Don Murphy Responds to Leaked Picture

To say the least Don Murphy is angry about the leaked Skorponok image that Ain't It Cool News posted (and now has removed). In post on his forums titled "Harry Knowles Should Be Imprisoned", he makes clear he feels a law was broken:

Seriously, he should.

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/30809

Now, under the provisions of the Digital Millenium Copyright act, his loser Ain't It Shit site, has to take down any copyright violations that he is notified about immediately. This is under the Safe Harbor provision. It is how You Tube currently defends itself (I say currently because the movie and tv industry will soon cripple YouTube). However, Harry acknowledges in the very posting that he knows he is violating the law, that the picture is protected, but he posts it anyway, also knowing that it will spread all over the internet (already within minutes one of the talkback rodents has "mirrored" the image). Thus, he has violated the law of the United States knowingly and willfully. Maybe no prison could contain his whole body, but at the least he should be held liable for enough in damages that Aint It Shit closes down and their constant illegal behavior, from reviewing stolen scripts to posting reviews from private test screenings held up as wrong and harmful and illegal. I've asked the studio to investigate. Stay Tuned.

I have a feeling that what Don Murphy wants to happen and what will happen are two different things. For one, the various copyright acts are not as straight forward or clear cut as Don Murphy pretends them to be. Most of the previous "victories" in the past have more to do with the defendants not having money to pay a legion of lawyers then having the law on their sides. Its why most sites will pull pictures when asked to as its really not worth the cost of a fight. The future fight over You Tube may just be what sets precedents in cases like these as it would be the first time the big boys (RIAA etc) have gone after a company that has the money to fight back (whether they have the will though is unknown).

Another factor that Don hasn't considered in his anger is that the movie studios use AICN as much as the site uses them. How else do you explain the access they get to movies? The free DVDs, previews, interviews, trips and so forth. For all the hatred Don has for the site, the marketing department clearly has love for them and makes use of the site frequently. The various sneak peaks that AICN news has had in regards to the Transformers is proof of that.

Also, alot of the "leaks" on movies is much like in the political arena. Its usually planned by the "offended" party as a trial balloon to see what the reaction is. In this case its possible the leak was to see if the response was negative or positive and to help create buzz for a forth coming trailer that in all likelihood will include images of Skorponok as that phase of the filming was completed first so the necessary CGI work would be the farthest along. Don may not have approved of the leak but that doesn't necessarily mean the many people in the chain of command of the studio system didn't.

Even if in this case its an unauthorized leak, AICN is used too often as a marketing tool by the studios to allow a single producer with a clear vendetta to take any action against a site. A "leak" on AICN is basically printing money in free advertisement and any marketing and business student can tell you the value in that.

Transformers Film Image of Skorponok

Ain't It Cool News has scored a single image from Transformers. It depicts the Decepticon Skorponok rising from the desert to attack Tyrese and Josh Duhamel in its attempt to get information about the location of the "Energon Cube." This is part of the opening sequence of the movie. AICN indicates that this is not a final image and just part of the ongoing post-production work for the film.

Not a bad image, except for the face. Those large eyes say "cute" rather then "omg run!". The claws I guess are for that. Don Murphy, who has much hate for AICN, is probably seeing red. Hopefully he will post something to express himself later in the week.

Di Bonaventura Commits on Transformers

Transformers Producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura was interviewed for a forthcoming issue of Wizard Magazine, in which he commented on his various projects including Transformers:

Di Bonaventura also addressed fan controversy surrounding next summer’s “Transformers” film.
“The thing I keep trying to find is how to create a forum between filmmakers and the core audience that is a constructive forum for both sides,” he said. “What we did was to take some people who live and breathe [Transformers], and then everything they could possibly want and know about Transformers, we did.”

I am curious to know who they spoke to. Ben Yee is considered one of the foremost experts on Transformers including consulting for the Beast Wars cartoon series but based on what have read, seen etc, I get the feeling that a casual fan or two was where most of the information about TFs was gathered.

Transformers Movie Prototype Toy Images

Taobao.com, an Asian auction site, posted up images of potential toys in the Transformers movie line coming next year. The toys are clearly far from a final version and sadly none are of the robot mode. Based on what I see, it looks like the design of the toys will be based on ground covered by the previous Alternators/ Binal-Tech toyline.

The full gallery is here.

(source)

Decepticon Bonecrusher Is A Southern

An article on Charleston.net has posted a little article that reveals the Decepticon vehicle mode of Bonecrusher is from South Carolina as the 23 ton Buffalo model is provided from a government contractor in Ladson, South Carolina. The article:

Buffalo transformers into movie role

A Ladson-based defense contractor is going Hollywood.

Or at least one of its marquee products is.

Force Protection Industries Inc., which makes armored vehicles for the military, recently loaned one of its hulking tank-like Buffalo models to the makers of "Transformers," a live-action science-fiction film based on the popular 1980s cartoon and toy line.

The 23-ton claw-equipped behemoth, now back in the company's plant across from Exchange Park on Highway 78, spent about two months on the set, said Force Protection spokeswoman Tommy Pruitt. The vehicle was cast in the film as a "Decepticon" named Bonecrusher, as suggested by emblems that have been painted on its sides.

Pruitt said he did not know who or what the filmmakers plan to transform the Buffalo into.

It is one of about 300 blast-resistant vehicles that Force Protection has made for the armed services. They have been in service for nearly three years in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The company has said no troops have been killed or seriously injured while riding in one of its heavy-duty transports.

(source)

Josh Duhamel Comments on Tranformers

Black Film has posted some brief comments coming from Josh Duhamel ("Las Vegas") in regards to how he landed the role of Lennox for Tranformers.

TRANSFORMERS update
by Wilson Morales

November 20, 2006

While in LA to promote his latest film, "Turistas", actor Josh Duhamel, who also stars in NBC's television series, "Vegas", spoke to blackfilm.com about his upcoming role in Michael Bay's Transformers.

What role do you play in "Transformers"?

Josh Duhamel: I play Captain Lennox and I'm captain of this special ops team in Iraq and we're coming back from this mission and we're about ready to start going home when Vortex comes in as a U.S helicopter and basically transforms and incinerates the base. So then we run for the desert and somehow end up finding our way back and get into communication with the U.S and they come get us, and then we go back.

Was this the first time you have worked behind blue screen?

JD: We didn't do much blue screen. It was a lot of big sticks with tennis balls on them, but not a lot of blue and green screen.

Did you know that "Transformers" has a huge fan base?

JD: I didn't realized it. I was a fan of it as a kid too, but I didn't realize that it was that big still. He told he was going to do it. I was actually in a meeting at Michael Bay's office for the movie "Hitcher" which they just shot, and I was meeting his two partners, and Michael Bay pops his head and said, "Hey, how are you doing?" I shook his hand and I had never met him before and we sit down and we're all talking and he tells me about this movie, "Transformers". I couldn't believe they were making that movie because I remember was the cartoon. Two months had passed and I get a call from his office saying he wants to see me for this movie, for this part of Lennox. So I go in and he starts showing me all the art work that they have and it's so cool some of the stuff that's laying and it's so much more advanced than I could even imagine. Now I get why they are making this movie; because it's so much modern than it was before.

(source)

Another Shia LaBeouf Interview

About.com has posted an interview with Shia LaBeouf. The topic of conversation is mostly about the upcoming movie "Bobby" but a little Transformers movie talk is on page four of the interview. Mostly it just deals with what a pain in the rear Shia felt making the movie was and working with Director Michael Bay.

Well, your next project is a huge studio film - Transformers

Shia LaBeouf: “Again, that’s exactly what that is. If anyone tells you they do that for the art value, that’s bulls**t. It’s f**king painful. To go from Emilio Estevez to Michael Bay is like walking out of, you know, like in a hammock in the sky, hanging out drinking Pina Coladas with Jesus and then getting smacked in the face and thrown in the devil’s s**pile and having to make a movie. I swear to God.”

It affected you that much?

Shia LaBeouf: “I was thinking about quitting this industry. And Michael Bay will tell you that. He’s so hard on his actors, and not in the way that Emilio might be, in that he’ll push you to be something better. Mike is just f**king a hard a**.”

Why didn’t you walk off the set?

Shia LaBeouf: “Because it was too important to my career.”

You’ll never do that again.

Shia LaBeouf: “I mean, until 2 and 3. But just… Look, the four, five months of pain I went through might buy my mom a house and that’s forever, so I’m all right. People go to f**king war, it’s not like I have a hard job. I’m an actor. It’s not the worst thing. We’re sitting at a pool, I didn’t pay for those shoes, I didn’t pay for this. It’s not a bad life, and for a guy that didn’t have s**t going on. There’s certain pains; it’s a tradeoff like anything. There’s things you don’t want to do in your industry.”

Brian Geraghty: “If it’s important to you, it’s going to be painful. I feel sh**ty complaining sometimes, but I complain because I strive to do films like Bobby. You get the perfect situation and then it goes away. …And all these movies now, I never really felt I could believe in myself and not hold myself back. Bobby is definitely a validation. You need reinforcement in life. You show up to an office every day, I wouldn’t like to do that, but yet, you get feedback. You’re going three months without a job go into a dark hole where you get off Transformers and go to the spiral that Shia had…”

Shia LaBeouf: “You get lost in a f**king weird depression, man.”

How did you survive Transformers?

Shia LaBeouf: “I barely made it out of that movie. I was going to a heart specialist; I was having anxiety attacks, losing my mind. And you know, you’re doing physical s**t all day. It’s tough, man. And even Mike at the end, he was like, ‘Look, I know I’m hard on you but you’ll never get this again. If you can go through this with me, you can do anything.’ Sort of like the whole, ‘If you can live in New York you can live anywhere,” type thing. Whatever doesn’t kill you.”

Shia, at this point in your career do you still have to audition?

Shia LaBeouf: “Of course I do. The Guide to Recognizing Your Saints guy wouldn’t even see me. ‘Let me come in, I’ll f**king audition for you.’ He wouldn’t even see me. The guy didn’t want to meet me at all. And I begged him, I begged him. I was the last person who read, but he didn’t want to read me because also at the time I was the ‘Disney’ guy, the Kurt Russell or whatever they were trying to make. I had to break away and that was Guide and that was Bobby. But I’m trying to be Gary Oldman and Hilary Duff, so I’ve got to play a little bit of the politics. I’ve got to do Transformers – I have to - because there’s a part of my audience that’s not gonna go see Bobby or see A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints. Part of that audience won’t see it.”

It’s a pretty much a sure bet your audience will follow you to Transformers.

Shia LaBeouf: “Yeah. The biggest movie in Hollywood. You don’t get bigger than $250 million robots blowing up the world. I don’t plan on making any other – I mean, I’m going to do Transformers 2 and 3 so that will be my Lord of the Rings.”

You’ve signed on to 2 and 3?

Shia LaBeouf: “Yeah, I’m gonna do it. That will be my Lord of the Rings and then I’ll just make indies the rest of my time, for a long time. Elijah [Wood’s] straight. Elijah can do whatever he wants. Why? Because he’s in one of the biggest, the top five grossers ever. People in China know who he is and people in Iceland know who he is. He can do whatever he wants. That’s my whole thing is I’ve got to get to the point where people in Iceland will go see Guide to Recognizing Your Saints. That’s what I’m trying to do.

It’s a tough deal but again, it was tough to go from the kid thing to the adult thing. That was the toughest jump you can do in this business.”

The more Shia opens his mouth, the less I tend to like him. He seems very full of himself. Its just hard to develop sympathy for someone that gets anxiety attacks over acting much less gets paid so well that he can buy a house in five months of work that usually take 30 years for the average Joe or Jane. He probably found his calling because if he gets this worked up over his current career, the "real world" would have driven him to suicide by now.

(source)

Oklahoman's Peter Cullen Interview

The Oklahoman has posted an interview with Optimus Prime voice Peter Cullen that is actually rather informative compared to most. In it he discusses how he got the job, the inspiration for the Prime voice (his brother), and also how he auditioned for the live action Transformers role.

The movie related bit from the full article:

Cullen said the hard-core Transformers fans are to thank for his reprisal of the role in the upcoming big-budget film.

"(The filmmakers) were thinking more Hollywood big names," Cullen said. "They did start to consider the original voice actors because of the enthusiasm and the ... stubbornness of the fan base. God, I'm grateful for those guys," he said.

Cullen was called in to audition for Michael Bay at his offices in Santa Monica, Calif.

He was asked to read a scene with Optimus Prime and Ironhide, a gutsy Autobot who was a close friend of Prime's, also played by Cullen in the original series.

"The script assistant was there, and she started reading for Ironside," Cullen said.

"I said, ‘Excuse me, dear, do you mind if I read it?' Because I actually played this character.'"

Cullen completed the read-through reading for both characters.

Cullen received a callback. This time, Cullen was called to act out a more personal, one-on-one scene.

"The reason for that was, they wanted to find out if I in fact could act," he said.

"Optimus steps out of his normal frame, and becomes ... a little more human."

Shortly later, Cullen heard from his agent that he was again cast as Optimus Prime.

"And I said, ‘Oh, fantastic,' and that's when I started to get involved," he said. "It started getting exciting, and it's remained that way ever since."

More Protoform Toy Pics

ACToys.net has posted more pics of the Protoform Optimus Prime and Starscream. It seems to me the design is supposed be something similar to a comet or asteroid that is actually an interstellar craft/re-entry vehicle, but to me its seems closer to colored poop with the shape and all. Yeah mean and uncalled for but as a toy, I remain unimpressed.

Rest of the pics are here.

Make Prime Speak Winners

TFormers.com has posted the info on the Make Prime Speak Contest:

TRANSFORMERS’ MAKE PRIME SPEAK CONTEST has announced the Top-10 winners to the contest, where fans and the online community could submit their chances to have Peter Cullen – the voice of Optimus Prime – speak their line of dialogue in the TRANSFORMERS movie, in theatres 7.4.7.

Carl, from Norristown, PA, will see his number-one winning entry – “Freedom is the right of all sentient beings” – featured in the upcoming TRANSFORMERS movie.

The number one line – as determined by filmmakers from a Top-30 list that contest registrants voted on – will be spoken by Cullen in the film.

Second and third place winners will have their entries recorded by Peter Cullen and made into ringtones.

And winners 4 through 10 will also have their entries recorded by Cullen, and featured on the official site, www.TransformersMovie.com.

A special thanks for all those that submitted entries and voted. The Top-10 Winning entries, in order, are listed below:

1) "Freedom is the right of all sentient beings." – Carl, Norristown, PA

2) "That's how I roll." - David, Phoenix, AZ

3) "Autobots: transform and roll out" - Brandon, Jacksonville, FL

4)"This world should learn from its own mistakes, not ours."
-- Ben, San Francisco, CA

5) “One shall stand... one shall fall.” -- Paul, Elgin, IL

6) “It¹s Prime Time!” -- ¬ Jason, Murrieta, CA

7) “Alpha Trion said there’d be days like this.” ¬ -- Jason, Methuen, MA

8) “Now all we need is a little energon, and a lot of luck.” -- ¬ Kenny, Boston, MA

9) “You¹re on the wrong side of the blaster to champion that, Decepticon.” -- ¬ Afonso, Lisbon, NY

10) “There’s a thin line between being a hero and being a memory.” – Aaron, Austin, TX

Not exactly a win for creative thinking with 4 out of 10 being lines from either the toyline (#1), used in cartoons (#3) or from the animated movie (#5 and #8). About the only line that stands out in my opinion is #4. The rest are just a little to corny for me.

Vince DiCola releases "new" Tranformers Music

Vince DiCola, the music composer for the animated Transformers: The Movie has a released a little thank you track called "Tranformers Suite 2006" for TF fans. The track is an arrangement of previous material combines with reworked material. To download the track, you will need to register with soundclick.com. The track is here.

From Vince DiCola:

Hello to all,

I am presenting this piece of music as a special "Thank You" to all my friends from the Transformers community...

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page...?bandID=610622 Click this link to listen and get to the song! It is called Transformers Suite 2006.

Some of you may recall hearing this arrangement when I performed it at the last convention I attended years ago. My partner Kenny Meriedeth and I began re-working my original arrangement about a year ago and we continued to work on it even after learning that a composer had been chosen to score the new live action film. As you will hear, this piece features some 'snippets' from my score to the 1986 animated movie, along with the original Transformers theme presented in an updated fashion.

I hope you enjoy this music and we wish everyone the best on the new movie.

Thanks again to all my fans!

Cordially,
Vince DiCola

I didn't feel like registering for the website so no opinion on the piece. For those that do get it a listen, provide your opinion.

Movie Prequel Novel Planned

A new novel called Transformers: Ghosts of Yesterday will act as a prequel to the upcoming live action movie. Written by David Cian, who has written previous Transformers books has a storyline that takes place in the 1960s. Beyond that nothing has been revealed. Interview with the Cian is here. (source)

Transformers Featurette

Transformers: The Movie 20th Anniversary DVD comes with a brief featurette (re: advertisement) for the upcoming live action movie. Out on YouTube the video has been put up for all to see. The video consists of the teaser trailer from earlier this year, followed by quick shots of the various Transformers vehicles, storyboards and various cheerleader comments from Bay, Spielberg and the writers.

(source)

Peter Cullen Transformer Interview

zap2it.com has posts a interview with the voice of Optimus Prime, Peter Cullen, that is a little walk down memory lane do the beginning of the animated Transformers cartoon and the movie. Nothing is revealed about the live action movie, but an interesting read for any generation one fan.

"When I read for it the very first time, it was pretty much confusing because it wasn't your normal animated cartoon," he says. "I saw a sketch of [Optimus Prime] and a character breakdown. It interested me because it was different, it was new and there was no real challenge to create a voice due to the physical characteristics of the character. It was a mechanical toy, so it could be anything."

The interview is here.

(source)

Transformers: The Movie 20th Anniversary Edition Released Today

In stores as of today is the 20th Anniversary Edition of the animated Transformers: The Movie two disc DVD with a ton of features including interviews, trivia and commentary. Relive the death of Optimus Prime, the horror of "Dare to Be Stupid." The rise of Galvatron and the last role of the legendary Orson Wells. Nostalgia at its best that may leave many wondering "what made me think this was the best movie ever?". Still, its entertaining even 20 years later so well worth adding to your collection.

Need more info?
DVD Features
Picture Gallery
TFormers.com Review - basically buy it
Easter Eggs
Retailer Bonus Swag forum
Death of OP extra preview - thanks Joe P for link.

Its times like this you are glad for re-releases with lots of extra bonuses but at the same time cringe cause you already own a copy of the film and now have this compulsion to replace with the new and improved version. Its happening to me with Transformers and repeating with the Superman DVD re-release. Damn you DVD companies and your sweet allure of extras!!! I guess I will need to replace my Rhino copy with the Sony copy.

Update: Two more Easter Eggs found.

Bumbleebee's Concept Boards

The concept board for Bumbleebee is now available as wallpaper thanks to Harbx.com. The boards shows a sweet comparison of BB as a dirty old 1974 Camaro compared with the new clean 2007 Camaro in both vehicle and robot modes. In addition it shows BB in full bad-a$$ mode as he is about to open a can on someone. The pics are here. Below is the 1280x1024 version. Thanks to julio m, joey c, and chad d for the links.


I wonder if the car companies are paying to be in the movies or they just the lucky recipients of design decisions made in pre-production?

Don Murphy Update

Don Murphy has provided an update on his forum, basically saying post-production work continues. No mention on when the next trailer is coming. Later he rants about various sites printing rumors and what not as news. He has a point, news and rumor are two different things but where the line is sometimes hard to determine. For example, theoretically the released images of the Bumbleebee, Megatron and so forth could be "rumors" since most are unconfirmed by members of the movie...yet clearly these are real designs (but subject to change) therefore it is news. In the end, its up to site editor and the readers to filter they can and hope they are right most of the time.

Anyway the part that matters for this site:

So what is up on Transformers? The film is being edited. The film is being sculpted. The CG is being rendered. Basically- the film is becoming the film. Nothing real exciting there. Everyone always gets excited about the shooting of a film but the film really becomes what it is going to be during post production. That is where it is for the time being. Nothing much to tell there.

I started talking with some people to see what is going on with something I am looking forward to- the MAKING OF deluxe hardcover book. Full of behind the scenes photos and artwork and stuff. Nothing to be announced yet but everything feeling good.

We tested SHOOT ‘EM UP agayne this week. Lots of positive reviews on AINTITSHIT News. This is a kickass film. Can’t wait for you all to see it.

Also, as Diabetes linked a few weeks ago, MIGHTY FINE the clothing company is gonna do some great shirts for the film. They have offered to make a special one for the fans. I know it will have GIANT FUCKING ROBOTS are coming, and probably some Jolin artwork, Will let you know how to get one- for free!- when I have more info.

That’s the end of the post 85% of you want to read.

Hang Tight Stooges, Hang Tight.

Shia Labeouf Suffers for Movie

Rotten Tomatoes has posted a few quick non-spoiler comments about shooting Transformers:

"Shia LaBeouf, who plays a teen involved with giant robots in the upcoming "Transformers" movie, told Rotten Tomatoes that it wasn't all fun and games making the Michael Bay epic.

"It was like war," he said. "I've never been in that much pain in my life, emotionally, physically. It was just a hard movie to make," he said.

When press visited the "Transformers" set in August, Labeouf was all smiles and excitement about performing stunts for Bay. "Shows you what people turn on for press, huh?"

LaBeouf in the limited release "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints"

Labeouf still hasn't seen any of his scenes with the transformers added in, but he has confidence that all his suffering will pay off. "And I think it's going to be good. Who knows? I'm not involved like that. It's not a 'come visit the editing room' kind of relationship. I know that what we've shot, I've seen dailies, looks nuts but I don't know how the assemblage is going to be."

I shall refrain from the many sarcastic comments that have popped to mind.

Bryan Cox Auditions for Transformers

Posting because its "news" of sorts. For reason beyond my understanding, Bryan Cox or someone associated, issued a press release about him auditioning for Tranformers. Not getting a role, just auditioning. Considering the secrecy surrounding this film in regards to voice casting and the person's overall lack of roles (at least that I could find), the press release seems like either gutsy move or a stupid decision. I am leaning to the latter.

Hot Topic Transformers DVD Contest

A site reader, ej, reports that Hot Topic has a DVD contest also running. The DVD will be out next Tuesday.

The Grand Prize:

- Transformers The Movie 20th Anniversary Special Edition DVD
- Autographed Lenticular DVD Cover. Signed by Don Figueroa, artist.
- Transformers 20th Anniversary DVD Edition Optimus Prime Figure (that's the Masterpiece Optimus with talking base)

The contest entry form is here.

As an aside, if wondering why Hot Topic, a clothing store, is doing a TF contest, its because its about the only offline store I have come across that sells Transformers clothing.

New DVD Commercial Online

Hasbro and Sony BMG have released a commercial online for the DVD of Transformers: The Movie coming out next Tuesday November 7th. Nothing remarkable about the commercial but the curious can view it here.

A note to any Hasbro execs...YouTube is your friend. Use it. If this commercial had been uploaded on that site, I could link to it easily, embed it in my website so people can view it now and its easier to share with others. All that equals free advertising. Just an idea you might want to consider.

Bay's Transformers: The Movie DVD Contest

The official Michael Bay website is running a contest to give away a few DVDs of the animated Transformers: The Movie 20th Anniversary Special Edition (that's a mouth full). The contest is limited to only U.S. residents. The message:

Nelson here.

A couple of Transformers 20th Anniversary Special Edition DVDs will be given to some lucky TF fans.

For your chance to win, submit your name, and a small one-paragraph essay on why you're looking forward to seeing the 2007 live-action Transformers movie to nelson@michaelbay.com.

Contest ends November 6, 2006.

Good luck!

(source)