Autobot Menace! In a strange coincidence, I got taken out of action for a little over a week by a minor car accident. I'm nearly certain that I saw the Autobot insignia on the offending vehicle.
- Jabberwocky More >
So, issues #7-12’s lead stories really had to be Earth-based. The question was, how? Where? Given the limitations (sequel in the works, more IDW movie-based stories to come in all likelihood), the stories couldn’t just ‘continue’ on after the end of the movie without possible story contradictions ensuing (later). So, we decided to squeeze our next batch of stories into the very tail end of the movie, exploiting the ‘unseen’ time between the end of the battle in L.A. and the sort of epilogue scenes.
During a recent visit to the set of Indiana Jones 4, Slash Film learned some good news directly from Stephen Spielberg himself:
The “story” for Transformers 2 will be finalized in a couple weeks, and if the writers guild strike doesn’t happen in November, they will be able to go into production on “number 2″ pretty quickly.
The potential strike factors into another aspect of the film that's already being worked on, according to this quote from a larger LA Times article that mainly focuses on the writing team for Transformers 2.
(...) Bay has begun pulling together some digital pre-visualization robot designs that didn't make it into the first film. An added benefit lost on no one is that with a CGI-heavy film like this, the preliminary work provides an effective cushion if the writers (or directors and actors next summer) do strike -- effects crews can work ahead and compile action sequences during any stoppage.
While it's encouraging to see so much progress being made, an eventual delay in production due to the Hollywood strike is beginning to seem like a very real possibility. Let's hope it doesn't come to that. If it does, let's hope that Michael Bay doesn't splice scenes from the first film in a slightly different order and dub new voices over them, then release that as Transformers 2.
Tuesday, 9 October, 2007 – Transformers News
Optimus Calling 3:47 PST | DennisFarrell | Print News | Category: Movie - OffbeatThe official Transformers movie site has been updated with a cool new feature. If you live in the U.S., you can have Optimus Prime call your friends, family, and pets to insist that they buy the Transformers DVD when it comes out on October 16th.
No, I don't see how that can be improperly used at all.
Transformers DVD Exclusive Rundown 7:06 PST | DennisFarrell | Print News | Category: MovieWith all the exclusive versions of the Transformers DVD floating around out there, it's tough to keep up with which store will have what. Superhero Hype! has stepped in to help, providing us with nice big pictures of the extras that will be packaged with the DVD at Best Buy, Target, and Circuit City. Personally, I like the DVD case that transforms into a flat, crab-like Optimus Prime.
New Transformers Contest At Heavy.com 6:58 PST | DennisFarrell | Print News | Category: MovieWant $1000 dollars and a metric buttload of Transformers goodies? Head to Heavy.com and enter the "Transformers DVD Ultimate Fan Contest". By making a short video that captures your love of Transformers, you can win a thousand dollars, the Transformers DVD, and a bunch of other merchandise totaling just over $400.
IGN Meets ILM 6:51 PST | DennisFarrell | Print News | Category: MovieOur pals at IGN visited Industrial Light & Magic to talk about the upcoming Transformers DVD release, and they were nice enough to write an article about the whole experience!
QUESTION: What is the ratio or car-to-robot? It would appear that the robots contain much more material than could actually fit into their car form.
FARRAR: It's a cheat. There is scaling up and down and sizes of parts may increase or decrease in going from the car to the transformed robot. The upshot was that we added a tremendous amount of parts and pieces beyond our first designs. Optimus got a huge layering of parts. Again, you're making a movie, so you're always judging what you're creating by what the camera sees, so you're constantly saying, 'Oh, we need a hubcab here, a clutch-plate there.' We had to add a lot of movement that we didn't anticipate in the beginning.
Transformers 2 Writers Revealed 5:43 PST | DennisFarrell | Print News | Category: MovieSuperhero Hype has confirmed that the team of Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci will return to write the sequel to Transformers, along with screenwriter Ehren Kruger. Kruger has an interesting resume, having written such movies as Arlington Road, Scream 3, Reindeer Games, The Ring, and The Brothers Grimm.
One piece of news I believe is already being circulated that I can confirm is Chevrolet's involvement with the upcoming "Transformers" DVD launch. In the DVD, you will find a special insert from Chevrolet. Open the insert and you find a website address to register for a chance to win one of three actual production versions of the Bumblebee Camaro. The website will offer you the opportunity to sign up for information on the upcoming Camaro launch.
The DVD and the website will be available on October 16, 2007. The sweepstakes is open to all legal residents of the U.S. and Canada, except in the Province of Quebec, over the age of 18. Make sure you sign up to win a very unique Camaro and for updates on the launch including upcoming Camaro appearances.
While winning a Camaro is pretty great, the best news is that this isn't exclusive to any particular store or online retailer. There are about seven hundred variations to keep up with as it is, like the International House Of Pancakes' edition which features the movie disc swimming in a DVD case full of maple syrup.
Farrar added that the filmmakers plan to use the techniques and technology they learned on the first film to make the second even better. "It was difficult and, I think, laborious, and I think we learned a lot by the end," he said. "I think we've learned a lot about lighting, and I think we can go to much moodier lighting. Lots of things. It'll be improved."
Transformers: 20th Highest Grossing Domestic Film Of All Time 3:27 PST | DennisFarrell | Print News | Category: MovieAccording to Box Office Mojo's list of Domestic totals, Transformers is now the United States' 20th highest grossing film of all time with $315,262,482 in ticket sales. If everyone who has already seen it goes out to catch the movie one more time, it might beat Titanic's $600 million mark. Come on, folks. Do it for all those horrible "I'm the king of the world!" parodies that we've had to endure.
If you haven't seen them before, Star Wars Transformers are Star Wars characters that transform into various vehicles and pieces of technology from the franchise's universe. Although they don't feature Transformers characters, they are officially branded with the Transformers title.
In this case, the Death Star transforms into a humongous Darth Vader, whose comically overwrought screams of "Nooooooooo!" are capable of splitting planets in half with laughter.
Success of "Transformers" had a role in inspiring NBC Entertainment chief Ben Silverman's decision to revive "Knight." The thinking is that smallscreen f/x have advanced to the point where it'd be feasible to have a weekly series in which cars shift shapes.
It's also likely the new show will explore the idea of "evil" cars to offset the heroic talking K.I.T.T. car of the original skein, which starred David Hasselhoff.
Welp. Don't be surprised if The Love Boat makes a comeback, featuring a rival Hate Boat staffed by surly no-goodnicks.
More Transformers Devastation Art 6:56 PST | DennisFarrell | Print News | Category: ComicsIDW Publishing has put together another installment of Art Du Jour featuring the Transformers. Today we get a look at the first issue of Transformers Devastation with a full black and white inked page of the comic by artist E.J. Su, followed by the final version of the same page with colors by Zac Atkinson. Check it out here!
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