Shia LaBeouf Back (Sorta) for Transformers 4?

Fanshare.com is reporting that Shia LaBeouf is returning to Transformers 4. He would not be playing Sam Witwicky from the first three movies but instead play the voice of an unknown Autobot character. Not quotes, sources or other information is provided so take this with a grain of salt. It is something I could see Shia and director Michael Bay doing for giggles as it would be easy enough to change up his voice just enough to avoid making the audience think "Sam" or even just have Bumblebee use it to fill out his radio spoken sequences. Or its just an April Fool's Joke (after all the best one have a possibility of truth to them). Thanks to Wynton R. for the link.

Transformers 4 Filming Starts at End of May

At a the premiere of G.I. Joe: Retaliation that just came out, Transformers and Joe producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura answered a few questions about the movie including the suggestion of a G.I. Joe vs Transformers movie. He said that he starts on Transformers 4 "at the end of May."

On a not really related note, he also said while he would be open to a G.I. Joe vs Transformers movie if the story was right, he doubts it will happen. So do I, the budget alone would make it non-starter even assuming a great story that could juggle that many characters could be written.

Transformers: Prime 3.02 Scattered Promos

The second part of the opening story for Transformers Prime Beast Hunters season 3 airs tonight on The Hub. Called "Scattered", the episode is described as "The Autobots search for signs of each other, but start to lose hope while the Decepticons welcome a key player (Shockwave) to their ranks. A win for Wheeljack may ultimately lead to an Autobot defeat." Below is a few vids to promote the episode. The first two are bios for Bumblebee and Predaking. Also MTV Geek interviews the voice of Optimus, Peter Cullen as he discusses the final season.

Upcoming Episodes
04/05 - Prey (3.03) - A new Autobot (Ultra Magnus) arrives as the Decepticons unleash the ultimate hunter (Predaking).
04/12 - Rebellion (3.04) - Team Prime wages war against the Decepticon citadel.

Transformers 4 Production Spotted in Pontiac, MI

According to a tweet from Matt_Boyd, "Yellow signs for a production named 'E7' off the highway near Raleigh Studios in Pontiac, Michigan." The yellow "E7" signs where used to mark the production locations of the three previous films (pic example from ROTF) so not a leap to assume this is for Transformers 4. Since its still early for principle photography to start, its likely pre-production prep but 2nd unit could be getting an early start. (via OLV)

Transformers 4 Female Lead Cast (Update)

A tweet from the official Shoot for the Edit's twitter account @S4TE indicates that Nicola Peltz (The Last Airbender, Bates Motel) has been cast as the female lead in Transformers 4.

The tweet was a reply to a previous tweet from S4TE about bringing Megan Fox back and the reply was "No. Female lead has been cast." If true her role would be the daughter of Mark Wahlberg's unnamed character with Jack Reynor as her unnamed race car driving boyfriend. Her name came up last year several times for the role. Now this information really isn't official since the twitter feed isn't from Michael Bay himself but from his site admin who uses it to promote Bay's various projects. Still the website has been reliable with information in the past. It is about as close to verified as you can get without a press release or post from Bay himself. Thanks to Sam N. for the heads-up.

Update: MichaelBay.com has just added a post that simply says "Welcome Nicola Peltz to Transformers 4" with a picture of the lovely new lead. I just hope she is a better ambassador for Transformers then previous leads who acted like they were embarrassed to be in the movies. At the very least she will maintain the Bay tradition of having ladies that are very easy on the eyes.

Transformers 4 Filming in Real 3D

Michael Bay's Shoot for The Edit twitter account has confirmed "#transformers4 to be filmed in 3D." Since this is Bay I am taking the small leap that this means with real 3D cameras so no post-production conversion that can be hit or miss depending on money budgeted for it. The news isn't exactly a surprise since Transformers: Dark of the Moon was also filmed in 3D and the 3D craze remains for Hollywood with no signs of going away.

Transformers 4 Scouting GM Plant

Now that we know that Michigan and the Detroit area is one of the states that Transformers 4 production will be filming the question now is what locations. According to MLive.com one of them might be the General Motors Tool Center in Grand Blanc Township. The plant is going to be shut down in July so after that it would give Bay the freedom to what he wants without daily operations getting in the way. TF4 crew scouted the locations but no contracts have been signed so this just one of probably many places that Bay and company are looking at. Thanks to Sam N. for the link.

Transformers Prime Returns Tomorrow, Movie Announced, Cast Interview

Tomorrow is begins the final season of Transformers Prime on The Hub at 7:30pm. The premiere episode titled "Darkmouth" picks up where the season 2 finale ended with Optimus buried in the remains of the now destroyed Autobot base and the rest of the Autobots separated from each other. It also turns out that Hasbro plans to end the series with a little bit of a bang with an animated movie called "Transformers Prime Beast Hunters: Predacons Rising". From the press release:

The eagerly anticipated conclusion of the CG animated Daytime Emmy® Award winning series will make its network television premiere as a Hub Original Family Movie. A 90-minute epilogue to the final season wraps up the series that chronicles the epic battle between the Decepticons and the Autobots in their mission to defend Earth and one day restore their home planet of Cybertron. The Hub Original Family Movie is produced by Hasbro Studios. The final season of “Transformers Prime Beast Hunters” begins on Friday, March 22, 7:30 p.m. ET.

Since a new season that means a few interviews with the cast, hit the links below to watch videos with each.

Transformers Verified for Detroit with Plot Details

The Michigan Film Office has issued a press release verifying that Transformers 4 is returning to the state to film. Based on the $20 million tax credit on the rather precise figure of $81,933,992 that is expected to spent filming TF4, it indicates that the production will spend a significant amount of its schedule in the state. Previously Transformers and Transformers 3 production spent a few weeks in Detroit area filming various scenes. With the release is an interesting new description on the plot of the film.

As humanity picks up the pieces, following the conclusion of Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Autobots and Decepticons have all but vanished from the face of the planet. However, a group of powerful, ingenious businessman and scientists attempt to learn from past Transformer incursions and push the boundaries of technology beyond what they can control – all while an ancient, powerful Transformer menace sets Earth in his crosshairs. The epic adventure and battle between good and evil, freedom and enslavement ensues.

I suspect Unicron fans will be all over the last two sentences.

Transformers: More Than Meets The Eyes #15 Preview

Tomorrow brings Transformers: More Than Meets The Eyes #15 to stores and the expectation is a bit of an Autobot bloodbath for the crew of the Lost Light. Overlord has escaped his hidden prison on the ship and has decided to kill every Autobot in sight. Considering he is more powerful then Megatron, the odds don't look good that most will survive the encounter. Click here to view a preview of the first few pages of the issue.

Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #15
James Roberts (w) • Alex Milne (a) • Milne, Nick Roche (c)
DEATH IN THE RANKS! Rodimus and his crew are confronted by the enemy within—and not everyone will survive the encounter. Everything has been building to this: all-out war aboard the Lost Light!
*2 regular covers will be shipped in a 1-to-1 ratio
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Transformers Sponsoring Formula D Racer

Wrecked Magazine is reporting that Hasbro's Transformers will sponsor Otto Graven and his "Ultimate 86" Formula D Scion FRS vehicle.  While not stated, chances are this will be the vehicle that Jack Reynor's race car driving character will have for Transformers 4. It might also clear a copyright hurdle as all the vehicles used in Transformers 4 would have to be signed off on by their corporate creators. (via TFW2005)

Transformers 4 Returning to Chicago

While a Detroit shoot still has not been confirmed, it seems Reel Chicago has been able to verify that Michael Bay and his crew is heading to Chicago once again for Transformers 4.  According to the site,  "Neither the production schedule nor cast has been completed, although Chicago location scouts have been hired and the L.A. production staff is expected to land here en masse in June and reportedly will shoot from July through October."  Back in January Mark Wahlberg had slipped and said he was house hunting in the area for a four month rental.  Bay had previously filmed in Chicago for Transformers: Dark of the Moon and had nothing but praise for the city. Thanks to Wynton R. for the link.

IDW June 2013 Transformers Comics

IDW Publishing has released their publishing plans for June 2013. Five comics and two trades are being offered that month. Of potential interest is The Transformers 30th Anniversary Collection hardcover that collected various TF comics over the last 30 years. Sadly the solicitation doesn't specify which ones (around 10-12 issues based on the 320 page count) so hard to tell if worth the $50 cover price (or $28 if pre-order from Amazon). For the full details of IDW's other books including GI Joe, Star Trek, Locke & Key, and more click here.

Transformers: Robots in Disguise #18
John Barber (w) • Atilio Rojo (a) • Rojo, Casey Coller (c)
SURVIVOR'S GUILT! After the shattering events of the past two issues, we can't tell you who's alive and who's dead. But we will hint that one CYBERTRONIAN has to reconsider her worldview—while she comes face-to-face with some old enemies. We won't mention any names, but she's in for the fight of her life!
*2 regular covers will be shipped in a 1-to-1 ratio
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Expected in-store date: 6/5/13

Transformers Returning to Detroit?

A Michigan Live article seems to indicate that the city of Detroit wants Transformers 4 to film there. I think. To call it "reporting" would be a gross exaggeration as the article asks if Transformers 4 will be filming in the city but the Michigan Film Office spokeperson Michelle Begnoche replied "There is nothing I can confirm at this time. I will certainly keep you posted if that changes!" The chances of Michael Bay returning to Detroit is relatively high compared to most cities since he filmed there for Transformers and Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Also the film takes place four years after the last movie so still in the same continuity. Any case filming is expected to start this summer and since Bay likes to keep his films in the US as much as possible, it will be interesting to see what locations emerge as production progresses. Thanks to Wynton R. for the link.

New Transformers Prime Trailer with Ultra Magnus

A new Transformers Prime Beast Hunters trailer from Singapore reveals the introduction of Ultra Magnus to the Prime universe. The trailer is to promote the return of the new season that starts this Friday in that country. TF Prime will start back up here in the States next Friday.

Transformers Regeneration One #89 Previews

Wednesday's new comic day brings Transformers: Regeneration One #89 to newsstands and digital (assuming Comixology is fixed by then). Regeneration One is the continuation of the Marvel Transformers story line but set in our "present" where Megatron has destroyed the Earth and Prime finally killed him for it. Meanwhile on Cybertron, Scorponok uses his new tech to turn Autobots into Decepticons while Grimlock tries to find the rest of the Dinobots to put a stop to the rampage. A preview of the issue can be found here.

Josh Duhamel Returning for Transformers 4?

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Josh Duhamel suggested that Michael Bay is considering having him reprise his role of Captain Lennox for Transformers 4. TF4 takes place 4 years after the end of Transformers: Dark of the Moon and the character didn't die in the film so no reason can't be recalled to service depending on the story needs. Besides Bay loves to work with the US military for his films, so there is likely going to be a strong military aspect to TF4 similar to the previous films so finding a spot for Lennox, either in a major role or just a fun cameo, would probably be very easy to do.

The happy news earned a congratulatory call from Michael Bay, who directed Duhamel in the first three Transformers films, and is currently readying a fourth. And while the franchise is looking to reboot -- "They're going younger," the 40-year-old actor says -- that doesn't rule out a cameo.

"[Michael] said he wants to put me in it someplace. I don’t know if he was just saying that because he had me on the phone and he felt obligated or what, but you know what? I got to do three of those. It changed my career, it changed my life getting to be a part of something that big, so I’m grateful for even doing the first three of them," Duhamel said.

Linkfest - More Beast Hunters

More Transformers are coming, official or otherwise. For 3rd party makers, combiners seems to be the main theme while Takara has truly embraced the Masterpiece line and Hasbro is moving ahead with a full Beast Hunters line despite the short final season of Transformers Prime.  Hasbro finally revealed what Masterpiece Acid Storm looks like while Takara shows off blurry images of MP Prowl and Bluestreak.  Add to that lots of reviews of upcoming Beast Hunters toys, two members of TFC Toys Uranos combiner, next Throttlebot combiner member, and more.

Masterpiece Update - Hasbro MP Acid Storm | Hasbro MP Soundwave | Takara Prowl and Bluestreak
This year is just chock full of Masterpiece releases once include by the Takara and Hasbro plans. Already this year has seen the release of Takara's Soundwave toy with two of his cassettes (review below). On top of that have MP-10B Nemesis Prime 2.0 cab (March), MP-12T Tigertrack (July), MP-16 Frenzy and Rumble (April), and now a look at MP-17 Prowl (August), MP-18 Bluestreak (October) and later MP-19 Smokescreen (September). On top of that can add Hasbro's official images Masterpiece Acid Storm which is a repaint of Starscream 2.0 in a military green and black look while Soundwave is identical to the Takara release only it will come with all five cassettes instead of separate two pack releases.

Latest Transformers Prime Promos

The final season of Transformers Prime returns on March 22 and The Hub has started introducing more promos for the premiere (previous one here). The first video provides a pretty concise summary of the first two seasons of TF Prime to get you caught up, the second one introduces the new "stealth" look of Bumblebee and the last provides a tease of Predaking (but isn't new footage).

Transformers Bumblebee, More Than Meets The Eye #14 Previews

Wednesday is new comic book day and with it is two new Transformers books. Transformers Spotlight - Bumblebee returns to Earth to look at a point when Bumblebee first took over as leader of the Autobots after Optimus Prime handed over the reigns in a crisis of confidence. The other issue is Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye #14 which turns its eyes to Overlord, currently a prisoner on the Lost Light...except almost no one board knows he is there. A first few page preview of Bumblebee is here and MTMTE #14 is here.

New Transformers Prime Trailer, Cancellation Confirmed

IGN has officially confirmed (in case the comments from a Senior VP was not enough) that Transformers Prime has been officially cancelled after season 3. The final 13 episodes for Transformers Prime Beast Hunters start airing on March 22nd at 7:30PM EST. The current plan is to air four news episodes each week then starting on April 19 repeat those same four with added "Autobits" ("behind-the-scenes trivia with exclusive in-picture commentary designed to create an immersive viewing experience") and then resume with new episodes in May. Considering Hasbro plans on releasing a wave of Beast Hunters toys for the Christmas holiday season, I would not be surprised if the season gets split in two with around 7 episodes before summer and the rest in early Fall with the season 3 DVD release in late October, early November. New trailer below.

Two Deleted Transformers: The Movie Scenes

From The Spacebridge Facebook page, below are two re-created deleted scenes from 1986's Transformers: The Movie from production storyboards. The first scene shows how Devastator was finally taken down after the Dinobots failed to while providing a bridge to what Megatron was looking at when Optimus Prime engaged him for the now most quoted fight sequence in Transformers history. The second scene explains why Ultra Magnus' (brief) death seemed oddly delayed due to being literally pulled apart by the sweeps' energon ropes. The two moments make for nice new insight on an old favorite. If you have never seen Transformers The Movie, I think its up on the various streaming sites. Worth checking out if only to so can see where so many of today's Transformers quote references and desired story plots (Unicron) come from. (via Unicron.com)