AICN TF Pics

Ain't It Cool News has posted a bunch of pics of the real world vehicles modes that will be used by the TFs in the movie. This includes the yellow Camaro Bumblebee, the Mustang police car Brawn complete with Decepticon logo and "to punish and enslave..." tag. Also shown was the Abrams tank that will be the alt mode of Devastator who I am starting to suspect will be Megatron in the movie. Also the Osprey pic saw in a few posts below, that is the alt mode of Vortex. The post also basically confirms that the described opening sequences of the leaked draft are pretty much accurate, further confirming previous reports.

Transformers: The Movie 20th Anniversary Edition DVD

Sony has announced that they are going to release Transformers: The Movie 20th Anniversary Special Edition DVD in November. The included special features will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the movie. No indication on exactly what those features will be but you can go to the official website and sign up for the newletter to find out. Or just wait until I post the info here whenever it becomes available.

Michael Bay Speaks on the Drafts

Michael Bay updated his blog reporting about his week of shooting the movie out at Hollaman Air Force base in New Mexico. He described how its hot, its hard, but that they have over 250 shots already completed.

He also indicated that the script drifts reported about online are about 4 months old. This indicates the spoilers in them are accurate. Also indicates that its highly unlikely that the major action sequence in those scripts have changed that dramatically except in cases to reduce costs so if read about the drafts, consider yourself spoiled unless something is revealed to the contrary.

Reason I say the action sequences have not changed much is pre-prep. They have storyboards to develop and approve. The animatics to create. Designs of the TFs, the hardware, costume, sets to build, sites to scout. The FX team then has to prep what they need to get during filming, as do the stunt coordinators. Basically this is months of work so certain aspects of the script get locked down early out of necessity. Its easy to modify lines and what not, especially if all blue screen but can't do that if its practical effects being performed at a location shoot.

Not saying that the scenes as described will not change at all just that they will only be slightly modified or removed rather then being completely redone (as all the pre-prep would need to be redone as a result). That will probably be the next break through in CGI tech, when it gets so cheap that directors can change entire sequences on the fly just like they currently do with actors. No pre-prep or planning needed.

Transformers Classic Toyline Announced

Hasbro announced that their next Transformer toyline is Transformers Classics, which updates the original generation 1 toyline using modern designs. The line will be released in November 2006 and the initial wave 1 will include redesigned Starscream, Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Hot Rod (now Rodimus) and Astrotrain (not sure if he is a triplechanger). Also Megatron will be return in a gun form but due to current laws, not the realistic gun he use to look like but a futuristic blaster.

Click here for the press release.
Click here for some pictures for the new toys.

Now what does this mean in regards to the movie? Nothing since that toy line will be separate and based upon what designs the filmmakers and Hasbro execs approve. However until then, at least get some G1 goodies using modern toy designs and manufacturing which means something that G1 didn't have before - articulation and no stickers.

Transformers: Prime Directive?

The new rumor going around is that the official title of the movie will be "Transformers: Prime Directive" rather then "Transformers: The Movie". Personally, I think the title will simply be "Transformers". Since this is the first movie, a subtitle is unnecessary and doesn't particularily help sell the movie and "The Movie" add on was only necessary back in 1985 as to make a clear distinction between the movie and the cartoon series that was still airing at the time. That distinction is no longer necessary.

This information on the title was apparently leaked by unconfirmed new cast member Glenn Morshower ("24"'s Agent Pierce). Not sure what his role is but probably one of the military roles, base commander or some such.

Another script review and location info

IESB.net has a script review on their site that is apparently several revisions beyond the one done by latinoreview.com.

- Confirmed that everything that LatinoReview described is correct and still in the draft they read
- Soundwave maybe replaced with Soundbyte on Air Force One
- Name aliases remain, too early to say if they remain
- Megatron is an alien jet rather then a real world device
- Megatron doesn't show up until about the 3rd act.
- The Megatron and Optimus Prime battles takes place in the Nevada desert rather then LA (probably to save money on CGI effects if true).
- "More Than Meets the Eye" is said more then a few times by characters rather then the one time it probably only needs.

More revisions to come I am sure.

Also click here for a little write up on a 10-day shooting schedule planned at Holloman Air Force Base for the movie.

Witwicky Sr. Cast

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the role of Sam "Spike" Witwicky's father has been cast. Kevin Dunn is set to be the father that helps Sam buy his first car/Transformer. You might have a "oh yeah him" moment as he has done roles in many TV shows and movies.

Real Transformer Script Review?

LatinoReview.com has posted what is claimed to be the real Transformers movie script. In the review the writer provides some possibilities on the TF characters and his opinion of the opening Act of the movie. The guy seems excited and convinced of the validity of the script he saw. Don Murphy cryptically weighted in on his message board with the message "Rumors Rumors Everywhere and Not a Drop to Drink." Make of that what you will but it seems that Don uses these messages as a "maybe its true" response. Only time will tell.

The highlights of the review:
- Autobots: Optimus Prime, Jazz (some car), Ironhide (pickup truck), Ratchet (Ambulance), and Bumblebee (camaro rather then a bug).
- Decepticons: Megatron (form not indicated, my guess is a tank), Starscream (F-22 Raptor), Devastator (M-1 Abrams Tank), Monecrusher (mine clearing vehicle), Vortex (MH-53 Pav Special Ops Chopper), Skorponok (mechanical scorpion, ug), Brawl (police car, double agent me smell if true), and Soundwave (a boombox...in Air Force One).
- Story is TFs are after the object that imbues all life to Transformers. Nope not the Matrix. Its being called the Energon Cube. Yeah, I know, in the cartoons energon cubes are the TF equilvant of oil barrels. Actually this bit of info makes this review smell of truth. Its the kind of "fact" that I can see writers getting wrong or the powers-that-be demanding a different name since "Matrix" or "Matrix of Leadership" would be viewed as confusing the audience. Nevermind that kids got it just fine back in the 80s.
- The script opens one million years in the past, with a summary of the TF war and why want the energon cube and how it got to earth.
- It then jumps to 1897 with the discovery of a decepticon in artic ice.
- Then it jumps Qatar in the present just before the Decepticons attack a US base to download information about the 1897 discovery.
- The expected geeky but good guy gets the girl in the end triangle is Sam Witwick, Mikalela Barnes, and currently boyfriend Trent Demarco. Must rescuing of girl why bf acts life an idiot/coward shall insue I am sure. I know this stuff is practically rulebook #1 for action flicks but its still a little bit annoying to see over and over again. Maybe they will suprise us by not having the guy get the girl since in real life he probably wouldn't. Maybe tease it by having him meet a girl named Carly at the end as a wink to the fans that know a little bit to much about Transformers (heh).
- Sam's father is named Ron. I wonder if the nick Sparkplug will rear its head. Be curious to see if they figure out a way to work it in without it seeming silly. Probably best to not try. Anyway Ron, as a gift for his grades, gives Sam the money to buy his first car, which happens to be Bumblebee.
- Maggie Marconi and Glen Whittman work for a think tank called Rand Corporation.
- John Keller recruits Maggic to help with information from the Qatar attack.
- The script explains how TFs select their disguises.
- Also indication of a chase sequence and battles.

Any case read the review, use your judgement on validity. I am inclined to think the does have a script draft, just maybe not the finalized draft. The reason why is that so far much of the leaked information has turned out to be correct. Also when Don gets cryptic on rumors, it seems to be his way not confirming or denying the rumors. When someone does that, more often then not, there is a large element of truth to the story.

Michael Bay buys Digital Domain

Michael Bay has joined George Lucas (ILM) and Peter Jackson (WETA) in directors that own movie effects companies with the purchase of Digital Domain. The company use to be owned and used by James Cameron for effects in "True Lies" and "Titantic" among other films.

"My simple goal is to make Digital Domain an effects powerhouse," Bay said in an interview after the meeting. "I think we can utilize this platform here to expand on production in terms of feature films and animation."

Just speculation, but if your the director and now owner a special effects company that needs a coming out party thats says "use me to make your movie", its seems your next CGI heavy project would be the way to go. Now considering that some of the FX members hired for the film are from ILM and also that some of the pre-prep has been done by ILM, not entirely sure how this would go. Nothing says they can't share the workload, been done before on many movies, but if I was ILM, I would be more then a little pissed by such an arrangement. Time will tell I guess.

Optimus Prime CGI Test Video

Don't know if its real test footage from ILM or not, but regardless it is sweet. Its classic Optimus Prime transforming from truck to robot in the middle of the street. Because of the white, it could be argued its Ultra Magnus, but its test footage so who cares.

Click here for the video (in Quicktime) from blackfilm.com.
Click here for some wallpaper type pics.

Transformer Budget Revisited

A post way back when (too lazy to look up) I guessed the budget for the live action Transformer movie to be at $75 million. Based on this article, that number is nuts and way to low. Apparently $200 million is the new norm for a blockbuster summer film. King Kong is estimated to cost $250 million, X-Men 3 $210 million, and Superman Returns $260 million. Mission Impossible III is estimated to be in the $150 range, something I wouldn't have thought based on what's on the screen (much is probably wasted on Cruise's payday).

How those numbers are compiled is not explained. Typically listed budgets include the cost to make the movie, not the cost to pre-develop a movie or the costs to promote it. Regardless, this indicates that Transformers is going to cost a lot more then one would have guessed at first. I am now thinking the cost of the film is going to fall in the $175 million range, most of it due to the special effects costs.

What would this mean for the film? Well, in part it means that the movie, by necessity of the budget, would have to focus on the human cast as much as possible (within reason). It would also have to focus more on the TFs in alt mode then robot mode. Its cheaper to have a real world yellow car in a scene then a moving CGI robot for instance. I also figure that they will do what they can to minimize the amount of time a TF is on screen with the human cast even if only in the background. I expect they will use the robot to human height ratio to an advantage (just a leg in the back, etc). The more they have to CGI, the higher the costs.

Now this isn't going to mean the movie will suck, it just means they have to be judicious on when to use the Transformers. On the plus side, this means that they can't drop 10 million for a single actor to do a voice or some other idiotic sum of money which at least gives the original voice actors a few percentage points advantage on getting the nods. On the minus...they will want at least a few A-list actors that may help fill seats on opening weekend because of costs. I am of the school that its not the actors but the story that fills seats. Word of mouth (with a healthy help of advertisement) is king. In Hollywood that opinion seems to be in the minority regardless of the last 2 plus years proving otherwise in the lack of power that an A or even B lister has.

Another minus is that Bay can continue his streak of pretending he is a sensitive artist by focusing too much the lives of his characters to the detriment of the story such as in Pearl Harbor, The Island, Armageddon and a few others. I think the only time he got the ratio right was The Rock. Its a hard balance to walk in action flicks, and its not one he or his editors have been navigating with success.

Hopefully though, I am once again off my rocker on most of this cause to be proved wrong would mean the film gets rave reviews, lots of repeat seats, the original actors for key characters, and the birth of a franchise.

Teaser and Poster out 7/4/06

Michael Bay in a brief blurb on his blog: "The teaser and poster for the Transformers film will be out July 4, 2006."

2 More Join the Cast

According to DarkHorizons.com, 2 more cast members have been added to TF human cast. Rachael Taylor is cast as Maggi Marconi, a code breaker. Amaury Nolasco will be cast an Army officer. Tyrese Gibson is still in negotations to join the cast and another Army officer.

TF Names are Aliases

Michael Bay provided a bit of information over on his board:

It is a bit tiresome to watch all the supposed script leaks on Don Murphy's site. There has been a lot of chatter about character names and what 'things' may be called in the script. I'm going to let everyone in on a little secret. Something that the writer's don't know, nor my crew, or Steven Speilberg, or the president's of Paramount or Dreamworks. Not even Don Murphy who is not involved on the day to day with this movie. Many of the names in the script are aliases. The only people that know the real names of many of these characters are the COO of Hasbro, their corporate lawyer and myself. I think this is two less people that knew the secret recipe for coca-cola. On my directing contract I had to sign all these non disclosure agreements just on this character name point. These names will not be revealed until the toy boxes are printed. The writer's had to construct the script where no actor needed to verbally refer to a character by name other then the main few. So rest assured AKA Devastator, is really not Devastator.

Michael

This is good news for those that want the naming to be faithful where possible (like me) and it adds on the mystery of the movie. Let the guessing of the "Transformer cast" begin.


Also click here for a quick TF related interview with Jon Voight. The only "news" from the interview is he's seen the script.

Bernie Mac and Josh Dumamel Confirmed

Don Murphy over at his board tossed up a variety article that confirms that Bernie Mac has signed on as the car salesman that sells a Transformer to Shia LaBeouf's character. Josh Dumhamel is a unidentified role but probably one of the military characters who gets the girl in the end. This had been basically confirmed already through other reports but always good for it get officialized.

Producer Tom DeSanto Video Interview

Click here for video interview by The Movie Reporter over at iesb.net. Tom DeSanto is the another producer of Transformers live action movie. May ring a bell that he was a producer of X-Men movies. Looks like the interview was made for a premier of direct to video documentary "Ringers: Lord of the Fans."

Highlights:
- Shooting starting "in three weeks" so sounds like around May 20th.
- July 4th, possible release of a teaser trailer.
- Tom DeSanto, like Don Murphy, is a fan of the original voices.
- "I am a fan." (cool, didn't hurt that he was a fan of the X-Men).

Casting Confirmations

Most of the human cast of characters for the Transformers have been confirmed. "Stax reports that Jon Voight, Michael Clarke Duncan, Bernie Mac, Tyrese, John Turturro, Josh Duhamel, Rachael Taylor, Megan Fox and more have joined Michael Bay's big-budget adaptation of the classic cartoon."

Whats that mean overall? Nothing really except they are on target to start filming towards the end of May. Also it means they are not blowing their wad on casting...at least so far. Means more moolah for FXs. Still have the voices to cast and depending on who they are aiming for in star wattage, time will tell.

Don Murphy mini Q & A

TFormers.com posted a little Q and A with TF producer Don Murphy.

Q: Is the whole Brawl, Devastator, Bonecrusher thing acurate?
A: Nothing is set in stone. They're still far off from the final script.

Q: What's happening with Soundwave in the movie?
A: Soundwave is still in the script but he might be put off until the next movie since currently having him as a CD and not mass-shifting could make it seem really strange for a lot of people.

Q: Any info on the soundtrack to the movie?
A: That will be probably done in the final cut of the movie...so nothing until then.

Q: Will Soundwave's voice be synthisized in the movie?
A: Yes.

I hope they get the naming right. Its a minor thing I know, who cares if a name is right but shoot, its because its a minor thing that they have no excuse for screwing it up. Unless the story is Brawl is a Autobot undercover. I hope not mainly because it takes time to set up and have a payoff on such stories. Time will tell. As for Soundwave...he has a point. They have enough to do with the origin and all that without tossing in how a CD player can suddenly grow into a 6 story robot. In cartoons, that doesn't have to be done, but in a live action movie, that kind of question can toss the audience out of the "reality" of the movie.