Transformers Prime Marathon Poster, Promo, and Clip (Updated)

A friendly reminder that starting Thursday, November 1st at 5:30pm EST, The Hub starts their 26-hour long Transformers: Prime marathon. It starts with the very first episode and ends with the season 2 finale "Darkest Hour". In the episode "Megatron comes up with a complex plan and once it's put together, Optimus is placed in a position where he is forced to make a risky decision that, if not carefully considered, could have an inescapable effect on the entire Autobot team." As part of the marathon, The Hub has created a poster (left) that depicts Optimus Prime using an image from each of the episodes. If you are interested in winning 1 of a 100 copies of the poster, click here. Don't forget that Transformers: Prime Season Two 4-disc set will be released on November 20th.

Update: Added a clip from "Darkest Hour" where revealed that Megatron's plan isn't to reformat Cybertron in his image but Earth.

Disney Buys Lucasfilm with ILM for $4.05 Billion

Tuesday it was announced that Disney has bought Lucasfilm from George Lucas for $4.05 billion. Lucasfilm's main properties that matter a great deal to Disney are Star Wars, Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound (sound effects, mixing for most movies). ILM is the company that did all the visual effects for all three Transformers films and invented most of the effects we see in movies for the last 30+ years. It is assumed they are doing Transformers 4's effects but now that ILM is part of Paramount's movie studio competition, who knows if they will keep such an important summer tent pole picture there. Disney has posted several videos about the acquistion (below) making surprising use of the internet to get info about this purchase across. Normally something like this would be handled with a press release and maybe a quick press conference. Companies should pay attention to this approach.

Highlights:
- A new Star Wars Trilogy was announced with Episodes 7 (for 2015), 8 (for 2017), and 9 (2019). Treatments already exist for this.

Transformers Prime: The Game Out Today

Friendly reminder that Transformers Prime: The Game has been released for the Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, and Nintendo 3DS. The Nintendo Wii U version will be out on November 18th with the new console. Below the is the launch trailer and press release for game. Click here for screenshots.

Transformers: MTMTE #10 Preview

Wednesday is new comic book day with Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye #10 hittings real and virtual comic stores. The issue goes back to the past, before the TF civil war, to tell a story of Orion Pax and the hunt for a serial killer. Considering the Lost Light has one on board, those skills might be useful in the present. A preview of the issue can be found here.

Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #10
James Roberts (w) • Alex Milne (a) • Milne, Nick Roche (c)
SHADOWPLAY continues! On pre-war CYBERTRON, Prowl and Chromedome realize they’ve got a serial killer on their hands, and Orion Pax receives a summons from an old friend that will change his life forever!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Transformers: Prime 2.25 Regeneration Promo, TV Spot

Tomorrow Transformers Prime air the penultimate episode of season 2 on The Hub at 7PM EST. "Regeneration" has The Autobots and Megatron's Decepticons are drawn into Cybertron to face each other in a heroic battle over their mutual quests for the coveted Omega Lock, which, once unlocked with the four keys, would reawaken Primus' power." Considering that the previous episode Patch was a clip show, I suspect the next two episodes will be going full throttle, spending the money the bottle-episode saved. Below is clip and promo for episode, screenshots here. The 26 hour long Transformers: Prime Marathon that starts on November 1st at 5:30pm EST and ends with the November 2nd 7:00pm EST season finale episode "Darkest Hour." Don't forget that Transformers: Prime Season Two 4-disc set will be released on November 20th. The previous two episodes of TF Prime are also up on HubWorld.

Upcoming episodes:
11/02 Darkest Hour (2.26) - Season 2 finale. Megatron comes up with a complex plan and once it's put together, Optimus is placed in a position where he is forced to make a risky decision that, if not carefully considered, could have an inescapable effect on the entire Autobot team.

Transformers Prime Producer on Show Mythology, Beasts

In an interview with Hero Complex, Transformers Prime producer Jeff Kline talked a little bit about the last two seasons of the show and the upcoming third. The full interview is here, highlights below.

- From series start, had three seasons planned out but as "wanted it to get more epic", the idea of self contained episodes "became impossible." Also that 3 season roadmap was burned up by early season 2 "which is pretty typical."

- Having a full time writing staff allowed them to plot story arcs out. Normally cartoons have a story editor and freelance the writers.

- "the end of Season 2 will paint us into a corner and hopefully you’ll be surprised at how we get ourselves out of it. For Season 3, we’re actually bringing Beasts into the story, which is a big game-changers. Not necessarily “Beast Wars” way or “Dino-bots” but Beasts, which are part of the Transformers lore."

- "Season 3 will be even more about how Earth and Cybertron are brother, or twin, planets in some way. And, as we’ve been doing for two seasons, allegiances will change, good guys and bad guys will switch sides, new elements will be brought in and old elements will be sent away."

IDW January 2013 Transformers Comics

IDW Publishing has released their publishing plans for January 2013. This month kicks off the IDW crossover series Mars Attacks that Transformers is part of. It also marks the return of the Spotlight series with a focus on Thundercracker while the Tranformers Prime season 3 prequel comic Rage of the Dinobots continues. A total of six (I think a TF record) comics and 1 trade are coming out in January. If you are interested in the books, just let your local comic book store know. For the full details of IDW's other books including GI Joe, Star Trek, Locke & Key, and more click here.

Mars Attacks the Transformers
Shane McCarthy (w) • Matt Frank (a) • Ray Dillon (c)
The weekly invasion continues: AUTOBOTS vs. DECEPTICONS vs... MARTIANS?! The invaders from Mars take advantage of the colossal Cybertronian's conflict and begin their assault on Earth in full force. It's Martian vs. Machine as the audacious Autobots and the devilish Decepticons begrudgingly join forces to repel the inhuman invaders and save the planet!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Mark Wahlberg Cast in Transformers 4? Nope (Updated)

The Transformers 4 rumor continues as the latest from Twitch Film is that Mark Wahlberg is in "early conversation" with Michael Bay for a role in the movie. The pair recently worked together on Pain & Gain that is coming out next year. The site reports that "we are hearing [the story] will revolve around an adult star (the part being discussed with Wahlberg) and his teenage child with the idea being that the child would then grow to be the focus of subsequent entries in the series." The usual grain of salt warnings as no means to prove or disprove the story.

Update: Michael Bay posted on his blog that the story "just a rumor."

The Mark Wahlberg T4 rumor is just a rumor.

Mark and I are talking about another film project.

-Michael

Hasbro Q3 Earnings Call, Shortened TF Prime Season

Today Hasbro held their conference call to report their Q3 earnings. You can get the business details here but basically sales and profits dropped for the quarter with expectation that Christmas and the Marvel toys helping to boost the bottom line and make up the difference. As part of the call, CEO Brian Goldner revealed that The Hub is cutting their production orders for new shows. This is important for fans of The Hub cartoons and especially Transformers Prime as the current rumor is season 3 is only 13-16 episodes long. Transcript of relevant portion below.

Question: Final Question… If you could just elaborate. You touched a bit on a prepared remark that I’m interested. You said you are reducing your production spend over the past several quarters… said due to efficiencies. Can you just elaborate more on that?
Answer: "Actually what we are saying is amortization has come down because ultimate revenue expectations have gone up. It’s one big driver on that. As we look at our ultimate revenue expectations for out programming because our performance we have on the television and digital distribution performance and revenue we are now expected to get from that programming; cross merchandising and program sales the amortization comes down."

Transformers 4 to Film in London?

Casting website Mandy.com has posted a listing for the two potential Transformers 4 leads under their "United Kingdom" section with note that "This is a Paramount Pictures production filmed in various locations overseas" with one location being "London". There are several ways to interpret this. One is the most obvious - its fake (one I lean too). Another is the lead casting is open to non-American actors as long as they can do the need accents. A third interpretation is they are looking for UK actors because filming in UK or London. The previous Transformers films have filmed in many different locations around the world but a majority (like 90% to 95%) of the filming took place in the United States. This is something that Michael Bay is very proud of doing for all his films and not a tradition I see him ending any time soon. Any case the text of the listing is below.

Production: TRANSFORMERS 4 (Feature Film)
Location: London
Employer: BDiscovered
Duration: 3 months, starts approx April/May 2013 (non-Equity artist contracts)

Director: Michael Bay. Looking for Talent to send to Casting Director - This is a Paramount Pictures production filmed in various locations overseas.
Apply to: Tina Hartery

2 breakdowns:
1. Female / 18-24 yrs. / Any Ethnicity.
FEMALE LEAD - 18 to play high school senior…LEAD ETHNICITY - ANY

2. Male / 18-24 yrs. / Any Ethnicity.
MALE LEAD - Her 20-21 year old boyfriend, raised in Texas & drives racecars…LEAD ETHNICITY - ANY

Ad created by user 783009 on: Oct 18, 2012. Expires: Nov 7, 2012

Transformers 4 Release Date, Filming Start Date, More Lead Characters Info

A new post from Acting-Auditions website has collaborates the info on the lead human characters for Transformers 4, revealed the planned filming start date (April or May 2013), and set TF4's release date as June 27th, 2014. A little more info was provided so now can described the lead as an 18 year old female high school senior and her 20-something Texan race car driver boyfriend. The choices allow Bay to (legally) play up her sex appeal while providing a "realistic" reason for why one or both can drive an Autobot vehicle like a professional for whatever action scenes Bay has designed that needs those skills. Coming Soon also reports that Paramount has designed their temporary logo for Transformers 4 where "the right half of the standard transformers symbol acting as the stem of the number four." A previous report had the release date set 6/29/14 (a Tuesday) but still in the July 4th holiday window that the previous films were released in.

Di Bonaventura Pictures and DreamWorks SKG in association with Hasbro are in development on the Paramount Pictures science fiction action film "Transformers 4". The casting directors are auditioning actors for the new lead roles in the film, as neither Shia LaBeouf or Rosie Huntington-Whiteley are returning. The female lead role is an 18 year old or above who can play high school senior age, and the male lead is an early twenties Texas race car driver who plays the female lead's boyfriend. Shooting will take place in various locations beginning in April or May of 2013. This film is currently being referred to as "Untitled Transformers Sequel".

Michael Bay "Sick" of Hugo Weaving

It seems that Michael Bay did not appreciate Hugo Weaving's honestly when he spoke about doing the voice of Megatron for the Transformers films. Weaving commented that despite doing three films he never met the director and that the role itself really did not mean much to him, that it was essentially just a paycheck. I see nothing wrong with that the honestly as really no different then how I have looked at most of my jobs over the years. Obviously Bay had no concerns about Weaving's ability to do the job considering he still has not met the actor. While I was mostly indifferent to the comments, Bay was angry about it and shared those feeling on the his blog. The comment was deleted but Collider has a copy.

Do you ever get sick of actors that make $15 million a picture, or even $200,000 for voiceover work that took a brisk one hour and 43 minutes to complete, and then complain about their jobs? With all the problems facing our world today, do these grumbling thespians really think people reading the news actually care about trivial complaints that their job wasn’t ‘artistic enough” or “fulfilling enough”? I guess The Hollywood Reporter thinks so.

What happened to people who had integrity, who did a job, got paid for their hard work, and just smiled afterward? Be happy you even have a job – let alone a job that pays you more than 98% of the people in America.

I have a wonderful idea for all those whiners: They can give their “unhappy job money” to a wonderful Elephant Rescue. It’s the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Africa. I will match the funds they donate.

While the odds of Megatron returning in the fourth film were already unlikely, this mini-argument probably put a permanent kibosh on the idea. I really have a problem with Bay's comments, just question the wisdom of saying anything as it renewed this story for another news cycle. The best move in this case would have been no move.

Transformers: Prime 2.24 Patch Promo, TV Spot

Tomorrow Transformers Prime gets ever closer to the season 2 finale on The Hub at 7PM EST. "Patch" has "Starscream proposes a truce with fully-recovered Decepticon leader Megatron, but his new righthand man Dreadwing threatens to stand in the way of the alliance, even going so far as to coax Megatron into subjecting Starscream to some sort of mind probe to see what he's really planning." Below is clip and promo for episode, screenshots here. The 26 hour long Transformers: Prime Marathon that starts on November 1st at 5:30pm EST and ends with the November 2nd 7:00pm EST season finale episode "Darkest Hour." Don't forget that Transformers: Prime Season Two 4-disc set will be released on November 20th. The previous two episodes of TF Prime are also up on HubWorld.

Upcoming episodes:
10/26 Regeneration (2.25) - The Autobots and Megatron's Decepticons are drawn into Cybertron to face each other in a heroic battle over their mutual quests for the coveted Omega Lock, which, once unlocked with the four keys, would reawaken Primus' power.
11/02 Darkest Hour (2.26) - Season 2 finale. Megatron comes up with a complex plan and once it's put together, Optimus is placed in a position where he is forced to make a risky decision that, if not carefully considered, could have an inescapable effect on the entire Autobot team.

Transformers 4 Lead Characters?

SpoilerTV has posted a very brief description of what it claims to be a description for the two leads for Transformers 4. The posts says "The new female lead that they are looking for is a high school senior and her boyfriend a Texas racing driver." No further details. Usual grain of salt warnings apply until get more information. Update: Info confirmed. Click here for story.

Hugo Weaving Has Never Met Michael Bay

In an interview with Collider, Hugo Weaving commented about working as the voice of Megatron on the three Transformers films. Specifically he mentioned he has not been approached about Transformers 4, has never met Michael Bay and knew nothing then nor nothing know about Transformers or Megatron (which explains why he never did press for the films). It kind of hints at the nature of voice over work for celebrities which is often very little work for high amount of pay. Basically it was a job and he went in at did it.

As the voice of Megatron, has Michael Bay called about the next Transformers movie yet?
WEAVING: No. That’s a weird job for me because it honestly was a two-hour voice job, initially. I was doing a play and I actually didn’t have time, anyway. It was one of the only things I’ve ever done where I had no knowledge of it, I didn’t care about it, I didn’t think about it. They wanted me to do it. In one way, I regret that bit. I don’t regret doing it, but I very rarely do something if it’s meaningless. It was meaningless to me, honestly. I don’t mean that in any nasty way. I did it. It was a two-hour voice job, while I was doing other things. Of course, it’s a massive film that’s made masses of money. I just happened to be the voice of one of the iconic villainess characters. But, my link to that and to Michael Bay is so minimal. I have never met him. I was never on set. I’ve seen his face on Skype. I know nothing about him, really. I just went in and did it. I never read the script. I just have my lines, and I don’t know what they mean. That sounds absolutely pathetic! I’ve never done anything like that, in my life. It’s hard to say any more about it than that, really.

NYCC 2012: Next Year's Hasbro Transformers

Thursday Hasbro teased their next sub-line of Transformers Prime called Beast Hunters that brings the Beast Wars design aesthetic back into the main TF line. Hasbro also held a panel where they provided their plans and images of the first wave or so of toys that will start hitting shelves in spring 2013. Below are links to the galleries and info that was revealed. Also links to a recording of the actual panel and below that is a summary of what was revealed.

Links: Hasbro Panel | 3rd Party Gallery | Blue 'Bee Kreon Review | Non TF Displays | TF Universe MMO Trailer
Panel YouTube Video: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Transformers: Prime 2.23 Inside Job Promo, TV Spot, Road So Far

Tonight Transformers Prime moves close to the season finale on The Hub at 7PM EST. "Inside Job" has a captured Smokescreen learning where the Omega Key while trying to get the other three from Megatron. Below is clip and promo for episode. Also Hasbro has posted a sorta "The Road So Far" (cue up Carry on Wayward Son) for the first two season of Transformers: Prime to promote their epic 26 hour long Transformers: Prime Marathon that starts on November 1st at 5:30pm EST and ends with the November 2nd 7:00pm EST season finale episode "Darkest Hour." Don't forget that Transformers: Prime Season Two 4-disc set will be released on November 20th. The previous two episodes of TF Prime are also up on HubWorld.

Upcoming episodes:
10/19 Patch (2.24) - In an effort to secure a peaceful truce that would be beneficial to all parties involved, Starscream offers Megatron a ceasefire but Dreadwing has other ideas and does whatever he can to keep the diplomatic agreement from taking place.
10/26 Regeneration (2.25) - The Autobots and Megatron's Decepticons are drawn into Cybertron to face each other in a heroic battle over their mutual quests for the coveted Omega Lock, which, once unlocked with the four keys, would reawaken Primus' power.
11/02 Darkest Hour (2.26) - Season 2 finale

NYCC: New Transformers Prime Faction, Season 3 Teaser Trailer (Updated)

Today the New York Comic-Con 2012 started and Hasbro was on hand to tease their 2013 plans for Transformers Prime season 3. Below is a teaser trailer for Transformers Prime - Beast Hunters, set to start in the Spring (no exact date). With it comes a new faction, the Predacons along with Predaking (likely leader) with dragon alt mode. In G1 cartoons Predacons were the team of five Decepticons with creature alt modes merged to form Predaking. In Beast Wars, the Predacons are basically the ancestors of the Decepticons who continued the war against the Maximals, the Autobot ancestors.

Since Transformers Prime is part Hasbro's official canon for Transformers, it seems this is Hasbro's attempt to bring the successful Beast Wars approach into the toy line to open up the possibilities of alt modes back to real world animals and fantasy creatures. Depending on how the story goes and how well designed the (hopefully) new toy molds are, this could be kind of best of both worlds for TF fans. Hopefully more will be revealed of the line-up over the weekend. A gallery of Predaking can be found here.

Update: Hasbro has issued a press release providing an official image of Predaking's dragon alt mode. They also showed a teaser clip (below) that introduces the character, all the while keeping his robot mode secret.

"BEAST HUNTERS is an exciting new direction for TRANSFORMERS brand entertainment and the introduction of the PREDACON faction is a pivotal moment for OPTIMUS PRIME and the heroic AUTOBOTS, impacting the world of TRANSFORMERS which will never be the same," said Jay Duke, Global TRANSFORMERS Brand Vice President at Hasbro. "Kids and fans will be amazed by how Hasbro will bring this story and the 'beasts' to life across the brand's major entertainment platforms in 2013."

TF Linkfest - Hoodies, Pinball, and Posters

This edition of TF Linkfest is an interesting hodge podge of Transformers stuff. We have hoddies, new poster art, "cheaper" pinball machine, and custom TF art. New (currently) Takara only toys have been announced along with galleries for the next Masterpiece toy. Last but not least is video reviews for not Reflector, TF Prime Ultra Magnus, TRU Exclusive MP Prime, Gaia Unicron, not Brawn and not Cosmos.

Optimus Prime and Grimlock Hoodies
Now available from 80s Tees is two unique hoodies that could double as an easy Halloween costume. Grimlock is currently sold out but Optimus Prime is available. They cost $60 each.

Bay: TF4 Will "Feel Very Different"

While promoting his Doritos Super Bowl Contest to Entertainment Tonight, Michael Bay briefly commented about Transformers 4. He didn't really say anything different then what he said previously.

"What I can say is that it's going to pick up where the other three left off," said Bay of the film, which will predominantly feature new actors from its predecessors. "It's going to feel very different. It's going to definitely open the franchise up for many more to come, and it's going to have a freshness to it."

Transformers: RID #10 and Regeneration One #84 Previews

Wednesday brings Transformers: Robots in Disguise #10 and Transformers: Regeneration One #84 to stores. RID #10 switches gears to play catch up with Optimus Prime Orion Pax as he searches for Jhiaxus and his Decepticons. Regeneration #84 continues telling story of the Wreckers plan to stop Megatron with what little remains of human resistance. The preview of RID #10 is here and Regeneration #84 is here.

Transformer Prime The Video Game Wii U Trailer

From Wired.com, here is a new trailer for Transformers Prime The Video Game that will be released for Wii, Wii U, DS and 3DS. The Wii U version will be out on November 18th, the other consoles on October 30th.

Tyrese Back for Transformers 4?

In an interview with Mobli Tyrese Gibson indicated he was talking with Michael Bay about reprising his role of Robert Epps for Transformers 4. The discussion is in the literal early stages (text messages) so subject to change. Tyrese has already said before he was up for a return so all this indicates is Bay may be open to the idea also. Whatever story Bay comes up with there is likely to be a military component to it so why not have a military based character or two act as a bridge between the first trilogy and this "new direction" that Hasbro and Bay are planning. Transcript of TF4 section below, full video here.

“I don’t know… me and Michael Bay, we’ve been exchanging e-mails… I mean Text Messages and I just hope that it works out… I mean things fell apart with Megan Fox and so we had to do what we had to do to pick up the pieces and keep moving with Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. And now things fell apart with Shia. Business is business I think. I think Shia has expressed his opinion. I think when you are associated with movie like Transformers other than the box-office sees you as an actor... a full-on actor, lot of people arguably can say they don’t take you serious… in this town called “Hollywood”... because the reason all these doing big is because of the robots, the big action and special effects and so in some capacity could diminish your value as an actor which you bring to the table. Even though it’s huge for your brand and your image and your celebrity around the world. But Shia is one of those real actors full-on real actors... whether gets an independent role where he just get paid Per diem or at some role he’s just passionate about and that he may do for free. As long as he gets associated with these heavy-weight actors… that’s the space he’s been. But for me I started this s*** with Shia, Josh, Michael Bay and the Team and sometimes you lose a team member. In my mind not be in a part with Transformers 4… if that’s even happening… it f**** me up. I’ll be honest… I love it. It was the childhood, movie, favorite of mine… you know I don’t really not wanna be a part of the franchise. Period. You know when you lose a team member sometimes you gotta keep going. Period.”

Transformers: Prime 2.22 Hard Knocks Promo, TV Spot

Tomorrow a new episode of Transformers Prime is on The Hub at 7PM EST. "Hard Knocks" is described as "When their desperate efforts to acquire the coveted Omega Keys take an unexpected and frantic turn, Knock Out is able to take advantage of the power of sound while Starscream uses his efforts to focus on the power of hyper-speed." Below is a clip and promo for the ep. Additional screenshots here. Also don't forget that Transformers: Prime Season Two 4-disc set will be released on November 20th.

Upcoming episodes:
10/12 Inside Job (2.23) - When Smokescreen is captured, he learns the location of the Omega Key and attempts to retrieve all the other stolen keys.
10/19 Patch (2.24) - In an effort to secure a peaceful truce that would be beneficial to all parties involved, Starscream offers Megatron a ceasefire but Dreadwing has other ideas and does whatever he can to keep the diplomatic agreement from taking place.
10/26 Regeneration (2.25) - The quest for the Omega Lock takes the Autobots and the Decepticons to Cyberton for a battle.
11/02 Darkest Hour (2.26) - Season 2 finale