seems for a movie to reach monster status, it has to be equally popular internationally as it is in the states and in this case the breakdown stands at 50.4% of the total worldwide gross comes from the states and 49.6% everywhere else. That basically means for every dollar spent in the states, a dollar is being spent elsewhere. The net result is a doubling of expected profits since overseas sales is never a given but necessary if a film is to reach the $500M or more club that studios love to achieve. July the 4th is expected to cause the box office to take a hit but clearly overseas sales will mitigate the loss of momentum.

Box Office Totals (in millions)

Date	US	Intl	Worldwide
6/19-6/23	$0.0	$24.1	$24.1
6/24	$62.2	$60.0	$120.7
6/25	$29.1	$20.0	$48.6
6/26	$36.7
6/27	$40.2
6/28	$32.0	$86.2**
6/29	$14.8	$14.1	$28.9
6/30	$13.5	$16.8	$30.3
7/01	$11.0	$14.2	$25.2
Totals	$239.4	$235.4	$474.8

*estimate of sales, **no day to day breakdown available

Atlus Airmen in Transformers 2

Air Education and Training Command website writes about several airmen based at Altus Air Force Base in Oklahoma, USA that provided consulting services and flew aircraft for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Below is a portion of the article but the entire thing plus more pictures can be found here. Link found by Voiceroy.

Capt. Judd Baker, 58th Airlift Squadron, was one of the C-17 Globemaster III aircraft commanders during filming at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., and Holloman Air Force Base, N.M. Captain Baker said, a mission that started as ordinary quickly grew into something much greater.

Aircraft and Airmen from the 97th Air Mobility Wing appear prominently in the combat scenes of the film. Even when the aircraft and the aircrews are not on screen, the experience and expertise of Altus Airmen guided the action. Every time they would have something going on with the C-17s, it was, 'Would this be real? Would this be how you would do it? Is this how you say that or was this what you call that?,'" Captain Baker said. "And whatever we said, it was, 'Yep, change that in the script. That's what we'll say.'"

Staff Sgt. Christopher Worthy, 58th AS loadmaster, said the experience of being on a Hollywood set was far different from his usual duty day. "It's something I never thought I would get to do," he said. "Here, we fly the line, train the guys so they can go out and do the real world missions -- it's a unique experience to get the call and go do something other than train."

Perhaps the most excited viewers were the children who saw their dads on the big screen with some very big counterparts. When asked about his children's reaction, Captain Baker smiled. "They said, 'Hey, daddy was in a movie and got to meet Optimus Prime,'... I think that's fun," he said.

Peter Cullen, Stan Bush Interview

Below are two links from The Electric Playground of interviews with Peter Cullen (voice of Optimus Prime) and Stan Bush (singer, song writer of The Touch) that was record during Botcon 09 a few weeks ago. Cullen discusses the origin of his Prime voice and working on the cartoon series while Bush talks about the origin of his song and the impact it had when it was used in Transformers: The Movie. Thinks found by benzo.

Top 10 Burning Questions from Transformers 2 (Updated)

This post pretty much assumes you have seen the movie, so spoilers within.

If you’re a fan of science fiction and comics, part of the fun is coming up with explanations (sometime elaborate ones) to explain inconsistencies in continuity. As my review of the movie indicated, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen has story holes large enough for Optimus Prime to drive through. From Yahoo! Movies here are top ten questions (really more then that) about Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, many of which will probably be beyond the ability to retcon. Thanks to aunit2011 for the link.

1. In "Transformers," there was this giant battle in the middle of downtown Los Angeles -- excuse me, Mission City -- that was witnessed by thousands of people at the very least. But somehow the government was able to cover up the whole thing, and now the existence of alien robots is just an internet rumor? How did they do it? Pay off everyone who was there and quickly fix millions of dollars in damage? Also, didn't Keller (Jon Voight) go on TV and tell everyone we were being attacked by "a technological civilization far superior to our own"? How did they spin that?
If remember, the novel said Mendelson Robotics is blamed as part of a failed test of new weaponary. Also at the end of the first movie Keller even indicated it was explained as a failed training exercise.

2. There are two pieces of the Allspark cube left: the military has one under lock and key, and Sam discovers another. The Decepticons steal one and bring Megatron back to life. But when Sam (Shia LaBeouf) wants to bring back Optimus, he has to find the Matrix of Leadership on the other side of the globe. Why not use the other piece? Mikaela (Megan Fox) has it in her backpack the whole time. It brought his kitchen appliances to life, why can't it do the same for Optimus?
Mikaela's shard was used on Jetfire

3. Speaking of Megatron's rebirth, when the Decepticons venture deep into the ocean to revive him, the Navy crew tracking them reads five contacts. When they get down there, they tear apart one of the robots for parts to rebuild Megatron. Then as they rise to the surface, the same Navy guys say they spot six contacts. The little "Doctor" robot popped out down there, but he's about a third of the size of a person. Would he have shown up on sonar?

4. That reminds me: even if I were to forgive the Doctor's German accent -- and director Michael Bay is asking me to forgive a lot of ridiculous accents -- why would a robot need glasses? He has little lenses that flip in front of his mechanical eyes. Couldn't he just get his eyes adjusted? You'd think with all the laser guns, someone could perform a Lasik procedure.

5. Apparently, Transformers can look like people now. How? And how is it that even though the robo-girl (Isabel Lucas) is made of metal, she can still straddle Sam without crushing him. And if Bumblebee knows something's wrong with her, why does he spit antifreeze at her instead of telling Sam? Yes, his voicebox is broken, but wasn't it fixed at the end of the last movie?

6. The Fallen is the last of the Primes, since they all sacrificed themselves to stop him from destroying the sun. But then he says that Optimus is a descendant of the Primes. First, Transformers have kids? And second, how could he descend from them if they were all dead? And if the Fallen could only be destroyed by a Prime, why didn't the originals just gang up on him back in the day? And what makes Optimus so special, anyway? Megatron beat him earlier, but all it takes is a few spare parts from creaky old Jetfire for him to take out the Fallen?

7. Sam, Mikaela, and Simmons (John Turturro) go to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. to find Jetfire. Then they walk out the back onto a wide open field with old planes and mountains in the distance. When did the National Mall start to look so much like to Tucson, AZ (where they really filmed that scene)?

8. The geography is just as bad when they go to Egypt. The stone city of Petra in Jordan is over 250 miles away, over mountainous terrain, with few paved roads and the Israeli border between them, so how can they drive from one to the other in a couple of hours. And the Pyramids are said to be shooting distance from the Mediterranean, but they are actually well over 80 miles inland. Even if the Navy ship had a secret rail gun, and even if the captain would take an order to fire from a former agent of a government branch that no longer exists (over a walkie-talkie that inexplicably starts working again), how could it hit a moving target from that distance?

9. Sam briefly dies and goes to Robot Heaven. Robot Heaven?!?!

10. Where does Sam's bandage come from? What about his extra sock? Why does Sam's roommate not contribute anything at all? What was the Fallen doing for those thousands of years Megatron was frozen in ice? How does one satellite receive transmissions from everywhere on the planet? Why does Wheelie hump Mikaela's leg? Why do we have to see John Turturro's thong? Why are robots who join together to become Devastator also seen fighting the Army at the same time? Why does the government want only our military fighting Decepticons when our weapons seem unable to make so much as a dent on any of them? Why did the ancient Egyptians build a pyramid around the sun-destroying machines instead of just breaking it? Why is the Matrix of Leadership bigger in the Fallen's hand than in Sam's? And how do Mikaela's pants stay so clean?

Update: Below are one possible set of answers to the various questions asked above by Bruno. I thought they were good and logical and might help others in clearing up some things.
Question 3:
I believe the Navy is tracking and looking for the energy that ENB's emit.

Question 4:
His lenses are part of the alt mode - the microscope. It's common to see doctors with magnifying lenses when they do surgeries, and the Doctor was about to "extract" Sam's Brain to have the knowledge of his mind.

Question 5:
Part 1 - Apparently, Transformers can look like people now. How?
The pretender is a robot that looks like a human. In the Movie Prequels (HQs), while Sam is in the bedroom with Alice, Leo is in the living room watch tv and sees an advertisement of a new fun park (like disneyworld) and he sees a human sized doll that looks exactly like Alice. So, the pretender scanned the doll and transformed in a human.
Part 2 - And how is it that even though the robo-girl (Isabel Lucas) is made of metal, she can still straddle Sam without crushing him.
Alice, like the other decepticons, wanted what was in Sam's mind. So he must be alive to allow the Doctor to do his job.
Part 3 - And if Bumblebee knows something's wrong with her, why does he spit antifreeze at her instead of telling Sam?
When Bumblebee spits antifreeze at Alice he doesn't know she is a robot. He only do that because Sam is "cheating" Mikaela. During the entire scene, Bumblebee plays musics that focus on the cheating part.

Question 10:
Part 1 - Where does Sam's bandage come from?
When Sam crashes after the space bridge scene, he injures his hand and Mikaela put a bandage on it.
Part 2 - What about his extra sock?
Sam took one of his socks to put the ashes of the matrix inside. He doesn't have a third sock!
Part 3 - Why does Sam's roommate not contribute anything at all?
Leo doesn't do a lot in the movie but what he does is crucial to the storyline. Thanks to him, Sam and Mikaela meet former-Agent Simmons, aka RoboWarrior, and meet Jetfire, an autobot that helps Sam and Optimus Prime.
Part 4 - How does one satellite receive transmissions from everywhere on the planet?
In this question we see how stupid the person who wrote this is. We have a worlwide system of satellites that cover the entire planet. The GPS (Global Positioning System) for example.
Part 5 - Why does Wheelie hump Mikaela's leg?
It's called comedy!
Part 6 - Why do we have to see John Turturro's thong?
In the first movie, he has a shirt with a superman-ish symbol with S7 on it and boxers that match. In this movie, Bay wanted to push a little more on that.
Part 7 - Why are robots who join together to become Devastator also seen fighting the Army at the same time?
It's like the toys. They are diferent characters. So, we could say that there are 2 demolishers (1 dies in the beginning and 1 to form Devastator), 2 Scrappers, 2 Mixmasters ...
Part 8 - Why does the government want only our military fighting Decepticons when our weapons seem unable to make so much as a dent on any of them?
First, the government doesn't want that. It only askes if the Decepticons are in Earth beacause of the Autobots. Second, it's Optimus Prime that doesn't want to share cybertronian technology with humans (he explains that in the movie). Third, the military do have weapons to destroy robots. Think: what killed Devastator???
Part 9 - Why did the ancient Egyptians build a pyramid around the sun-destroying machines instead of just breaking it?
The ancient egyptians lived around 3000 a.C. Do you think they had any techology that could destroy the sun harvester?

Read more...

Box Office: Tuesday's Total $30.3 Million

The massive haul continues for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen as it takes in more in a day then most movies make in an entire first week of release. Tuesdays totals from Box Office Mojo is a US box office of $13.5 million, International is $16.8 million for a total take of $30.3 million. This brings the worldwide gross to $449.6 million. As expected, TF2 will pass Angels and Demons ($461.4M total) today to become the top movie worldwide for 2009.

Box Office Totals (in millions)

Date	US	Intl	Worldwide
6/19-6/23	$0.0	$24.1	$24.1
6/24	$200.1	$60.0	$120.7
6/25	$29.1	$20.0	$48.6
6/26	$36.7
6/27	$40.2
6/28	$32.0	$86.2**
6/29	$14.8	$14.1	$28.9
6/30	$13.5	$16.8	$30.3
Totals	$228.4	$221.2	$449.6

*estimate of sales, **no day to day breakdown available

ILM's IMAX Challenges

A new article from Studio Daily (via Tformers) covers the challenge Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) had in building robots for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. For example, Devastator is comprised of 52,632 parts with 12 million polygons, the biggest model ever created by ILM. For the first movie they were talking about the complexity of Optimus Prime's 10,000 parts. The result of this, other decisions, and IMAX requirements resulted in Transformers 2 maxing out to 83% of ILM's render farms capacity with all of ILM's other projects squeezed into the remaining 17%. From there the article gets very technical and shows the huge amount of effort that ILM poured into the movie to create the awesome effects we enjoyed. A section below, full article here.

“Their visual effects covered some portions of the frame,” Smith says of Dark Knight. “But we were dealing with robots everywhere covering up everything. When we compared the resolution we were scanning and putting onscreen to 35mm film at 2K, we decided 4K looked great. Plus we knew painting clean frames and color grading would be more difficult above 4K. When you hear 2K to 4K it might sound like double, but the render times are six times bigger and the memory requirements are six times bigger in IMAX. Across the board, it turned out to be six times bigger.”

During the height of production, ILM dedicated 80 percent of its total rendering capacity to Transformers 2, one time even hitting 83 percent. “We broke all the ILM records,” Smith says. “Everyone else squeezed into 17 percent.” How much is that? ILM’s render farm has 5700 core processors, the newest of which are dual processor and quad cores (eight cores per blade), with up to 32 GB of memory per blade. In addition, the render farm can access the 2000 core processors in the artists’ workstations, which ups the total core processors to 7700. As for data storage, the studio’s data center currently has 500 TB online. Transformers 2 sucked up 154 TB, more than seven times the 20 TB needed for 2007’s Transformers.

The switch to 4K resolution for the IMAX sequences had an impact beyond rendering. “Everything is bigger with IMAX,” Smith says. “When we were rolling out the IMAX sequences, we had more model resolution and detail, and we had a huge wave of machine upgrades all the way through paint and compositing. We switched to [The Foundry’s] Nuke to make handling the comps easier.”

G4's Transformers 2 Debate

I figure some will find the below video interesting (blog reader pointed it out) since Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen seems ignite a lot of passion as it’s either loved or hated. Below is a little debate talking about the merits of the movie from someone that enjoyed it (Todd Gilchrist from Cinematical.com) and hated it (Devin Faraci from chud.com) with Attack of the Show host Kevin Pereira moderating (who also hated it but mostly stays out of it).

Video Games - E3 2009 - Attack of the Show

Ramon Rodriguez Profile

Hero Complex profiles Ramon Rodriguez who co-starred in Transformers 2 as Leo Ponce de Leon Spitz and in The Taking of Pelham 123. The article suggests that Michael Bay likes Sam's sidekick enough that he could have a larger role in Transformers 3 (but if he did I can't find that information in any of the quoted comments from Bay).

The actor started with a sports-management degree from New York University which led to working for the PR department of the NY Knicks were he won a Nike basketball competition (by biting a pen while the ball spun on the tip), and joined the Nike freestyle team for a tour of Asia and Europe. This led to acting with by guesting for two episodes on Rescue Me, followed by the Wire, then a role in Bella and finally being cast in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

"I've worked with big stars, people like Will Smith, Sean Connery and Bruce Willis, but casting is a weird thing, it takes you places you don’t expect," Bay said. "We went looking for a sidekick in this movie, Shia’s sidekick, and we find this new kid who really pops on screen. I think he’s going to have a real bright career. It’s great to work with big stars, but it’s always fun to discover people."

"He’s got a street edge and a realness to him," said the director, whose past films include "The Rock" and "Bad Boys.” "He’s a New York kid with a street feel to him. He adapted to the actors very well, which isn’t always easy in a big movie, a sequel, where a lot of the cast chemistry has been set already. He’s funny, charming, comes off cool and accessible.”

Box Office: Monday's Take $28.9 Million

Another day, another $28.9 million added to the total for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen from worldwide box office sales on Monday. $14.8 million of the toal is from US sales with the remaining $14.1 million from international sales. Data from Box Office Mojo.

Box Office Totals (in millions)

Date	US	Intl	Worldwide
6/19-6/23	$0.0	$24.1	$24.1
6/24	$200.1	$60.0	$120.7
6/25	$29.1	$20.0	$48.6
6/26	$36.7
6/27	$40.2
6/28	$32.0	$86.2**
6/29	$14.8	$14.1	$28.9
Totals	$214.9	$204.4	$419.3

*estimate of sales, **no day to day breakdown available

Dark Horizon Interviews Transformers 2 Writers

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman continue their online promotion of the movie in an interview with Dark Horizons as they contrast working on Star Trek with Abrams and Transformers with Bay and their writing carrers. Snippet below, full interview here.

Question: How seriously do you take the good with the bad? I mean, Star Trek received over 90 percent rave reviews, while Transformers, not so much. Do you take it seriously? Do you ignore it? Why do you think this is?Orci: We take it seriously, in as much as a real fact of a media blogosphere dialogue. And as its own phenomenon, that’s a fascinating thing to engage in one way or the other. We tend to separate that from what an audience feels. And we tend to go by the audience. You know, you always want to make sure that you don’t overlook a valid opinion that has something constructive to say, merely because it’s negative.
Kurtzman: Nobody can honestly say that they don’t care about reviews. Like, nobody. But we knew the minute we agreed to do Transformers 2 that these were gonna be the reviews, no matter what we came up with. And that’s just a fact of life that you accept going into it.

Question: Let me ask you this. You’re working with two very, very filmmakers, with Abrams and Bay. And I’m just wondering when you’re working on a Bay film, what the different process is in writing a script, for a director who has very different visual sensibilities to somebody like J.J. Abrams?
Kurtzman: I mean, it’s a very different process. They’re very different directors. They look for very different things.
Orci: But part of that difference comes from the fact that they’re different franchises. They require different things.
Kurtzman: Yeah. That’s right.
Orci: You know, it’s not just that we’re writing for Michael Bay. We’re writing for Transformers. And Michael Bay is perfect for Transformers. And J.J. is perfect for Star Trek, because what Star Trek requires is something else. So, we tend to look at it as, the show is the boss. All of our boss. And we’re servicing that more than anything. You know, in terms of differences in the experience. Obviously, Transformers 2 was unique, in that it went down in the middle of the strike. We were writing the movie three months before it was about to be shot, therefore we were handing Michael pages that night. You know, every night, so they could be prepared. Which was different than Star Trek, where we had six leisurely months to go write two drafts.

Question: Right. And Star Trek is very much a character-based film. I mean, you’re dealing with both iconic characters, but also you’re developing relationships in that particular movie. This one, you’re really creating, I guess, a lot of set pieces for Michael to work with. And I’m just wondering, how frustrating is it for you when you do have such limited time? And does that affect the final product, as screenwriters?
Orci: In terms of “frustrating,” we try to think of it as just an interesting challenge. I mean, putting together a movie of this size, coordinating with Michael and production and the military and Hasbro, is a fascinating thing to do. You know, we try to sort of learn and enjoy, and not be paralyzed by the fear of it. On the other hand, it’s not to say – it’s just a different experience, going off to write a script for six months, you know?

Question: What do you do differently as a writer, when you’re doing something like a Transformers 2, that you don’t have to worry about when you’re doing a Star Trek, or any other initial film?
Orci: Well, one is, we’re making more room for the action. Because we know that Michael is going to want to push that, and get every dollar on the screen. You know, you don’t just go to Egypt for a two-minute sequence. If you’re going to be at the Pyramids of Giza and be one of the first people to be allowed to shoot there, you really want to maximize that. And we know that that’s going to be the case with him. So, of course, there’s a different kind of a pacing.

10 Foot Tall Optimus Prime at Smithsonian

From IMAXNews twitter, below are two images related to IMAX showing of Transformers 2. The first is a 10 foot tall Optimus Prime figure for the Smithsonian's IMAX screen. The film shot at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center for its Jetfire scenes. In addition the 18 foot tall Bumblebee prop was set up at the AMC Universal CityWalk IMAX theatre.

The IMAX showings of Transformers Revenge of Fallen has broken a record with largest box office take yet with $14.4 million on 169 screens in the states. An additional $3.2 million came from 60 IMAX screens overseas for a total take of $18.3 million. Hopefully this will translate to a bigger IMAX budget for the third film.

Deluxe Jolt Bio

It’s been over a month since seen anything new about Jolt the GM Volt that barely appeared in Revenge of the Fallen (blink and you would have missed him). From TFW2005, here is an image of Deluxe Jolt's card back that includes his bio.

Deluxe Jolt Bio

Jolt loves to cause trouble, more than one group of Decepticons has watched in confusion as Jolt, all alone, raced around them in circles, taunting them. They're not used to Autobots acting crazy. Little do they know that it really is just an act - part of a plan to lure his enemies in close where he can deliver a crippling blow with his electro-whips.

Worst Reviewed $400 Million Hit?

A new article on Breitbart.com points out that Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen has the likihood of being "the worst-reviewed movie ever to make the $400 million club (domestically)." I assume they mean domestically since the worldwide total is nearly $400 million. Thanks to Mike for the link.

The movie pulled in $201.2 million since opening Wednesday, the second-best result for a movie in its first five days, just behind "The Dark Knight" with $203.8 million. Even after its whopping $60.6 million opening day, "Revenge of the Fallen" was packing theaters, a sign that unlike critics, who mostly hated the movie, audiences felt they were getting their money's worth and were giving the flick good word of mouth.

Critics "forget what the goal of the movie was. The goal of the movie is to entertain and have fun," said Rob Moore, vice chairman of Paramount, which is distributing "Transformers" for DreamWorks. "What the audience tells us is, `We couldn't be more entertained and having more fun.' They kind of roll their eyes at the critics and say, `You have no idea what you're talking about.'"

According to Paramount's exit polls, 91 percent of the audience thought the sequel was as good as or better than the first "Transformers," which received far better reviews.

Not so for the new "Transformers." On Rottentomatoes.com, a Web site that compiles critics' opinions, the sequel had only 38 positive reviews out of 187, a lowly 20 percent rating usually reserved for box-office duds.

Many critics who liked the movie had reservations, praising the movie's visual effects and relentless action but generally advising audiences to check their brains at the door. On Metacritic.com, a site that assigns ratings of zero to 100 based on movie reviews, "Revenge of the Fallen" received a 36, a lowly score barely above those given to recent box-office duds "Year One" and "Land of the Lost."

Of the eight movies that have grossed more than $400 million domestically, four scored 90 percent or higher on Rottentomatoes: "The Dark Knight," "Spider-Man," "E.T. the Extra-terrestrial" and "Star Wars." Two others, "Shrek 2" and "Titanic," topped 80 percent.

The article doesn't mentioned that while the critics on Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a drubbing, the community's average score is 68%. On Metacritic, the users score is 60 out of 100.

Overall, I think its the usual disconnect between critics and the audience and the different set of requirements each have. To me, any critic should answer a simple question when writing a movie review - "Is the movie entertaining?". When they fail to consider that question as part of their judgement, you get the wide disconnect between the audience and the critic that this movie illustrates. Most of the reviews I read focused on how loud the movie was, how weak the story, how insulting the jokes but few actually addressed that critical question - is it entertaining?

Critics tend to judge movies as a form of art looking for themes, acting tour de forces, scenary chewing and so forth. For the general audience, the goal is often a desire to escape from life for a few hours, to be entertained with anything beyond that is a nice bonus. Cutting off your brain and enjoying two hours of loud escapism isn't a bad thing. That is what Transformers 2 is for most, just two and half hours of great entertainment, something most critics failed to judge the movie on and something they should address if they want to truly reflect the audience they are trying to reach.

More Transformers Talk from Writers

SciFi Scanner has posted an interview with Transformers 2 writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci as they talk about writing scripts and fandom. Snippet below, full interview here.

Q: Do you think you would have ended up with a different screenplay were you not writing under the pressure of the strike?
AK: No. We had a fairly long postproduction time. We literally finished writing the movie two weeks ago. We were writing robot dialogue right up to the last minute, until they locked picture and sound and they took the print out of our hands.

Q: Do you write a screenplay differently for a director like Michael Bay than you would for J.J. Abrams?
AK: Absolutely.
BO: It's half that and half you're writing to what the franchise is. We're not writing big because it's Michael Bay; Michael Bay is right for Transformers.
AK: With a director like Michael, who's extremely specific about what he does and does not like to do, our job is to backstop him to a large degree and keep on him about plot and logic and emotion. We very rarely get resistance on that. He has such an innate understanding of what audiences want to see. Where he'll push back is if he thinks logic is somehow overriding the fun for the audience.
BO: You've gotta have a pretty damn good reason to tell him why he's gotta lose one of his awesome sequences.

Q: Are Transformers fans as ravenous as Trekkies?
BO: Transformers fans taught us how to deal with Star Trek fans. And they're both heavy-duty. But Transformers fans taught us how to interact, how to turn the conversation constructive a little bit, and not just have it be, "You suck. Go jump off of a building, please."

Q: So when a fan says the Autobot twins are the Jar Jar Binks of Transformers...
BO: My favorite was someone called them Car Car Binks.
AK: Look, I can tell you that Michael designed those characters to reflect what he thought would be funny for kids. And we go with the ride. Literally.

Q: Did you learn anything from writing Transformers 2 that's been helpful in formulating Trek 2?
AK: They're so different. You're putting on a different hat. And the choices that you make in Transformers with Michael as the director versus Star Trek with J.J. couldn't be more 180 degrees in the opposite direction. So I don't know that for me there's a natural corollary between them.

Transformers 2 First Five Days: $390.4 Worldwide (Updated)

Update: The final numbers are in and the estimates were close enough that Transformers 2 will fall short of defeating The Dark Knight's five day record. The domestic gross total dipped a touch from $201.2M to $200.1M. The five day international gross for the film is actually $166.1 million but once include the previous weekend gross from early opening in UK and Japan the total international take in the first week is $190.3. It seems to me that as a result the five day total is actually inflated by $24.1M as the $390.4 million is actually the worldwide total of the first full week of release for the movie from 6/19-6/28. I forgot next weekend is a holiday in the states (Independence Day), but Ice Age 2 and Public Enemies will be out so I wouldn't be surprised if Ice Age and Transformers 2 post impressive numbers but it will be a close race for number one.

If your interested in a record tally in a way that only box office statistics (like baseball) can provide, click here for a breakdown of the various ways that Transformers 2 broke some records (depending on how you tweak the numbers).

Previous
The weekend isn't over but the number crunchers of box office statistics have released the total for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen worldwide haul as $387.3 million dollars. In the US alone the movie took in $201.2 million just a few million short of The Dark Knights $203.8 million which is the current record holder for most successful five-day and three-day opening. Internationally the movie raked in a five day total of $186.1 million. IMAX's sales for the five days were $14.4 million. All these values are still estimates with final numbers expected tomorrow.

For Sunday's numbers the US estimate is $34.6, an expected drop-off and enough to prevent it from topping Dark Knight. The three day weekend totals for the movie in the US was $112M and internationally it was $106.1M which places the movie as 7th in the weekend record list, just behind Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.

For comparison to this year's other hits, Up just passed Star Trek as the top movie in the US with a gross of $250.2 (31 days in theatres) to Trek's $246.2 (52 days in theatres). I expect Transformers 2 to pass that total by Wednesday at the latest, in only 6-7 days. Worldwide Up's total is $285.5M and Trek's is $369.2M both already blown away by Transformers 2 in just a few days. Worldwide the top movie is Angels & Demons with a $461.0M total ($330.8 from overseas sales) in 45 days in theaters. Transformers will probably pass that total by Thursday.

If compare to the first Transformers, its worldwide total was $708.3 and already in just 5 days the sequel has earned 54.7% of that total. Suffice it to say May, Paramount and company are probably very happy. A third movie is a definite if there was any doubt before. As for next weekend, I expect around a 65% drop simply because those kinds of numbers are unsustainable nowadays.

Box Office Totals (in millions)

Date	US	Intl	Worldwide
6/19-6/23	$0.0	$24.1	$24.1
6/24	$62.0	$60.0	$120.7
6/25	$29.1	$20.0	$48.6
6/26	$36.7
6/27	$40.2
6/28	$32.0	$86.2**
Totals	$200.1	$190.3	$390.4

*estimate of sales, **no day to day breakdown available

Box Office: Saturday's Take is Estimated $40.6M

Update: Small update, the estimate for Saturday was bumped up to $40.6 million.

Deadline Hollywood reports that the early estimate for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen's Saturday box office is $39.5 million which will bump up expectations to a very close $200 million but will fall a touch short of The Dark Knight's $203.8 million 5-day record. To pass the movie the Saturday final number difference plus Sunday's sales would have to surpass $38.3 million which is possible but unlikely. Sadly no international numbers to add to the chart. Thanks again to Scalan15.

Box Office Totals (in millions)

Date	US	Intl	Worldwide
6/24/09	$60.7	$60.0	$120.7
6/25/09	$28.6	$20.0	$48.6
6/26/09	$36.7
6/27/09	$40.6*
Totals	$166.4	$80.0	$246.4

*estimate of sales

SectionTV LaBeouf, Fox Interview

Another stray interview found from the Seoul Premiere of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, here is a video of an interview with Megan Fox and Shia LaBeouf that was rather amusing as Megan confesses a crush on Rain, a pop star in the region (and also in Speed Racer last year). Shia gets a birthday cake that he apparently enjoyed.

The video has been removed for public viewing.

Blog Future, Thanks and Changes

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is now out in theatres but that doesn't mean the blog will go on hiatus. There will be a third film, the only questions is will it be in 2011 or 2012. This blog will be here to continue the mandate to be the source of movie information. The immediate future brings box office results, award season, DVD/Blu-ray releases and more.

I want to give a huge thank you to everyone that made this last year so successful with their pictures, links, reports, and help. This blog's 1100+ posts in the last year have "thanks" credit on most due to the help of so many site fans and readers and that is greatly appreciated.

For those that have been on in early mornings for the last week you probably noticed strange things occasionally happening to the blog (including accidently breaking blog posts so couldn't see anything but the title) in an effort to try and improve the blog. This started as an attempt to do something about the Archive section which got really long especially as the stories piled up and things just went from there. List of changes after the break.

The changes:

Added Recent Posts - Part of solution to archive problem. Lists 10 most recent posts should be easier then checking the archive.

Added Tabbed Navigation Widget - Use tabs to find recent posts, archive and labels (also removed the label count as served no purposed). This removes the archive and tags so only visible when you want to view them yet still see what recent posts have been added to the blog.

Removed the blogger Navbar - Mostly to improve the look of the blog

Added "Read More..." functionality - Make it easier to add more videos, pictures, or long text without it driving other articles way down the screen and hopefully improve load times

Added Email and Social Section - Right column, four icons for different functions
     AddThis icon - bookmark functionality, everyone seemed to have it so figured why not
     RSS feed icon - I had 15 different RSS feed site links that the one link handles just as well, once added proper redirection.
     Twitter icon - Changed it to a single picture for consistent look
     Email icon - Click it so can email me questions, tips, whatever. No guarantees will be able to provide but I try to.

Moved various counters - Various site counters, creative commons license, etc moved out of the way to the very bottom of the website
     Added People Online widget - With the other counters, lets you see how many people are on the blog at the same time you are (not sure how well it works)
     Added TwittBadge - Shows number of Twitter followers I have since Twitter Counter didn't allow me to do it on one continuous line.

Added Related Posts section - Added to each blog post is related topics based on the labels (tags). Currently below the comments box, maybe move above but it seemed in the way when tried it there.

For now, with the 20 or so trailers and TV spots in the left column I don't expect much load time improvement but my plan is to replace those with a playlist in a few more weeks once excitement of the movie has decreased. I hope this works out. Feel free to post what you think in the comments.

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Above the Line's Bay Interview

Variety's Above the Line blog (found via MB.com) interviews Transformers 2 director Michael Bay about making blockbusters, piracy and working with studios. Snippets below, full interview here.

BFD: How do you spend opening night?
Bay: I always go to Mr. Chow’s for dinner with my producers, studio and marketing execs, my agents and lawyers. We get our first numbers there and then we hit the theaters. You’ve got to go there. And hope you see happy, smiling faces walking out. Last night, I tried to sneak in the side, but somebody noticed me and then they’re lining up for pictures. At the Arclight, somebody yelled “speech!” and I found myself talking to 900 people.

BFD: So you deferred on “Transformers” and the sequel, and the L. A. Times predicts you might make more than any director on a movie. How do you feel about these deals, which are becoming the new economics of Hollywood moviemaking?
Bay: Okay. I run my sets and my pictures tight and we came in $4 million under budget. There is so much waste in this business, directors who have big shows like this one, who keep a second unit for the entire time. We were able to make this for $194 million, instead of the $230-270 million that the average sequel of this nature seems to cost. I work with one of the best crews in the world, we work efficient 12-hour days. We don’t build $3 million sets and then the director walks in and says, “Fuck it, I’m not going to use that set.” The stories I hear from my crew members, of waste on other pictures, of directors shooting a six- or eight-hour day, it’s just staggering. Some directors will look a studio executive in the eye and say, “Sure I’ll come in at this budget,” and then they behave like terrorists. By then, you’re committed and screwed. The thing that “Pearl Harbor” taught me was you’ve got to become a partner with the studio and deferring makes you more invested in that. I think it’s important and I think you need to be honest with your partner.

BFD: Days before the release of your film, Paramount restructured its film group. How did that impact you and what does it mean going forward on the next film?
Bay: It doesn’t affect anything, really. Paramount has literally said, “Here’s your budget, see you later.” It’s staggering, really, but they trust me to come in on budget. I don’t ask for money when I’m shooting and stay on course. I’ve never even given them dailies. I’d assemble real rough cut scenes, sizzle reels, cut to music, so they can enjoy it and get what the movie is.

BFD: Considering your development on this movie was interrupted by the writer’s strike and you risked being shut down any moment by shooting after the expiration of the SAG contract, what was the hardest thing about making “Transformers: The Fallen?”
Bay: That could have been the hardest thing. With an impending strike, we had 12 pages of a treatment. I worked very closely with the writers, great collaborators, who suddenly went on strike. I said, “We’re going to start prepping this movie at full force, scout places I think are going to be in this movie and try and put this together as best we could.” There might be an actor’s strike, but I told the studio we’re going to shoot this on June 2, come hell or high water. We took a gamble that the writers would come back from the strike in time and we just made it. At one point, we were the only movie shooting in the country. But I had to gamble. I have a loyal crew and my job gives 2,000 to 2,500 people jobs. It was scary because so many people were out of work and you hear your crew say, “Wow, I might have to move out of my house.” You feel responsible.

Profile on Isabel Lucas

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen co-star Isabel Lucas is the focus of a NY Daily Post article about the actress as her career seems to taking off. After Transformers 2, she will begin shooting the HBO miniseries, The Pacific from Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks (From the Earth to the Moon, Band of Brothers) that will focus on the Pacific theatre during World War II. Much of the article focuses on relationship between her and Shia (friends) and Megan Fox (sisterly). The full article is here.

Box Office: Friday's Take is $36.7M (Updated)

Update: Variety and Box Office Mojo has posted the Friday numbers and once again the estimate were off by a few million to Transformers 2 advantage with a $36.7 million box office in the US. It doesn't hurt that the movie is playing on 10,000 screens at 4,234 locations. This is the 10th highest Friday gross ever. IMAX showings for accounts $8.9 million of the total. I wasn't able to find the international numbers.

The estimate for Friday's box office results are in, according to Deadline Hollywood with another $35 million added to Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen's domestic total. With this impressive take, the studio has upped its weekend estimate to $105M from $90M. This bump means the movie could get as high as $195M which puts the movie within reach of The Dark Knight's five total record of $203.8M. Final numbers for US and international will hopefully be in later today. Thanks to Scalan15 for the link.

Box Office Totals (in millions)

Date	US	Intl	Worldwide
6/24/09	$60.7	$60.0	$119.6
6/25/09	$28.6	$20.0	$48.6
6/26/09	$36.7
Totals	$126.0	$80.0	$206.0

*estimate of sales

R2-D2 In Transformers 2 and Other Easter Eggs

MTV provides some Easter Eggs thanks to the folks at ILM that can be found by eagle eyed viewers. It turns out that Star Wars' R2-D2 makes an appearance, a Terminator reference and more. In addition, here is a video of Shia talking about cool things in the movie.

The Force Is With Him
"There's an R2-D2 flying around in there somewhere," revealed Scott Farrar, the film's visual-effects supervisor, who also worked on the "Star Wars" episodes "Return of the Jedi" and "The Phantom Menace." "There's a little bit of space junk thrown in there; see if you can find it. It's a scene in the desert." Interestingly enough, George Lucas' charismatic droid also had a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo in "Star Trek," which shares the same writing team as "Transformers." Is it a coincidence? "Perhaps," screenwriter Alex Kurtzman grinned mischievously. "Perhaps not."

Playing Footsy
Look carefully and you'll see some continuity errors involving Megan Fox's footwear. "There's a few scenes — if you look for it — my shoes always change," the actress laughed, revealing an error they discovered after shooting the film that has her character's shoes switching during various takes. "I go from wearing high heels to ballet flats. It's crazy!"

Rapper's Delight
It's no secret that Shia LaBeouf is good friends with Chris "Cage" Palko, a New York rapper the actor hopes to someday portray onscreen. Cage hung out on the "Revenge of the Fallen" set with his actor friend, and LaBeouf even talked the "Hell's Winter" rapper into filming a cameo. Look closely during one of the college scenes that has Shia's Sam Witwicky on the quad, and you'll see Cage's acting debut.

A Hair-Raising Moment
"We made history in this movie, doing an action scene that included the biggest amount of practical explosions ever in a [scene] that included actors," beamed a proud Tyrese, telling fans to watch out for the action scene that had him endangering life, limb — and many follicles. "[The scene has] all four of us in the cast — me, Shia, Megan and Josh [Duhamel] — we're all runnin', and it's [behind us] in big, beautiful slow motion. Still, to this day, I went to four different dermatologists — the hair that grew in the back of my neck has not grown back in because of this explosion. I'm a little concerned."

Hasta la Vista, Bumblebee
"I hope Michael doesn't get mad at me, but there's a T-1000 imprint on one of the Decepticons," revealed Farrar, risking the wrath of director Michael Bay while explaining a wink to the "Terminator" franchise — and one of the main summer '09 competitors to Bay's blockbuster. "[You can see] the letters T-1000 [on a robot]. We do it because we like to give a nod to the competition. It's OK; we're all friends."

That Sneaky 'Butt Cam'
Bay has spoken previously about Megan Fox's sexiness in her first "Revenge" scene, but according to the beauty, she didn't even know that the sneaky director was using a camera to shoot her from behind. "I'm bent over the bike, airbrushing the bike, and I'm wearing these really short shorts," Fox said of the scene. "I thought I was performing the scene with the camera on my face! I was playing to a camera [in front of me], but he had a multiple camera going that was on a dolly — sliding in and out from behind me. My dialogue isn't even on camera!" Grinning, she said she forgave her director's sneakiness: "I don't find it sexy. He's trying to get people in the theater. I guess he thinks it's sexy."

Megan Fox on Letterman

Megan Fox turned up on the Late Show with David Letterman on June 25th. She looked stunning as usual. The interview itself actually little to with Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen as they talked about Megan when she was a kid, early career, and not being ready for marriage. Of note is the explanation of why the scene used in all the TV interviews (Sam and Mikaela jumping off a building in the desert) has the stunt doubles being engulfed by the explosion (gas bomb went off early).

WSJ's "Master of Machines"

Found via MB.com, here is an interview with Transformers 2 director Michael Bay with the Wall Street Journal as he talks about some of the decisions he made while filming the movie and "corrects" Megan Fox on her perception that he don't do a Bay film for acting reasons.

This film features even more talking robots—based on the Hasbro toy line—than the first “Transformers.” Why add in more robots rather than humans?
Mr. Bay: That’s what fans wanted. The first film was really about us setting up the situation, and this movie is about us discovering what we could do better with that situation, how to make this most out of these special effects and these characters.

Did Hasbro force you to conform the aesthetics of the robots to match the style of its toy line? Did you have to make any compromises on characters for the sake of promoting Hasbro’s stable of pre-existing Transformers characters?
Not at all. I told [Hasbro] that I was going to do my own thing, and they really let me go off on the designs. They gave me carte blanche—it was pretty phenomenal. But I still listened to people who were in that world when they asked things like, ‘Can we make Optimus’s ears a little longer so he appears more in character?’ That’s easy to do. And a lot of the artists and people that we hired were fans of Transformers growing up, so having so many fans working on my crew really kept me on point. There are things that I invented—the creaky geriatric robot that is always grumpy, for example, or the little wheelie guy, he’s not in the Hasbro lore. But kids love that stuff—this little guy as a pet on a chain. They gravitate towards it.

Did you add testicles to the robots, too?
No, those are construction balls.

Uh-huh. So, now that you’ve finished the sequel of “Transformers,” are you ready to direct the third installment of the franchise?
I just want to take some time off. It’s been almost three years that I’ve devoted myself entirely to this world of robots. At some point, enough is enough—and I literally carried this movie on my back. I only finished it in the last week. It was a tough movie for me to finish—especially with the writers’ strike, the possible SAG strike. At one point, we were the only union movie in America shooting—Hollywood was so messed up from those two events.

So you don’t want to do another sequel?
I don’t know who [would] want to take on my shoes with this franchise. We might just take a year down.

What’s next for you, then?
I’ve been talking to some big actors right now about something that is totally different. A small dark comedy, a true story, with actors just acting, no effects. I’m done with effects movies for now. When you do a movie like “Transformers,” it can feel like you’re doing three movies at once—which is tiring.

It’s interesting that you want to focus on acting. Megan Fox, one of the leads in “Transformers” has criticized your films for being special-effects-driven and not offering so many acting opportunities. Do you agree?
Well, that’s Megan Fox for you. She says some very ridiculous things because she’s 23 years old and she still has a lot of growing to do. You roll your eyes when you see statements like that and think, “Okay Megan, you can do whatever you want. I got it.” But I 100% disagree with her. Nick Cage wasn’t a big actor when I cast him, nor was Ben Affleck before I put him in “Armageddon.” Shia LaBeouf wasn’t a big movie star before he did “Transformers”—and then he exploded. Not to mention Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, from “Bad Boys.” Nobody in the world knew about Megan Fox until I found her and put her in “Transformers.” I like to think that I’ve had some luck in building actors’ careers with my films.
(Bay didn't actually counter Fox's comments. He has an eye for talent and definitly builds careers but his movies are not studies in acting. - TFLive)

With all the recent emphasis on 3D and technology in movies, do you think we’ll see some directors emerge out of the special effects houses?
Mr. Bay: People have come before from the special effects houses and have not done well. People can come from anywhere—but its really about telling stories. Either you’re born to do this or you’re not.

Speaking of effects, What about 3-D? Are you a fan? Will we watch the third “Transformers” movie in three dimensions?
I prefer the flat screen. I’m not jumping to do 3-D at all—it’s a pain in the neck to shoot it and I actually like the flat image. I’ve heard that some people can’t even see 3-D and, moreover, that a major side effect of watching it is feeling exhausted. Can you imagine how you’d feel watching one of my movies in 3-D?

You really shot all those scenes [in ‘Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”] at the real pyramids?
One of the things that I pride myself on is that in situations where people say, “You can’t do that,” somehow I am always able to pull it off. I did it with “Pearl Harbor” and I did it with “Armageddon,” with the space shuttle, and luckily [Secretary General of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities] Dr. Zahi Hawass, who runs the pyramids, was a fan of the first “Transformers”—so he let us film there, even though we’re the first film to do so in 30 years.

Those pyramids get pretty beat up in the film. Did they crumble during the filming?
The destruction is all effects. We were very, very careful. We didn’t break anything!

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Shia LaBeouf on Today Show and Regis & Kelly

On June 25th, Shia LaBeouf popped up on NBC's The Today Show (a morning show) and later Regis & Kelly to promote Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. He talks about filming with Bay, nonexistent machines, Fox and more both personal and professional. There is also a cute segment on Today Show with a star-struck fan with a game Shia. Thanks to Hanna for the link.

Turturro, LaBeouf, Fox Talk Transformers

In a new article on Examiner.com, John Turturro, Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox talk about Transformers, "trickiness of fame" and more while at the London premiere of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Snippets below, full interview here. Thanks to Hanna for the link.

John, did you actually climb one of the pyramids in Egypt?
Turturro: Yes, that’s why they hired me after the professional stuntmen. I kept climbing and I went a little too high one day, and I heard all this screaming in Arabic. I thought they were worried about me, but they were worried I was going too high and I was going to injure the pyramid. It was interesting.

Shia, your hand injury was written into the "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" script. How did you deal with that injury while filming the movie?
LaBeouf: When you break your hand, it’s hard to button your pants, but you’ve got to do it. You just buck up and get through it. There’s only so much you can fake. We had three cameras going at once. It takes a long time to rig some of these stunts. You’ve got to do it. I also had fantastic stuntmen. Vladmir [Tevlovski] took the brunt of the abuse.

Shia, Megan and John what was it like working with Michael Bay again?
Turturro: [He says jokingly] Dreadful.

LaBeouf: It’s not dreadful at all. Me and [Michael Bay] have a big brother/little brother type of thing. We get into it sometimes, and John [Turturro] becomes the liaison between us. He [Michael Bay] is like a football coach. He just doesn’t coddle you. That takes getting used to. Actors are used to being coddled. You get that in a sense. There’s a real masculine energy on these movies. I enjoy the hell out of it. It’s like skydiving for five months.

Fox: It’s like constant chaos. The crew named it Bay-os [as in chaos] and there’s also the term Bay-hem, which is an everyday thing working with him. It is exciting. He is rough on his actors on purpose. I think he likes the legend of being a tyrant.
Turturro: I just based my character on Michael. The key to making any movie is that you have to key into the sensibility of the guy [the director] who’s going to be there every day and who’s going to be working on the film after you’re long gone. And it took me a while to understand that when I first started out. But you really do have to look at that person and connect with their sensibility.

I had a lot of fun. He [Michael Bay] lets me try things. He has a lot of energy and he works very hard. You know the shots are going to be interesting, so you just have to be open to moments in working with him. I had a good time the first time, and I had a better time this time.

Shia and Megan, you’ve both become a lot more famous since the first "Transformers" movie. How are you dealing with all the media attention and has your life changed for the better?
LaBeouf: My life’s great! The [on-set] trailer’s going to be bigger this time. I’m very fortunate and blessed. I’m not the most gifted performer in the world. I’m just very lucky with these opportunities and I’m happy to keep working.

Fox: I don’t know if you’re ever prepared for public scrutiny. I don’t know if it’s something you can mentally prepare yourself for, but it is part of the job. Maybe it’s not the most pleasant part, but I get to experience so many other things that are blessings that I shouldn’t be able to experience. So that’s the tradeoff.

Megan, you’re known to be very outspoken in interviews. Is there anything you’ve said that you regret or want to clarify? And do you think you’ll mellow out as you get older?
Fox: That’s possible. It’s something that I struggle with, because I feel like I have the best intentions when I do these sorts of interviews and when I speak the way that I do, and it’s unfortunate when journalists or press choose to knowingly twist the meaning of my words — and that discourages me from being outspoken and being as honest, but I fell like it’s something that I just want to do. I hate reading or watching bullsh*t interviews and watching these created images that people present to you on television that you know are fake and manufactured. I’m trying not to be one of those.

Megan, you’ve said in an interview that you’re afraid of Hollywood because you think you’ll lose your privacy. Do you still feel that way?
Fox: In my head, I don’t know which exact quote you’re referencing. I was probably just talking about the inner workings of Hollywood, like young Hollywood, the Hollywood lifestyle. You sort of fear that, because you so quickly become overexposed.

And once people know too much about your private life, there’s no mystery and there’s no reason to pay to see you in a film. And I think that’s something that’s impossible to avoid in Hollywood currently. And maybe that’s why there are no real film stars anymore like there were in ‘50s. It’s a dying breed of movie star. That’s why there’s the overexposure on the Internet and the media and paparazzi and whatnot.

Shia, Megan and John, if you could transform into anything, what would it be and why?
LaBeouf: This question has been asked for two years now. I’d transform into an answer to that question.

Fox: I agree. There’s no good answer.

Turturro: I’d like to transform into Ann-Margret. That would make me happy.
(Note to future interviewers, don't ask that question to the TF cast, they are sick of it based on videos and the like I have seen.)

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Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Review

More. That is the best one word description of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. It has more Transformers, more explosions, more minutes, more humor, more characters but all this more comes at the expense of a cohesive story and any attempt at character arcs.

The story is simple even though several obstacles are thrown in to make it seem complicated. The Fallen orders Megatron and the Decepticons to find the Matrix so he can blow up the Sun for power and Sam and the Autobots must stop them. The story has holes the size of Optimus Prime so it is best to not dwell on the details. The dialogue is as flat and uninspired as the first movie but Prime gets a few good lines in here and there. Really though this isn’t a movie you watch for story nor characterization.

The Transformers themselves, the real stars of the movie, get plenty of screen time compared to the first movie. Optimus Prime, who came across as capable but no match for Megatron, is redeemed getting several moments to shine that Transformer fans will adore and show new fans why he is the most beloved character of the franchise. However, despite all that extra time on screen there is no real growth or development of these CGI figures. Many come and go without an explanation and most are not even identified by name. As a consequence action scenes can become muddled as it can become difficult to keep up with who is doing what to who. This introduction of new characters also causes first movie favorites such as Ironhide and Ratchet to have only minutes of screen time in favor of new characters especially the Twins Mudflap and Skids.

This brings us to what is really the largest problem with the film, which is its humor. There are jokes with a farting robot, steel testicles, dogs humping and more. The humor, while funny in parts, is just as likely to offend, especially when coming from the Twins. The approach seems to be as if the pair watched only rap videos but the result may just come across as offensive or racist. The characters were clearly designed for kids but the problem is their jokes are often hard PG-13 with words that most parents would probably prefer they not repeat.

Where this movie shines is as pure eye candy. The CGI effects from ILM and Digital Domain is nothing short of astonishing. The Transformers details have been cranked up, their ability to emote much improved and the use of Transformations creative (Optimus’ introduction in the movie is amazing). The various fight sequences are gorgeous to behold in their detail and worth the price of admission all by themselves. There are drawbacks though such as Devastator. While impressive in scope, he is likely to disappoint many once get past the technical achievement in his creation. Megan Fox and Isabel Lucas have never looked better regardless of the chaos around them.

Director Michael Bay brings his best to the table of huge explosions and controlled chaos for a visual feast of action. The camera doesn’t shake as much as in the first movie but he goes to the 360 camera pan a bit too often, only once is it use actually inspired (when Sam and Mikaela are hiding), but otherwise it does not really accomplish much except to make it difficult to track the action.

The human characters, they don’t do much, which is fine. Sam is a plot device to move the action forward. Megan exists to be pretty. Tyrese Gibson and Josh Duhamel point the guns at objects and yell a lot. The only ones that make the most of their screen time is Julie White and Kevin Dunn as Sam’s parents who handle the adolescent humor with skill.

If it seems like this is one long list of complaints, it is not. This movie is the perfect popcorn flick with pointless story, likeable characters and an overload of visual fun. Check your brain at the door, sit back, and enjoy a wild and very entertaining ride. There are scenes, usually involving Optimus Prime, that will make you want to cheer out loud and watch the movie all over again. If you looking for two hours and half hours of loud entertaining fun, then Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is the must see movie of the year.

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Box Office: $28.6M Thursday

Update: Final numbers are in and Thursday domestic total is $28.6M and international sales brought in another $20 million. Below total has been updated to reflect the final numbers.

Day two in theatres for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and the domestic box office numbers continue to remain high with the movie taking in an estimated $27 million for Thursday according to Variety. Once you add this to Wednesday's $60.6 million the movie is at $87.6 million. Overseas, the movie is also doing well with a $59 million take in 58 territories for a Wednesday total of $119.6 so the worldwide total sits at $146.6 million.

Paramount probably hopes the movie will break The Dark Knight's five-day gross of $203.8 million, but may have to settle for passing Star Wars Episode III ($172.8M), Spider-Man 3 ($169.4M), or Spider-Man 2 ($152.4M). Thanks to Scalan15 for the heads-up. I was not able to find figures for overseas but there tends to be a lag on them for some reason.

Box Office Totals (in millions)

Date	US	Intl	Worldwide
6/24/09	$60.7	$60.0	$119.6
6/25/09	$28.6	$20.0	$48.6
Totals	$89.3	$80.0	$169.3

*estimate of sales

ROTF Day One Note From Bay

Michael Bay popped up on his forums once again and posted a thank you on the opening day of Tranformers: Revenge of the Fallen ticket sales.

The 400 critics around the globe spoke. Then fans around the world spoke.

Transformers made $60.6 million dollars in the United States for a total of around $100 million from the world on opening day! One of the biggest single days in movie history.

Then never seem to understand that I make movies for people to take a ride and escape.

To all the Transformer Fans - Thank You

Michael

Deluxe Scorponok in Package

I thought we were more or less done with the ROTF toy pictures but apparently not. From TFormers, below are images of the re-release of Scorponok in package sporting his new black and white colors. With the images comes a bio, except I couldn't read most of the words.

Interview with ILM Animator Shawn Kelly

The June 24th the Sarah and Vinnie Secret Show podcast for 97.3 KLLC San Francisco has an interview with ILM Animator Shawn Kelly who worked on Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. He worked on the Star Wars Episodes I to III, the first Transformers film, and more.

In the interview he talks about working on Star Wars (while answering questions diplomatically as to avoid angering ILM founder George Lucas). He discusses how real world research (watching videos, recording themselves, etc) is used give the proper motion and detail to their animation and some of the basics involved in creating a sequence for a movie. Work on Revenge by ILM starting about a year and a half ago, before the film even went before the cameras. Also it turns out that Bay's Digital Domain did the Alice pretender sequences.

The direct link to the interview is here. Thanks to limelitedude for the link.

Behind Scenes of M&Ms ROTF Commercials

It has been a while since revisted the M&M tie with Transformers. It turns out that Michael Bay actually directed the commercial and after the jump are three amusing behind the scenes videos of the shoot.

First use of the "Read More..." option, what do you think?

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Michael Bay Career Retrospective

From IGN is a retrospective on the career of Transformers director Michael Bay from his days as a director of commercials for Budweiser, Nike and Coca-Cola followed by break out effort with Bad Boys that launched his and Will Smith's careers to the next level. This was followed with The Rock that started to nail down the classic Bay-hem style and perfected with Armageddon. Bay did experience some duds with Pearl Harbor and The Island but by then he had branched out into producing with Platinum Dunes and a remake of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Amityville Horror, Hitcher, Friday the 13th and soon A Nightmare on Elm Street. All this accumulates with his most successful film to date - Transformers that may be surpassed by its sequel. The full article is here. Thanks to Brian for the link.

ROTF Malaysian Premiere

A video of fans before and after seeing Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen for its July 23rd premiere in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It appears a fun time was had by all, beware a few spoilers. Thanks to Kelly for the link.

More Interviews with Transformers 2 Cast

More interviews keep popping up from the main faces of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Below are more from Serieasten.tv and iheartradio.com.

More blue carpet interviews from the Berlin Premiere of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen with Michael Bay, Megan Fox and Shia LaBeouf. They actually answer Transfans type questions, like Bay is not a fan of the animated series, Megan and Shia are. Unable to embed the videos so click the links below to view.

Michael Bay Megan Fox Shia LaBeouf

Five videos from iheartradio.com with Fox as she talks chemistry with Shia and apparently not so good at grocery shopping. Shia talks about Sam evolving; Josh picks Ironhide as his favorite Transformers and Tyrese Gibson about his impression of the final product.

Click here to view, the segments follow one after the other. Thanks to Dave for the link.

Michael Jackson Dead at age 50

In an interruption of normal Transformers news, it is now been confirmed that the "King of Pop", Michael Jackson, died today at the age of 50 in Los Angeles of cardiac arrest. His contribution to music is nearly without equal.

As Transformers was hitting the airwaves in 1984, he released the single Thriller from what is still considered the most popular album of all time with 109 million copies sold worldwide and 10 top 10 singles. He has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, once as a solo artist and a second time as member of The Jackson 5. He has won 13 Grammys, created 13 number one singles more than any other artist, sold 750 million albums worldwide. While many may remember him as tabloid fodder I will remember him for the music he created and I have enjoyed these many years.

Michael Jackson
August 29, 1958 - June 25th, 2009


Michael Jackson's Youtube Channel - Many videos from the artist
Jackson 5 - Playlist of many videos of the group.

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Transformers 2 $60.6 Million Day in U.S. (Updated)

Update: The final numbers are in and it turns out the estimates were off by quite a bit. Transformers 2 officially made $60.6 million in its first full day of release on Wednesday which places its five day estimates as high as $170 million in first five days.

Despite the bad reviews, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen first day in theatres opened to a massive $55 million take for the best Wednesday opening day release for a movie domestically, as least based on early estimates. The total includes the $16 million from the midnight screenings of the film.

This easily surpasses previous record holder Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix ($44.2 million). According to Empire, if that number is any indication, that means that Transformers 2 could surpass Spider-Man 2's $152.4 million 5-day opening.

Bay Defends Transformers Twins

Probably the one universal complaint from critics about the movie is the crude (and some call racist) humor, much of which comes from the Twins Mudflap (Reno Wilson) and Skids (Tom Kenny). I have read some reviews where the humor so offended the writer that they couldn't even attempt to enjoy the movie. From the AP, Michael Bay defends and somewhat dodges the charge of "racist robots". Thanks to Brian for the heads-up.

It's done in fun," he said. "I don't know if it's stereotypes — they are robots, by the way. These are the voice actors. This is kind of the direction they were taking the characters and we went with it." Bay said the twins' parts "were kind of written but not really written, so the voice actors is when we started to really kind of come up with their characters."

Actor Reno Wilson, who is black, voices Mudflap. Tom Kenny, the white actor behind SpongeBob SquarePants, voices Skids. Wilson said Wednesday that he never imagined viewers might consider the twins to be racial caricatures. When he took the role, he was told that the alien robots learned about human culture through the Web and that the twins were "wannabe gangster types."

"It's an alien who uploaded information from the Internet and put together the conglomeration and formed this cadence, way of speaking and body language that was accumulated over X amount of years of information and that's what came out," the 40-year-old actor said. "If he had uploaded country music, he would have come out like that. It's not fair to assume the characters are black, he said. "It could easily be a Transformer that uploaded Kevin Federline data," Wilson said. "They were just like posers to me." Kenny did not respond to an interview request Wednesday.

"I purely did it for kids," the director said. "Young kids love these robots, because it makes it more accessible to them."

Transformers: ROTF The Game Reviews

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen The Game is now available and reviews are popping up online. Checking out Metacritic, it appears the game is scoring pretty good overall with an average score of 70/100 for the XBox360 and 68/100 for the PS3. Below are samples from the above links.

PGNx Media (83/100)

Like the movie it’s based on, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen isn’t trying to radically change the genre or introduce innovative new features. It’s giving you great-looking robots that go off and fight other great-looking robots as you watch the resulting explosions.

Gamespot (75/100)

Though it isn't immediately accessible, Revenge of the Fallen has a good amount of fun and satisfying gameplay. The initial awkwardness of the controls is a bit vexing, and some issues linger no matter how good you get. The single-player missions and multiplayer game modes aren't very diverse, but the various bonus challenges and strategic nuances add some welcome depth. What Revenge of the Fallen does best is make it fun to be a Transformer by giving you a powerful set of abilities and open maps where you can put them to use. It's enjoyable and engaging, and it's probably the best Transformers product you'll see this summer.

1Up (C+, 58/100)

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is an apt representation of what you'd expect from a Transformers movie: a disposable, explosion-laden piece of mindless entertainment featuring robots beating the crap out of each other. And judging from the movie reviews, it actually sounds like this solid, if flawed, action game might turn out to be better than the movie.

IGN (60/100)

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen comes up short in a number of categories, due in large part to its repetition, odd control layout, poor AI and almost total lack of presentation. Running around and just shooting stuff has its merits, though it does get old after a bit. At least the multiplayer offers up a pretty good time for when you tire of the short single-player game.

Also, Target currently has a promo on Transformers products both in store and online that does seem to work with the video games. When you buy any two Transformers products in the entire store you can save 10%, 15% on any three, and 20% on any four. For online, the promotional code to enter (depending on number bein purchased) is TF2STR02, TF2STR03, and TF2STR04. They all expire on July 11th. Thanks to Inuyasha for the info.

New Media Reviews of ROTF

Previously I posted reviews from mainstream media websites, now here are a few reviews from "new media" sources on the internet. First a quick check-in on Rotten Tomatoes shows that critic hatred of this film continues with the T-Meter for critics at 21% (down from 29%), top critics is at 21% (down from 23%), and RT community holds steady at 68%. Of those three numbers, really the only one that matters (unscientifically) is the last as it is audience word of mouth that will drive ticket sales.

IGN (3/5)

...the battle scenes are comprehensible, but the story isn't. If plot isn't important in films of this type -- as its most ardent defenders will inevitably claim -- then why did director Michael Bay and screenwriters Ehren Kruger & Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman spend two and a half hours telling it? Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is more epic, bombastic and overwhelming than the 2007 original, but it's also charmless, dumber and cruder by comparison. Since the characters, human and otherwise, are seldom engaging, the film only works when things go boom.

Mudflap and Skids, the Amos 'n' Andy of the Autobots and two of the most offensive characters in recent cinematic history. What were the filmmakers thinking? The "it's just a movie" defense doesn't fly on this one, folks; whereas George Lucas had wiggle room to defend himself with Jar Jar Binks, there is none here for Bay and company to fall back on. It's just too blatant to be deemed anything but obvious and in poor taste. Mudflap and Skids will pull anyone with a half a brain right out of the movie, and they taint the overall viewing experience and prove to be an embarrassment for all involved.

Dark Horizons

Often bypassing any logic or reason let alone character or depth, this utter mess of an action opus is only sporadically entertaining thanks to all the visual flair that $200 million worth of computer-generated fighting robots can buy, but holds no real value beyond that. The fanbase and target demographic of pre-teens and grown men with nostalgic mindsets will likely enjoy the initial ride, but most will be let down by an overly long and unruly sequel that effectively demonstrates that bigger and louder doesn't always mean better. 'Fallen' indulges Bay's excesses well past the point of reason to deliver the male teenage cinematic equivalent of snorting cocaine off a hooker's ass. This "all money shots, all the time" approach robs the action of any weight or coherency - leaving behind sensory white noise that hopes to browbeat its audience into either submission or boredom.

The CG also proves oddly mixed. On the one hand the Transformers facial expressions have much more range and appearance now, on the other the integration with the real world is noticeably less smooth and more cartoonish than the first one. The first film also really lent a sense of physics and gravity to these creations, here giant robots get tossed about with no real weight or inertia. Jablonsky's score leaves little impression, mostly drowned out by forgettable metal thrash music.

io9.com

Transformers: ROTF has mostly gotten pretty hideous reviews, but that's because people don't understand that this isn't a movie, in the conventional sense. It's an assault on the senses, a barrage of crazy imagery. ROTF is like twenty summer movies, with unrelated storylines, smushed together into one crazy whole. You try in vain to understand how the pieces fit, you stare into the cracks between the narrative strands, until the cracks become chasms and the chasms become an abyss into which you stare until it looks deep into your own soul, and then you go insane.

Mania

Revenge of the Fallen contains enough reprehensible material to send any rational adult into fits of rage, but if you didn't know that going in, you probably fail to meet the definition of "rational adult" anyway. Too much of the film concerns itself with the human cast--still as boring as ever and still far less developed than the machines on the poster. At times, the dialogue literally becomes incoherent, as when Sam is infected with an ancient Transformer language that points the way to some magical hidden Maguffin or another. while Revenge of the Fallen holds the requisite amount of whiz-bang mayhem, it also contains a number of really cool action-based notions… which it doesn't know what to do with. ...hampered by a ADD-laden editing style that doesn't even give us a reliable look at the robots as they morph into their hidden shapes. (The choppiness also makes it difficult to tell good robot from bad unless you're seriously steeped in the mythology.)

More ROTF Talk From Writers

Transformers 2 writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman spoke with TrekMovie.com (but sadly not me) about Revenge of the Fallen. Topics include how they almost didn't write the sequel, how used sequels for inspiration, working with Ehren Krueger (due to writer's strike), Transformers history, and more. As usual some of the article below, rest here.

TrekMovie.com: Speaking about that mythology, the first film felt like it was about a war amongst alien robots playing out on Earth. This time there are links to ancient Egypt and more. Is there an attempt to make this more about us Earthlings, with the mythology tied to our history?
Roberto Orci: Yes. That was always part of the G1 (Transformers Generation 1) idea, that Transformers had crash-landed here in prehistoric time. We didn’t exactly stick to that, but there is a rich history of they’ve been here a long time and they are somehow wrapped up in our ancient history.

Alex Kurtzman: We are trying to stay true to the spirit of a story that delves into the idea of going beneath the surface of both the history of the Transformers and our own race. The thing Optimus Prime is always talking about is how similar our races are, and the idea is that there is a reason for that.

TrekMovie.com: For these movies, there seems to be a big amount of fan interest in what Transformers make it in and which ones don’t. How do you make that cut?
Alex Kurtzman: It is a mix actually. Our side of it is that we end up putting in Transformers that fit into the story. Certainly there some that we wanted in the first that we couldn’t put in, that we ended up getting in the second. The decision is about how we can do it organically. There is also a mandate from both Hasbro and the car companies to put certain robots in. What we say to them is ‘great, if we can find a way to do that in a way that makes sense, then let’s do it.’ And Michael certainly is very specific about the kind of cars he likes to put on screen and how he wants to use them.

TrekMovie.com: You guys are also creating a lot more of your own new Transformers for this one. Is it more fun for you to branch out and create your own characters instead of just using the original characters?
Roberto Orci: Not particularly.

Alex Kurtzman: I think weirdly we always find a way to love who ever we are writing about. Certainly, it was not hard to find ways to love Bumblebee and Optimus Prime. So we feel a lot of ownership over the direction of those characters already. So we don’t make a huge distinction between them and the new ones, but that said, Optimus has a voice that was distinct and pre-established that we did not want to veer away from.

TrekMovie.com: Looking back at the first film, there was a lot of broad humor, like the robot peeing lubricant. I note this time you guys have Rainn Wilson from The Office playing a part. Does this film have a more high-brow kind of humor in it?
Roberto Orci: It is the most sophisticated low-brow humor there is.

TrekMovie: So in the end, what is the biggest difference between the first and second films?
Roberto Orci: Obviously the theme is different. The first one was about stepping into adulthood by getting your first car and how that leads to sexuality and freedom. This one is more about being away from home, with Sam going away to college, while the Transformers are away from their home, and what are the responsibilities as you leave your nest. Cosmetically, this one is bigger. I think it is more tightly plotted, just as a result of getting better at it and understanding the universe better, and it benefits from the lessons of the first movie, both from fan interactions, and our own interactions of seeing what we thought worked and what different.

TV Guide Talks with ROTF Cast

TV Guide has two videos for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The first video is Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox up selling the movie. The second video is from the Tokyo World Premiere of the movie with parts of the blue carpet walk and press conference. The second video has an amusing story from Shia talking about Bay's humor.

No embed available so click here for the Shia and Megan video and here for the Tokyo video.

Orci, Kurtzman Talk Testicles and Transformers 3

Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci have stepped out of hiding recovering from their Star Trek marketing to start talking about Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. In an interview with io9.com they talk about Devastator's testicles (yep he has them) and possibilities of the third movie. Snippets below, the full article here.

Although they couldn't remember the origins of Devastator's testicles. Orci thought that Bay had demanded "a big pair of testicles." But Kurtzman reminded him that it was actually co-writer Ehren Krueger's idea, when the three of them were holed up for a few months writing the script after the writers' strike. "The testicles are in the script," Kurtzman said. "Well, it's a construction machine, so you of course have wrecking balls. And Michael, immediately, of course, loved it."

It's been widely reported that Orci and Kurtzman are definitely not writing the script for Transformers 3, but actually they sounded pretty open to doing it. "We never say never, but since the movie's not even out, it's impossible for us to go, 'Yes, we're in,'" Kurtzman said.

As for the photo above, I am guessing it is Starscream's head but really have no clue what or where from. Just grabbed it from the article because it was cool looking.

Megan Fox Talks ROTF The Game

The other day Shia LaBeouf gave his sales pitch for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and now Megan Fox gives hers.

No embed available so click here to watch. Thanks to Brian for the link.

Transformers Primer

Below are a few links that cover the history of the Transformers franchise over the last 25 years.

Many Looks of Optimus Prime
With the new movie giving a new generation some Optimus Prime love, click the link for a prime on the many versions of Prime through the various toy lines. Thanks to Brian for the link.

Transformers Origins
Started in 1980 with Takara Toys called Diaclone, expanded in 1982, introduced to Hasbro in 1983, who turned over Transformers universe building chores to comics writer Bob Budiansky and then launched the line 1984. More details at the link.

Transformers Lines Through the Years
A nice simple breakdown of the various Transformers toy lines over the last 25 years so now will now what "G1" or Generation One means, Beast Wars, Armada, Energon, and more.

Random Questions
Covers the basics of the where they are from, why are on earth, and why transform.

Transformers 2 Makes $16 Million

Kind of slow on the news today, just basking in the new movie release but don't worry will be cranking out what I have shortly but for now enjoy this good news from day one of the movie.

The first day of release is not even over and already some early box office numbers are in. From the Hollywood Reporter, the midnight showings (and some 3AM ones), the movie raked in $16 million which is more than most movies make after an entire weekend. The Dark Knight still remains top dog with its $18.5 million midnight take but that stat came from a Friday release date before a holiday so Transformers can claim the record for Wednesday night opening. In addition, the IMAX release of the movie made over $1 million topping Knight's $675,000 opening. Suffice it to say the totals by the end of the weekend should be very interesting.

Revenge is Here, What Did You Think?

I just got back from watching Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen on the IMAX. The crowd I was with was great, cheering as the movie started, at the end of the movie and at the great moments in between for seven total crowd cheers. After there was a large crowd waiting for the 3:15am showtime. Don't remember a time been The movie is pretty much a wall to wall action extravaganza of Transformer action fun. Best part is Optimus Prime finally gets moments to shine. I may write a more formal review once had time to formulate something. I had fun and was thoroughly entertained for 2.5 hours.

Oh and FYI, there are two quick cutscenes at the end of the movie, there is nothing at the end of the credits.

So what did you think? Try to keep it spoiler free and PG-13.

Revenge is Almost Here

Update: Added posters and various links that I removed from the left and right colums so people can still find them if want to.

Just a few more hours and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen starts premiering in the United States and other areas (depending on time zone). To pass the time, here in order of oldest to newest are the trailers and TV spots for the movie. Besides it is another excuse to play with YouTube playlists. For those that see the movie, feel free to answer the poll question to the left.

Links

The Real Effing Deal | Giant Effing Robots | GM's Autobots Rollout

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Playlist


Posters

Transformers Revenge of the Fallen Selling Out

What do the critics know as MichaelBay.com has provided a mini-update the US debut of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen starting in just hours at 12:01am.

Hundreds of tomorrow night’s midnight show times for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (debuting June 24 at 12:01 a.m.) are already sold out across the country. A few facts from Fandango below:

- Sold-out midnight show times (on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning) can be found all across the U.S.A., in cities such as New York, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Albuquerque, Denver, Houston, Nashville, Orlando, Colorado Springs, Tulsa, Fresno and Buford, Georgia (good thing got my tickets weeks ago).
- Exhibitors are continuing to add 3:45 a.m. or 4:00 a.m. show times on Wednesday morning to meet the fan demand (verified my local theatre added show times).
- Currently, the film is selling twice as many tickets on Fandango as the original Transformers sold at the same point in that film’s sales cycle (two days before release date).
- The movie currently represents 87% of today’s ticket sales
- And as we noted yesterday, TF 2 showings at 500+ theaters in China are sold out 1.5 weeks in advanced.

US ROTF Premiere Pictures and Videos

Last night the US premiere of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was held at the Fox Theatre at the Los Angeles Film Festival. Since the stars came out, there are a lot of pictures and videos from the event so below is a link fest for your enjoyment. To wet your appetite, here is the video from Entertainment Tonight with the stars.

Videos
KABC-TV LA - Multiple Transformers 2 premiere related video of their coverage of the event.
On The Red Carpet - Also from KABC, about 15 videos from the red carpet with Shia, Megan, Josh, Tyrese, Linkin Park, Ramon, Julie White (looking good), Kevin Dunn, Jon Voight, Isabel Lucas, Michael Bay and Scott Farrar (FX guru).
Hollywood Scoop - Their report from the event.
MaximoTV ROTF - From YouTube, video from the red carpet as stars showed up.
MaximoTV Megan Fox - Coverage of Megan and Shia running the press gauntlet.
MaximoTV Olivia Munn - Fan of the Munn, about the only reason linking to it.
More YouTube videos - Did a youtube search sorted by newest to find even more.

Pictures
Seibertron.com - Gallery of images that covers the setup for the premiere later that night.
ROTF Premiere Gallery - Tons of pictures at the stars and such that showed up for the premiere.
Shia LaBeouf - The unlikely action star has he walks the premiere carpet.
Megan Fox - The lovely star in white as she makes the red carpet rounds.

Transformers ROTF Trashed By Critics

Probably to the surprise of no one, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is getting trashed by critics judging by the summaries and results over at Rotten Tomatoes. Currently the ratings show a top critics rating of 23% (out of 100), T-Meter critics rating of 29%, and RT community (site users) of 68%. Comparing that to the first Transformers movie which has a top critics rating of 68%, T-Meter of 57%, audience rating of 68% it seems to sequel is suffering.

These results however are not definitive. The only number (besides money) that really matters to Paramount and Bay is the audience number. Word of mouth alone made Star Trek the current US top dog and Hangover a smashing success. This year it seems, as people watch what they spend their money on, they are paying a lot more attention to what friends say about a movie then a critic and judging by the audience score, things are looking good for the movie and this is before the world wide audience gets a chance to weigh in.

Below is a sampling from a few reviews. The consensus seems to be confusing plot, poor dialog, too long, too loud, and too many robots and confusion sequences. I hear that from critics and my mind goes "perfect summer popcorn movie!"

Chicago Tribue (1.5 stars)

Nobody's looking for anything other than relentless, brainless action from this sort of movie, but Bay, whose best junk came early with "Bad Boys" and " The Rock," offers nothing but visual and aural chaos. Your eye instinctively flees to the far corners of the screen for some relief from the computer-generated mayhem.

USA Today

Bigger, louder, longer and more metallic is definitely not better. Where the first movie was a happy surprise, a comedy with engaging characters and spectacular action-filled escapades, the sequel lacks wit, charm, subtlety, restraint, humanity and clever dialogue. It has loads of spectacle but no soul. Though there are more special effects and new ways for machines to turn into 'bots, the story seems as if it's about to end at least three times.

Entertainment Weekly (B)

Revenge of the Fallen has a number of dead spots, but every time the movie hits one, you can sit back in eager, childish anticipation of the next feat of industrial whirligig diversion. Revenge of the Fallen is slovenly, bombastic, overly busy, and — at two hours and 29 minutes — far too long. Each of these creature-gizmos has a marvelous, organic fluidity — they don't just move, they clank and roll. And it was an inspired touch to set the film's most ferocious battle amid the Pyramids, featuring a Decepticon so humungous it just about waddles with power. Revenge of the Fallen may be a massive overdose of popcorn greased with motor oil. But it knows how to feed your inner 10-year-old's appetite for destruction.

Roger Ebert

If you want to save yourself the ticket price, go into the kitchen, cue up a male choir singing the music of hell, and get a kid to start banging pots and pans together. Then close your eyes and use your imagination. The plot is incomprehensible. The dialog of the Autobots, Deceptibots and Otherbots is meaningless word flap. The human actors are in a witless sitcom part of the time, and lot of the rest of their time is spent running in slo-mo away from explosions, although--hello!--you can't outrun an explosion. The battle scenes are bewildering.

Transformers 2 Nearly Broke ILM

The rendering demands for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen were such that some ILM computers didn't not survive according to a new article from SciFi Wire. Sections below, full article here.

Visual-effects supervisor Scott Farrar was in charge of turning Industrial Light & Magic's computers up to 11 to create the new characters and told reporters that the sequel features 40 new characters. That and the increased resolution of the characters for new IMAX footage nearly exhausted ILM's render farms: After one hard night of rendering computer-generated footage, some of the hardware actually exploded. "We did, we lost some machinery that night," Farrar said in a press conference on last week in Beverly Hills, Calif. "Little puffs of smoke, just like in the movie."

The largest sequence in Revenge of the Fallen was also the biggest in ILM history: the climax in which Devastator tears apart one of the great pyramids in Egypt. "We're trying to hit new levels of realism in every single thing we do, whether it's the render of the robot or the physical environment that they're reacting with," Farrar said. "It's just like upping the game on every level, so it was a pretty complicated show."

To give you some sense of just how big Devastator is, Farrar said that Optimus Prime has 10,000 moving parts. The computer algorithms actually manipulate each part to go from truck to standing robot. Well, Devastator is made up of upwards of 80,000 parts. The only thing that saves time is the camera position. The animators only have to transform the parts that are visible on screen.

"Every shot is dressed to camera," Farrar said. "We have a lot of moving parts and a lot of pieces that are all finished up, but every single time that we set up a new camera position, the cameras swirls around to the back, and doggone it, there are some pieces that are unfinished. We have to repaint them and get them so they can be animated. They only move if we need them to move, so it's a logarithmic jump to try and get all those pieces to move, and it's all up to the animators, frankly, to lay down the movement first. We tried to free it up to be creative."

"Everything that we do in our world is all about the light," Farrar said. "It's not just building the robot, but it's about how it commingles with all the light sources. It might be ambient. If they're really deep in the water, how much light do we give them? How much internal lighting should they have? We had a lot of deep-sea underwater research photos that we looked at, and we sort of gleaned from that. How clear do we want to be? How much plankton and spinaci, we called it, floating in front of the camera do we want? All these little tricks to try and make you believe you're really underwater, we have to employ."

Another French Shia, Megan Interview

Below is another interview with Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox as they talk about the Transformers. They talk about being grateful for getting the job, working with the demanding Bay, and course how much bigger the second movie is over the first. Thanks to Adrien for the link.

Five ROTF Interview Videos

Found via TFormers.com and ENewsi.com, below are five interviews with Producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura, Tyrese Gibson, Ramon Rodriguez, Shia LaBeouf, and Megan. They talk about Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen on a variety of topics all designed to make you excited about seeing the movie (just in case not yet convinced).

Shia LaBeouf


Megan Fox


Tyrese Gibson


Ramon Rodriguez


Lorenzo Di Bonaventura

HBO First Look at ROTF June 25th

A reminder, via MichaelBay.com, that HBO will start airing a 15 minutes "First Look" at Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen starting on June 25th at 9:45pm on HBO2 - East.

Click here to view the full schedule on the many HBO channels with lots of repeat opportunities.

BK Kids Meals Transformers Twins

As mentioned before, the Burger King Transformers 2 promotion has started. So far the only commercial I have seen is a cooking appliance transforming and breaking through a wall. Below is a new one starring the Twins. Thanks to NightShade87 for the link.

More Shia and Megan From France

The other day I posted an interview with Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox on a French TV show. Below is another video from the country with the two Transformers 2 as they promote Revenge of the Fallen, only this time it is in English with French subtitles. Thanks to Hanna for the link.

Transformers ROTF Albums, Video Games Officially Released

Today is the official release date of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Score, Soundtrack and The Game. To help in any potential purchases, here is a few deals I stumbled across. If you find more please add them to the comments.

The Score
Amazon - $9.99
Target - $12.99

Soundtrack
Amazon - $9.99
Best Buy - $9.99
Target - $9.99

The Video Game
Toys R Us - Nintendo DS (both games) are 2 for $40
Sam's Club - "$10 Movie Cash" with purchase. PS3 is $52.99, Wii is $43.88, DS is $26.77, XBox360 is $52.88, PS2 is $26.88

Completed Luxor ROTF Advertisement

Last month I posted about the Luxor being fixed up as a giant billboard for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen but didn't really follow up on that. Thanks to Ben and his wife, they snapped some photos of the final product while in Las Vegas for their wedding (congratulations!). He points out "I did think it was odd that there was no promotion of the movie inside of the hotel itself and that the IMAX was closed. I thought it would have been cool to have the beam shining form the top of The Luxor, shine the Autobot logo in the sky like Bumblebee did in the first film."

A Note from Michael

Transformers 2 director Michael Bay added a new note to his forums about a recent experience on the promotional tour, watching the movie and IMAX and not to worry about critics.

Back from Moscow. Fresh from a visit to the former KGB, with second in command. He told me in his office I'm one of 10 American's, one being a President, to ever be allowed inside what is now called the FSB. The only reason was he heard I was in town and he is a fan of my films.


Last night with my crew I saw the IMAX version. Once you get used to the giant format and your eyes adjust, it's an awesome experience. I have been waiting until the film was final to judge, and I'm really pleased. You have to make a point to see it this way - It could be the very best way to see Transformers.

C'mon guys critics? Give me a break. Do you all have short term memory? They killed the first one, and it still became a world-wide smash. I made this for the you, the audience!

Michael

New Bootleg Transformers 2 Clips

Spoiler Warning! New clips from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen has hit YouTube. Many of them are teases worthy of a commercial but regardless they do new portions of the movie including the Ice Cream Truck twins (and why they had a Decepticon symbol on their side), Prime's bad-ass introduction (the video below),

Since people are a bit sensitive to spoilers right now so below is my favorite clip of the group and I will link to the rest. That way if you choose to click them, it is all on you. Thanks to Mauricio for the videos.

Ice Cream Twins 1 | Ice Cream Twins 2 | Hello Prime
Run Forest Run | Ironhide Transforms

CGI Demolisher and Chromia

TFG2.com has posted new images of two Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen characters. One for Demolisher (or could be Scavenger) and the other for Chromia (one of the Arcee bikes). This one joins Rampage/Sideways, the Twins, Arcee 3, Megatron, combined Prime/Mixmaster, Scrapper and The Fallen.

Update: Thanks to Robert who pointed out that I forgot the third picture in the gallery. At this point not sure who is what, since this one could be blue or could be purple. Regardless, very odd and ugly.

Full ROTF Soundtrack Available To Sample

On the eve of the release of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Soundtrack (and score and video games), ShockHound.com is making the entire album available for you to listen to. How long it will last I don't know but probably not much after midnight tonight eastern. In addition, they seem to have the best price yet for the track with a price of $6.99 to pre-order the download (but I don't know if this site has copy protection restrictions).

To listen, click here.

Chinese Transfans Share Their Love

In celebration of the release of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen in China, Transfans organized a drive in the streets of Beijing with their cars, each of which is sporting a Bumblebee styled paint job. The make and model didn't matter, just the colors of yellow and black. The event was organized by Autohome.com.cn.

Click here and here for a large gallery of the event and the sea of Bumblebees. Thanks to Kaly and Mauricio for the links.

Burger King Transformers 2 Promotion Begins

Burger King has officially launched its Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen tie in promotion today. As part of the campaign, the chain has a "Transform Your Way" contest for prizes including $1 million, new BBQ Double Stackticon Burger, new advertising spots (apparently directed by Michael Bay), and 8 BK Kids Meals Toys. Click here for the press release with more details. Thanks to Andrew for the link.

In addition, the Kids Club website has updated to show off the new toys (that don't transform), provide link to redeem code that comes with the toys and has a new "Free Mission City" game to pay. Thanks to Paco for the link.

Here are the details on what Burger King has planned for the sponsorship:

· The Transform Your Way Game: The game gives restaurant guests a one-in-two chance of winning one of thousands of prizes, including $1 million, an all new Chevy Camaro 1SS, BURGER KING food items and more. Each game piece offers a prize under one of the two scratch-off areas, making every game piece a possible winner.

· Visit www.bktransformers.com for a chance to win $10,000: Visitors who register and enter their game piece codes on the site can search on a virtual globe for “King Robot,” who disguises himself as a stainless steel BK broiler. Each day, from June 22 to July 19, visitors will have the chance to win at least $10,000.

· The BK BBQ DOUBLE STACKTICON Sandwich: Like the original BK Stacker sandwich, the Transformers-inspired burger allows guests to stack multiple burger patties, bacon, sauce and cheese. It available for a limited time only at the suggested retail price of $2.79. The BK BBQ TRIPLE STACKTICON burger will also be available for a suggested retail price of $3.49, and the BK BBQ QUAD STACKTICON burger will be available for a suggested retail price of $4.29.
· TV Advertising: The spots will feature the “King Robot” who awards unsuspecting customers with cash as part of the “Transform Your Way” game. The kids-focused advertising, directed by the film’s hit director Michael Bay, features a group of kids who are waiting in a BURGER KING restaurant parking lot when they’re approached by AUTOBOTS.
· Kids Meal Toys: Each BK Kids Meal will come with one of eight Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen toys that bring the movie’s characters and vehicles to life. Based on scenes from the movie, toys like the “Change Up Bumblebee” and “Constructin’ Devastation” are available at participating BURGER KING restaurants while supplies last.

Target Ready for Blu-Ray

Talk about prepared; Target already has an entry ready on their website for the Blu-ray release of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and the movie isn't even released yet. Sadly no release date but I would guess late October or November if the first movie is any guide. Thanks to Brian for the link.

Transformers 2 Number 1 in Japan and UK

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is off to an excellent start already making $20 million in the United Kingdom ($14.1M, 517 screens) and Japan ($5.8M, 329 sites), premiering at number 1 in both countries. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the sequel outperformed the first movie's opening weekend by 71% in the UK and 13% in Japan. Considering that Transformers 1 made $389 million in overseas sales (compared to $319.2M in the US), how well the movie does overseas is as important as the domestic sales.

Over at MichaelBay.com, they provide the same numbers but also provide context to last year’s top movie, The Dark Knight. In the UK the movie came within 3% of that movies first weekend total and in Japan it outperformed Knight by 64%. Just two more days!

ROTF Deleted Scenes On DVD?

The movie isn't even out and already plans are in the works for the DVD and Blu-ray release of the movie. According to Collider.com, when asked about how many minutes of deleted scenes, he said "we're figuring that out right now. It could be seven, eight." He was also asked a few questions about shooting for IMAX.

I then asked him if there was any thought of doing even more in IMAX? He said, “Yeah. I regret not shooting Petra in IMAX. The IMAX is very expensive. To make digital effects in IMAX is expensive. It’s a budget concern really.”

I then asked if he would use IMAX on all his future movies. He replied, “I don’t know. If the movie serves it, but I think it’s a neat idea.”

Megan Fox Talks Flower Kid

Apparently there is a picture (left) going around showing Megan Fox ignoring a kid trying to offer her a flower at I don't know what event (but probably Revenge of the Fallen related). Since people believe pictures far more than they should, I guess it’s painted her in a bad light so collider.com asked her about what happened.

Week In Review

Another busy week, so another summary sheet to help you catch anything you might have missed.

TV Spots and Clips
TV Spots #14-16 - The march of spots continue.
TV Spots #17-19, New Clip - Three more spots and clip from BD-Live content.
TV Spot #20 - Its more clip then commercial and spoils the fate of a character.
Wheelie Clip in HD - "Your Worse Nightmare" clip in HD glory.
Kitchen Bots Clip - Click to watch an extended clip that shows kitchen bots going on a rampage at the Witwicky home
Two Transformers I Deleted Scenes - Two scenes deleted from first movie
Transformers Sightings - Part of viral campaign, Transformers sightings around the world
ROTF Theatrical Trailer #3 in HD - The trailer released back in mid-May finally in HD glory.
ROTF Final Scene - Spoiler warning has the very last line of the movie is delivered by Prime.

Premiere Reports and Press Conferences
Berlin Premiere Video and Images - A look at the premiere of the movie in Germany.
Berlin Premiere Video - Another video from carpet with stars answering questions.
Berlin Premiere TV Special - While in German, get a look at the stars and the event in Germany for ROTF
London Premiere Video and Images - More from the premiere in the UK.
London Premiere Press Conference - Long video that shows most of the London Press Conference for ROTF and also videos from the blue carpet at the event
More Blue Carpet London Footage - See even more of the stars as they go to the London Premiere
Russia Premiere Videos - Five videos of Bay and cast walking the carpet in Moscow
US Press Conference Video - Some video of the US ROTF Press Conference and news that the IMAX footage totals about an extra minutes of movie time

Images
Rampage and Sideways CGI - Images of the two Decepticons in CGI
Third Arcee Revealed - CGI view of the third purple Arcee bike.
CGI Twins - Computer generated images of Mudflap and Skids
Megatron CGI Images - Five images that show off the villian in his new form.
Movie Stills - Images from the movie, focused on the real stars - Transformers
Power-up