Transformers Animated Web Series Renewed

Hasbro and Machinima are going to continue their partnership by finishing the Prime Wars Trilogy of web shorts. Transformers: Combiners Wars had over 120 million views total worldwide. The remaining two parts will be called Transformers: Titans Return and Transformers: Power of the Primes. As each part was only five minutes in length, assuming the format remains the same that means the entire trilogy will wind up being an hour and half in length.

“The global fan base has really embraced this vision of the Transformers,” said Machinima CEO Chad Gutstein, “and we are thrilled to be working closely with Hasbro developing the next two installments of the series.”

“Transformers has always been fueled by the brand’s rich, compelling characters and storylines, and Transformers: Combiner Wars tapped into that lore to offer fans a truly unique and new digital-first story for the franchise” said Stephen Davis, Chief Content Officer of Hasbro. “Following the success of the first series, we are excited to announce this continued collaboration with Machinima and believe Transformers fans will be thrilled to see the story continue to unfold.”

Transformers: The Last Knight Teaser Coming December 16 (Update)

In a post on the Transformers Twitter feed, Michael Bay announced that the teaser trailer for Transformers: The Last Knight will premiere on December 16 with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. No mention was made of the internet release plans but lately the studios have been doing it the day before or day of the theatrical release. If plan on checking it out in theaters keep in mind that the studios can only provide the trailers and suggest which movies to attach them to, doesn't mean the theater will do it (the ones near me never do).

Update: Teaser came early, you can find it here.

Sneak Peek of Transformers: The Last Knight Footage Via IMAX Featurette

In what is likely the rumored IMAX trailer, MichaelBay.com posted a featurette that looks back at 10 year partnership between the Transformers franchise and IMAX. The last 40 seconds or so also provides a series of quick cuts of behind the scenes footage that was filmed for Transformers: The Last Knight over the summer. Thanks to Feris O. for the link.

Transformers: The Last Knight IMAX Trailer Coming?

A new classification from the Alberta Film Ratings office for "Transformers: The Last Knight (IMAX exclusive trailer)" indicates that IMAX viewers at least will get an early peak at the upcoming movie. No release date is indicated but Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them does seem like a prime opportunity. If not with that movie then Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is the other likely candidate for the most all ages audience the TF5 marketing group would be aiming for. The office just rated the trailer as PG and provided no additional info marketing plans or if a non-IMAX trailer are in the works.

Update: The likely IMAX "trailer" can be viewed here.

Paramount Pleased with Bumblebee Script

While Transformers: The Last Knight has completed principle photography and now deep into post-production, Paramount have some time to focus on the next movie in the franchise. The Bumblebee movie is aiming for a June 8, 2018 release date and according to Deadline the Paramount executives are pleased with the script turned in by Christina Hodson (Shut In). Hodson was one of the TF writer's room that developed the blueprint for the Transformers franchise for the next 4 to 5 years as Paramount attempts the Star Wars model of a film a year.

Hodson doesn't have much writing credits yet besides the just released Shut In film but she is seen as a Hollywood rising star with three "Black List" scripts (film insiders loving the scripts but for whatever reasons never getting green lit), wrote script for The Fugitive (that didn't move forward), and rumored to be working on the script for a Harley Quinn movie (which DC's fractured approach could never see the light of day). So basically we have no idea of her writing skill but a lot of people around Hollywood are putting in an unusual effort to change that.

Now that there is a script, the studio can now begin a search for a director who in turn will likely demand further changes to the script as the casting process begins. My guess is the film will be done on a smaller budget. If they reduce the Transformers cast to just a few vehicles, minimize their on screen time in robot mode and re-use most of the CGI assets created for the previous Transformers films, a budget of $100 million or smaller is feasible. Despite that they will still need sufficient time to complete the film so I figure they are aiming to start filming by summer 2017.

Moner Talks First Day on TF5, Cars Video

The info blackout continues on Transformers 5. There is a rumor of an IMAX trailer on the horizon that will be around two minutes in length but that is about it. In the meantime here is 2 not really related bit of "news". The first is Transformers: The Last Knight star Isabela Moner briefly commenting on her first day on the set.

Director Michael Bay greeted her with this: “Welcome! Today you’re going to put out a fire. Do you know how to use a fire extinguisher?”

“Michael lit this huge fire so I could practice, and kept shouting, ‘You have to get closer! Closer! You’re not in the shot yet!’” Isabela shares in the December/January issue. “All I could think was, ‘My face is going to melt off!’”

Another scene found Isabela sprinting while hauling three huge para-chute bags. “I grabbed them and I ran through the scene with all this wind blowing in my face and dust getting in my eyes and smoke and things on fire. When I finished it, it was just the most amazing feeling to know that I’d done it.”