Generations Devastator Available for Pre-Order

If, like me, you are looking to get hold of Transformers Generations Combiner Wars Devastator, then Amazon might have you covered. The retail site has a pre-order listing for the 18" toy that combines from six Voyager sized Constructicons. The release date is currently set for August 1, 2015 for a price of $150 with free shipping. and you can find a picture review here. As for its retail store release, so far this is all we have but I assume at some point it might hit Walmart, Target, etc in the states at least.

You can pre-order Devastator by clicking here.

James Horner 1953-2015

Oscar winner and decades long composer James Horner died Monday when his plane crashed near Santa Barbara. The composer, probably most famous for the score to Titanic, was 61. He probably wasn't world famous but should have been for his music was some of the greatest created in the modern era. His scores include Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (whose queues continued to be use for decades after), Avatar, Aliens, A Beautiful Mind, An American Tail, Fields of Dreams, Apollo 13, The Rocketeer, and many more. Some of my favorite music includes his scores including Searching for Bobby Fischer, Glory, Bicentennial Man, and Braveheart. He really was one of Hollywood's great composers and a loss to music in general. I know this isn't Transformers related but I was a huge fan of this music composer and you may be too even if don't realize it if check out his list of film scores. Condolences to his family.

Botcon 2015

Botcon 2015 completed its annual TF love fest this weekend in Chicago, Illinois. Since it is a non-movie year the focus was mostly on Combiner Wars and Robots in Disguise with Hasbro on hand to present some of their late 2015 to early 2016 plans which to no surprise includes more Combiners and a whole lot of repaints for both lines. On the Transformers: Hall of Fame front, Frank Welker (voice of Megatron), Prowl, Predaking, and Vince DiCola (composer for Transformers: The Movie) were inducted. No movie news or anything major to report. Since Botcon bans 3rd Party toys (per Hasbro directive), nothing to report there either. Hit the links below for summaries of all the various panels and galleries to upcoming Transformers releases.

IDW September 2015 Transformers Comics

IDW Publishing has released their publishing plans for September 2015. Four floppies, one trade and one box set are coming out that month. Really nothing new to point out as the various ongoings continue to move along in their various story arcs. For the full details of IDW's other books including GI Joe, Star Trek, and more click here.

Transformers Devastation Gameplay Demo

E3 continues and with it is a little bit more about Transformers Devastation that is coming to consoles this October. The official site is now live at TransformersGame.com with the teaser trailer and screenshots. Below is a video with game developers discuss the game and the sources they used with IGN while a demo reel played.

Transformers: Devastation E3 Trailer

E3 officially started today and with it is a bunch of video games news (like the Final Fantasy 7 remake). That means trailers and below is the one for Transformers: Devastation that is set for release in October. For the rest of E3 try these links: YouTube | IGN | Twitch | GameSpot

G1 Based Transformers: Devastation Coming to Consoles (Updated)

Pure XBox has posted multiple screenshots for Transformers: Devastation, a new video game from Activision. Currently the only thing that is known is from the screenshots which shows that the game focus on the Generation One version of Transformers with the classic look of Devastator, Optimus Prime, Megatron, and Bumblebee. Even more interesting is the cel-shaded graphical style looks like it was lifted directly from Transformers: The Movie with all the shiny gleam on the everyone. Hasbro doesn't really do exclusives. Since the site reports they have confirmed it is hitting the 360, it is safe to assume it is going to PS4, PS4, and XBox One. The Wii U is iffy as it tends to force studios to practically rebuild the game from scratch and with its lackluster sales many studios decide its not worth the expense. Hopefully the full details will be revealed at next week's E3. Any case you check check out the screenshots here.

Update: A leak on Best Buy Canada has confirmed the game is set for release on October 6 for the PS3, PS4, XBox 360 and XBox One with Platinum Games as the developer. The game looks like it uses the same graphics engine the company developed for The Legend of Korra video game which wasn't exactly critically acclaimed but they have an over all good track record so hopefully they learned from Korra. From the listing:

Overview
Face off against Megatron and battle it out with the Decepticons in Transformers Devestation. Equipped with fast action capabilities, this game allows for instant robot to vehicle attacks, slam downs, counterattacks, and infinite combos for a unique master combat system. Five difficulty levels also deliver hours of intense gameplay.

More Information
- Autobots face off against the Decepticons when Megatron discovers a way to harness the enormous power of plasma energy to cyberform Earth
- PlatinumGames signature fast action allows instant robot to vehicle attacks, slam downs, counterattacks, and infinite combos for a unique master combat system
- Features 5 playable Autobots including Optimus Prime, Bubblebee, Sideswipe, Wheeljack, and Grimlock
- A deep customization system and 5 difficulty levels with overhauls in enemy composition deliver hours of intense gameplay
- Actors from the original TV series reprising their roles include Peter Cullen (Optimus Prime), Dan Gilvezan (Bubblebee), Frank Welker (Megatron and Soundwave), and more

Wahlberg: Bay Will Direct Transformers 5

In an interview with Collider to promote Ted 2, Mark Wahlberg indicate he thinks Michael Bay will be back in the director's chair for Transformers 5.

Collider: Do you have any update on the status of Transformers 5? Have you heard anything about what’s going on?
WAHLBERG: I don’t. Just that Akiva [Goldsman] and those guys are starting to write and break stories, and stuff like that. But [Michael] Bay is in Malta shooting Benghazi, and I’m in New Orleans shooting Deepwater. We’ll get together when he gets back.

Do you think he’ll still ultimately direct it?
WAHLBERG: Yes.

Do you know what your schedule will be, after you finish Deepwater Horizon?
WAHLBERG: Pete [Berg] and I are talking about doing another movie, after the first of the year. And (directors) Sean Anders and John Morris are working on something right now, that hopefully we’re going to do in the fall with Paramount. That’s another comedy, more in the vein of Midnight Run meets Planes, Trains and Automobiles. I just did Daddy’s Home, with Will Ferrell and those guys, and we’ve been talking about doing this thing.

I would be very surprised if Michael Bay turns down the chair. The Transformers franchise is essentially his puppy to do with as he will, something no other Hollywood director except maybe Spielberg and Peter Jackson has had. It is a rare level of power and even rarer level of wealth that doing each film brings him (~$100 million per). That is something that few could turn down as it would be like you saying no to a winning life-changing lottery ticket. Paramount and Hasbro have already bumped Transformers 5 back a year to accommodate Bay's desire to do a smaller scale movie and decompress after Transformers 4 so clearly they want him back. At this point the decision will probably hinge on what the Transformers Writers Room produces and does the resulting scripts interest him enough to continue on. Regardless of his choice to direct, he will always be an executive producer for the Transformers franchise with the influence that title brings on future movies.

Now A Baker's Dozen for TF Writers Room

Yet another has joined the Transformers Writers Room as Daredevil and Spartacus writer/showrunner Steven DeKnight has joined the Transformers Writers Room which convened its first meeting today. The purpose of the 13 writers is to hammer out a Transformers Cinematic Universe based on the various story treatments they develop and get approved to become scripts if approved by Paramount, Hasbro, Michael Bay, Steven Spielberg and a few others. To early to say if this approach pay dividends. In my opinion, as long as Michael Bay continues to be the primary guiding hand behind the current look and feel of Transformers I just don't see how the franchise can evolve no matter how good the scripts might turn out to be.

Goldsman Explains Transformers Writers Room as More Join

Deadline is reporting that another two writers have joined the Transformers Cinematic Universe Writers Room as the group is now at an even dozen. The new additions are Ken Nolan (Black Hawk Down) and Geneva Robertson-Dworet. The TF Writers Dozen will be meeting this coming Monday as team leader Akiva Goldsman explained.

Goldsman said the intention was to replicate the great writers rooms used in hatching TV shows. “There is such reciprocity between TV and movies now, that we’re borrowing this from TV,” Goldsman said. “I got a taste of this from JJ Abrams when I came in to write an episode of Fringe, and then Jeff Pinkner let me hang around for four years like the drunk uncle. The whole process of the story room was really delightful, and we are seeing it more in movies as this moves toward serialized storytelling. There are good rooms around town, including the Monsters Room at Universal, the Star Wars room, and of course, at Marvel. We’re trying to beg, borrow and steal from the best of them, and gathered a group of folks interested in developing and broadening this franchise. There is a central corridor of movies that has been proceeding quite well, but our challenge will be to answer, where do we go from here?”

“We’ve got a work space that is beautifully production designed to be immersive with a strong sense of the franchise history,” he said. “We will look at the toys, the TV shows, the merchandise, everything that has been generated by Hasbro, from popular to forgotten iterations, and establish a mythological time line. It has been designed with a lot of visual help, toys, robots, sketches and writers and artists. After that super saturation, the writers will figure out not one, but numerous films that will extend the universe.”

Two More Writers Join Transformers Writer's Room

Two more writers have joined the Transformers Cinematic Universe writer's room. Christina Hodson and Lindsey Beer have signed on to help create the future of the movie franchise and probably write a script for one of the movies. From what I can tell neither writer has a released movie script out there to compare against but both have several movies in the pipeline. Hodson is currently writing a remake of The Fugitive and apparently 3 of her scripts were on Hollywood's Black List. The Black List is a rather odd honor that basically points to some of the best scripts of the year that for various reasons (budget, politics, whatever) didn't get made into a movie. As for Beer, she is writing the remake of Short Circuit and The Wizard of Oz. These two will join already attached writer's room members Akiva Goldsman, Robert Kirkman, Art Marcum, Matt Holloway, Andrew Barrer, Gabriel Ferrari, Zak Penn, and Jeff Pinkner.

Exactly what part they will play in the brain trust is not revealed. Based on Wonder Woman, Ms Marvel and few other movies Hollywood has developed this odd thinking that if a summer tent pole movie features female characters it should be written and/or directed by a female (as opposed to just choosing females because they are best fit for the project regardless of the sex of the characters it is focused on). This makes me think that a female 'bots movie might be on the agenda for the TFCU. If they maintain Bay's very loose movie continuity that means the main ones we are familiar with, Arcee & Chromia, died in Revenge of the Fallen so Windblade is a likely candidate.

Kids React to G1 Transformers

Below is an amusing video that has pre-teens react to the opening of the 1980s Transformers cartoon series and a few images from the G1 era compared to the "Bayformers" version. Of note is almost none of them knew the Transformers existed before the movies and because of that most had a preference for the movie designs.

Linkfest - Combiner Wars Continue

The Combiner Wars continue for Hasbro with an upcoming release of the Protectobots and for most of the 3rd party companies who have released either completed around four or five combiners this year with another 5 or so set to finish by year end. It is an embarassment of riches for fans but also quite wallet draining if trying to keep up, especially if trying to get all the combiners. That is before you include the 6 or so Dinobot lines that also in works from these companies.

Much like how combiners wars are a nod to the past so too are some of the links below with a look at potential Action Master designs using combiners as action figures, some behind the scenes info from Transformers: The Movie and 35+ year old commercials from Japan that feature many of your favorite G1 Transformers before they became Transformers. There are also links to galleries to the first 3rd party Grimlock, Prime 1 Studios Age of Extinction statue line, and a stop motion video.

As for reviews, the links include Hasbro's Combiner releases of Cyclonus, the Protectobots, Stunticons, along with Robots in Disguise Jazz & Drift, Playstation Optimus Prime and Masterpiece Star Saber. For third party releases there are a ton of reviews to go with their now overkill output. Iron Factory and 3DX has three releases of their legend scale lines. ToyWorld completes their not Throttlebot combiner after over a year of nothing on that front while also releasing a solid take on not Astrotrain. The number of not Dinobots in the works has reached at least six lines that I can think of including two of them being combiners. Probably need to develop a cheat sheet to keep up at this point. Warbotron has completed their not Bruticus combiner that looks spectacular while Unique Toys reaches the halfway point on their not Terrocons. Those are just some of the many reviews linked below.

Bumblebee: The Movie?

Thursday Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner presented at the Global Consumer Conference 2015 and TFW2005 was on hand to provide some information on some of their plans for their many properties including Transformers. On the Transformers front the CEO said:

"As we go forward, we would imagine several more Transformers movies. Not just in the current lineage but also spinoffs and focusing on certain key characters that a beloved by the world over. Many of you know Bumblebee; the yellow Camaro... formally known as a yellow VW Bug and he is a beloved character by kids all over the world. We could see stories told around Bumblebee and other characters

We are in a process of building the brand equity around the Comic Book Business, our TV Business, our Digital Gaming Business and adding to that our new movie business of Transformers. Last year was Transformers 4. It was quite a good success for us last year. We've begun to work with writers and we are now developing the Transformers [Cinematic] Universe beyond the first four movies. And we are continuing to have Television [programs] on the air with Cartoon Network where Transformers is performing quite well in the first quarter coming off of a movie year."

So the takeaway is the Transformers Cinematic Universe (TFCU? TCU?) will essentially copy the Marvel and Star Wars in approach with ensemble films and individual characters films. Also that Transformers: Robots in Disguise is considered a success so there could be more then just two seasons of the show and the IDW relationship continues to be going well. I would not read this to mean that Bumblebee is guaranteed a standalone film, just that he was being used as an example of the potential of such an approach. The news is good for the TF movie fans but I have to admit until I see some concrete plans the idea of Michael Bay's take on Transformers expanding to a yearly (or more) film per year does little to thrill me.

Transformers One Prequel In Works?

Deadline is reporting that two more writers have joined the Transformers Writers Room and their task may be to write a prequel movie set on Cybertron. Ant-Man writers Andrew Barrer & Gabriel Ferrari have been tapped to potentially write the movie for "Transformers One" that will act as a prequel to the Transformers franchise. It might be an animated movie but to start it will be written with the goal of live action. The cost to produce will likely be the determining factor since it will be a CGI movie. There is no additional information about the story or the plans but it seems that Hasbro and Paramount is so heavily invested in the Michael Bay movie version of Transformers I doubt whatever is developed will have little to do with the "official" canon that Hasbro has developed for their video game and comic book properties.

Transformers Ruin Your Favorite Movies

Below is an amusing video from Funny or Die that inserts action sequences from the Transformers movies into some familiar movie scenes from Titanic, Forrest Gump, Speed, and more.

Transformers Tap Walking Dead, Pacific Rim and Lost Writers For Brain Trust

Deadline is reporting that Akiva Goldsman has worked out who will join the Transformers Writers Room to work out the future of Transformers franchise. Akiva will head a team that is joined by Robert Kirkman (creator of The Walking Dead), Art Marcum & Matt Holloway (Iron Man), Zak Penn (Pacific Rim 2) and Jeff Pinkner (Lost, Amazing Spider-Man 2) to figure out a Transformers Cinematic Universe. The details of what they are planning remains unknown but the assumption is they will spend the next year working on story ideas that will then be handed off to either these writers or others to turn into movie scripts. I assume this includes Transformers 5 which has been pushed back a year to 2017 in hopes that Michael Bay will return to direct once he completes his current Benghazi related film.

The line up is solid as all have solid track records for creating or participating in world building which the franchise desperately needs. They also are pretty good at creating characters and adding character moments into their scripts which is an area that Transformers has suffered since the very first movie. I wish I saw at least one of the comic book writers in the room if only because they have proven to be unafraid of making the Transformers memorable as individual characters, with interesting back stories and a whole lot of excellent world building. Their origin for the war that includes the friendship of Optimus and Megatron and how it ends in open conflict that destroys worlds would provide plenty of fodder for a trilogy (and potential offshoots), especially if paired with an story set in the present. So what do you think of this writer's room?

IDW August 2015 Transformers Comics

IDW Publishing has released their publishing plans for August 2015. Five floppies and one trade are coming out that month. Really nothing new to point out as the various ongoings continue to move along in their various story arcs. For the full details of IDW's other books including GI Joe, Star Trek, and more click here.

ILM Celebrates 40 Years

Founded in 1975 by George Lucas to help create Star Wars, Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) has begun to celebrate its 40th year anniversary. Basically how we see and listen to movies, especially action, science fiction and animation (thanks to Pixar that started there), has all but been defined by ILM. Their influence on movies, TV, this current generation of writers, directors and producers and those to come cannot be underestimated. Its amazing how they constantly obliterate the bar of what can be done in the last 40 years. I look forward to seeing what they do in the next 40.

Below is an all too short video nod to some of their work over the years including with the Transformers franchise. Wired has a very long article worth reading (with the section on "The Bay Effect" below) or if short for time Collider has a summary of 16 facts.

Hasbro Partners with Vimeo On Demand to Sell Cartoon Digital Copies

It looks like Hasbro has worked out a new revenue stream for many of their cartoons now that The Hub is defunct. The company has joined with Vimeo to sell and rent episodes of cartoons from their library including the 80s Transformers cartoon and more recently Transformers: Prime and Robots in Disguise. Other series that will be available are My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, G.I. Joe, Transformers: Rescue Bots, G.I. Joe: Renegades, Kaijudo: Rise of the Duel Masters, Littlest Pet Shop, Pound Puppies, The Adventures of Chuck & Friends and B-Daman Crossfire. The price per episode will be $2.99 to buy or 99 cents to rent with entire series runs costing $40. The program has already launched at Vimeo on Demand.