According to Deadline, Paramount will air a Super Bowl TV spot for Transformers: The Last Knight at some point during the game. It was known that Paramount purchased 30 seconds of air time which is pegged at costing between $5 to $5.5 million but which movie was not revealed. Now the game plan is to air a spot for Ghost in the Shell before the game (so expensive but not $5M expensive) and The Last Knight during the game.
If I recall correctly, Age of Extinction Super Bowl ad ran in the third quarter and Dark of the Moon during the second so past behavior isn't much of a guide. The cost for the ad is due to the simple fact that the SuperBowl is consistently the most watch single event in the United States each year with and average of 100 million plus people watching the game resulting in ad revenue during the game (so not including before or after) that starts at a quarter of a billion dollars. It remains debatable if the companies that buy the ads get their money's worth but clearly Paramount believes it helps Transformers in each movie's quest to cross the billion dollar worldwide box office.
Below is a video that provides the first real look at three Transformers: The Last Knight deluxe sized toys that will be coming out by this summer for the movie. While the transformation isn't shown we do get a look at Bumblebee, Berserker, and Bumblebee in their robot and alt modes. The main takeaway is the figures will sport the same simplified transformation sequences that Hasbro Transformers toys have been aiming for in the last few years with the pluses and minuses that come with that.
Berserker looks like the same SUV robot in the highway sequence from Transformers: Dark of the Moon. The 2011 toy was called Crankcase but he was unnamed for the movie. So either this is yet another dead Decepticon returning, a twin, or Hasbro is merging old and new Transformers into the line. Takara is doing a 10th anniversary re-release of previous movie toys but they are using the same molds from then while this looks like a redesign to fit the simplified transformation goal. Between Barricade and Berserker I can't help but wonder if part of the plot involves dead Decepticons being revived (or rebuilt by humans). The idea would also have the benefit of saving production a whole lot of money as ILM could re-use the previous movie's existing CGI files. After human salaries, creating a new Transformer from scratch to be photo real and transformable is probably the most expensive costs for the production each time.
If want to see more, here is a video slide show of the same toys.
IDW Publishing has released their publishing plans for April 2017. Three comics are coming. The ongoings continue along as Optimus Prime finishes it's first story arc. For the full details of IDW's other books including GI Joe, Ghostbusters, Star Trek, and more click here.
The Guardian article "How we made Transformers", is worth reading for Transformers fan. It isn't a definitive history or anything but just a little insider look at the beginning of the franchise with comic writer Bob Budiansky, basically the "father" of Transformers, and TV series editor Bryce Malek.
One name I’m proud of is Megatron. Back in 1983, the threat of nuclear war felt very real – and destructive force was talked about in megatons. At first, Hasbro rejected it for sounding too scary. Gently I said to them: “Well, he’s the main bad guy. He’s supposed to be scary.” Luckily, they changed their minds.
A Hasbro executive told me that any toy that lasts two Christmases is considered a success – that was their barometer. Transformers lasted six or seven years before they started dying out. It seemed like a good run. I don’t think anybody had a clue that they would come back as a multibillion-dollar movie franchise. I certainly didn’t.
Bryce Malek:
Some writers pitched really inappropriate stuff for a kids’ show, such as the Transformers meeting space prostitutes. Oddly enough, no one ever provided us with any of the toys – we worked from photocopies of designs. I actually went out and bought a few but I never got Optimus Prime. He was too popular. You could never find one.
I really wanted to emphasise the human characters in the show, to give the audience something to identify with. But in retrospect, I think the kids just really liked the robots. We were working so fast, the plots were full of holes. But I know from fan letters that kids would simply fill in any gaps with their own stories.
Another new TV spot, this time with more Mark Walhberg and a hint of Anthony Hopkins as Isabella Moner wants to stay and fight. Thanks to Feris O. for the link.
The official Transformers: The Last Knight YouTube page has posted a new TV spot called Keep Coming. A few new scenes including a look at a planet or something near hte moon. Not sure if Cybertron since I thought Dark of the Moon showed a portion of the planet getting sheared off when the portal was closed (but story beat wise they could just hand wave that damage away).
It seems the emphasis on the marketing for Transformers: The Last Knight is going to rely very heavily on the implication that Prime has turned dark side with his Nemesis Prime like purple eyes. I also can't help but wonder if this is an indication of plans for a Superbowl trailer much like they did with Age of Extinction. Thanks to Feris O. for the link.
Paramount has posted a new video that shows fans reacting to the first Transformers: The Last Knight trailer from a weeks ago including the film's star Isabela Moner. Nothing new about the movie itself, just something to entertain. Thanks to Feris O. for the link.
