Avengers: Infinity War Trailer

Yeah I know its not Transformers related but not a whole lot of new to report on that front. Besides, its the Marvel Cinematic Universe coming together to prevent Thanos from assembling his Infinity Gauntlet (aka get powers to rewrite the universe as he sees fit) with what looks to be an epic scope and budget. Avengers 3, aka Avengers: Infinity War, hits theaters on May 4.

Peter Cullen Talks Transformers as Titans Return Episode Three Premiere

Go90.com has the third episode of Transformers: Titans Return as Metroplex and Trypticon start what looks to be a series long fight as the rest of the Autobots try to find other ways to end it before a weekend Metroplex falls. To go along with the release the voice of Optimus Prime, Peter Cullen, did an interview about Transformers and once again voicing Prime for this series. Below are some highlights, the full interview is at the LA Times.

When you were first presented with the opportunity to voice Optimus Prime?
Voiceover actors, especially in the animation world, were [once] on call every day from your agent, 24-seven. “Go here, go there.” Today, you don't do that. You audition in your own home in your underwear in front of a microphone on a computer. Back in those days, you had to drive across town and wait in line in auditions. Mostly, what we called then cattle calls — like an NFL tryout. You don't just audition for one, you audition for about four or five roles, and you pick out the characters to read for. You take out a few pieces of paper and try to come up with a voice for each character. I did my Optimus Prime, and found out two weeks later that I was hired for the role. This was a toy that nobody has seen before. Kids will get their teeth into it. There was always the feeling of, “Gee, we got a hit.' G1 [or Generation One of the toys] — that was a long time ago.

In voicing Optimus in so many different iterations, from TV to video games to film, is there much difference for you in terms of the process?
Well, yeah. The animated series, before digital, was done in a small recording studio with cast. When you're working on a movie, you're working on an ongoing piece, and that means a couple of hours. The script has been written and subject to change, and in many cases, I was lip-syncing to animation that had already been created. For those that weren't animated, there were pencil sketches to go on — or we were just speaking dialogue into a microphone. So, yeah, there's definitely a creative process different than what I was accustomed to. Today, working wth the internet process of animation, and its ability to reach so many millions of people, this is exciting as well. It's all new to me, and I'm embracing it because let's face it, the success of anything is about the amount of people that watch it.

Transformers: Robots in Disguise Character Art

Last weekend Transformers: Robots in Disguise concluded its run, to be replaced with a show yet to be determined. If you missed the show already then head over to TFW2005 where bunch of character art from the show is available.

Transformers Accidentally Goes Political

Hasbro accidentally brought some US politics to their latest release from Transformers: Power of the Prime line. It has been discovered that Jazz has a tiny art under the Autobot logo that spells "MAGA" in Cybertronian. The assumption is that MAGA is the shorthand for "Make America Great Again" from the 2016 Trump Presidential campaign. i09 breaks down the details including a handy chart of the Cybertronian language but more importantly they got in touch with Hasbro who apologized for the unwanted insertion of politics.

It was brought to our attention that a graphic appears on one of our Transformers figures that, when translated from Cybertonian letters to English, spells out MAGA. We investigated the issue, and discovered that one of our vendors inserted this as part of the design without authorization. We are addressing this with the vendor.

We do not intend for our products to carry political messages, and apologize to anyone who was offended by this message.

Considering the toy line is mostly manufactured in China who are unlikely to give two craps about "MAGA", I can't help but wonder what vendor they are referring to. There could even be a none political explanation but nothing Transformers related comes to mind. My guess its whoever finalizes the designs before they reach China for manufacturing or programs the machines that paint the toy are going to have a job-less holiday season.

Transformers: Titans Return Premieres

Transformers: Titans Return has officially started its new season with the premiere of the first two episodes. The stories take place immediately after the events of Combiner Wars. The season includes episodes that are about twice as long (~10 minutes) and new voice talent including Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime and Judd Nelson as Hot Rod. In the United States the show will air on Go90.com while internationally it will be on Machinima's YouTube channel for your country. To watch - Episode One | Episode Two

Bumblebee Wraps With Title and Logo Reveal

It seems that Bumblebee: The Movie has officially wrapped principle photography. At least according to posts on Hailee Steinfeld's Instagram account, at least before she was ordered to pull the images. Fortunately not before TFW2005 grabbed a copy. The main value in her images is the first look at the head of Bumblebee that seems to pay homage to his G1 horns while retaining much of his Bay-verse look. In addition the current title is Bumblebee: The Movie. I would not be surprised if this could be later altered to add "Transformers" to the title in some fashion for marketing purposes much like the official titles of Rogue One and Solo add "A Star Wars Story" just so the slower members of movie going audience do not get confused wondering "Is this part of Star Wars?".

Paramount Loses China Company Deal

Paramount Pictures and Huahua Media have formally ended their financing partnership the two companies announced on Tuesday. The partnership, estimated to be worth $1 billion if it had run its course, was used to fund around 25% of the cost for Paramount movies in return for a piece of the profits over three years. Transformers: The Last Knight and Ghost in the Shell were the first (and I think only) movies made under the partnership. Both movies performed well below expectations and were considered barely profitable by most industry estimates. The decision was basically forced on Paramount as Huahua's loss in confidence in the relationship was for them to simply stop making payments to Paramount.

“The actions we are announcing today establish a financing model that is better aligned to Paramount’s new strategic approach to film production,” Gianopulos said in a statement. “Our focus on a more balanced slate — a mix of big, broad-audience films and more targeted and co-branded films made with greater fiscal discipline — demands a more flexible and tailored financing model going forward.”

Technically Paramount could have sued to enforce the contract (but would have to do it in China as a US judgement is unenforceable) but remember China is a communist country so from their perspective Huahua is "owned" by the Chinese government so in effect Paramount would be suing the government for breach of contract and expecting that same government to find in Paramount's favor, a highly unlikely scenario that could also have side effects such as blocking Paramount movies from being shown in the country. Considering the growing importance of the Chinese market is for Hollywood's profit margins, it makes more financial sense to simply take the hit and move on.

As for its impact on future Transformers films, the likely catalyst for why the partnership even occurred, it is doubtful it will have any. The new five year deal with Hasbro probably already insured the franchise's future. Also the Bumblebee movie's $70 million budget already indicates Paramount was already making moves to cut costs of future Transformers movies.

New Transformers: Titans Return Trailer Teases Trypticon vs Metroplex

Below is the latest trailer for Transformers: Titans Return that continues to story on Cybertron after the events of Transformers: Combiner Wars. The story looks be going truly epic scale as the Titans Transformers, Metroplex and Trypticon, do battle.

New Behind the Scenes Video for Titans Return

Here is a new behind the scenes video for Titans Return cartoon that will hit go90.com in the States and possibly YouTube elsewhere on November 14. A new trailer is also expected to drop on Tuesday.

Five More Years of Paramount and Hasbro Partnership

It seems the odds of a Transformers 6 took a significant jump in its favor as Paramount and Hasbro have signed a new five year deal to produce movies and other stuff based on Hasbro brands. Deadline claims it "expands" on the existing deal but then writing the "terms of the deal were not disclosed" so its not real clear what, if anything, might have changed. There is no mention of exactly what properties, movies, or television shows that the pair are already under consideration.

“Paramount has been a valuable partner of Hasbro’s for more than a decade, and we’re looking forward to taking our relationship to the next level,” said Brian Goldner, Chairman and CEO, Hasbro. “Storytelling, in its many forms, is revolutionizing our business and differentiating Hasbro in all sectors where we operate. We look forward to collaborating with the talented team at Paramount to create powerful new stories for kids, fans and families globally.”

“Hasbro has an enormous array of exceptional brands, so this expansion of our relationship is incredibly exciting,” said Paramount Pictures Chairman and CEO, Jim Gianopulos. “We look forward to working with Brian Goldner and Stephen Davis and the Hasbro and Allspark teams to create extraordinary film properties for all audiences.”