| QUOTE |
| Transformer Bots Revealed Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, writers of the upcoming Transformers movie, revealed the list of robot characters that will appear in the big-budget adaptation of the 1980s comic, toy and animated franchise, topped by the Autobot leader Optimus Prime and the Decepticon leader Megatron, in a live video Q&A on Yahoo! on Aug. 18. On the Autobot side the movie will feature Bumblebee, Jazz, Ratchet and Ironhide. On the Decepticon side, the film will include Starscream, Brawl, Bonecrusher, Barricade, Scorponok, Frenzy and Blackout. The writers also asked fans to submit a key line of dialogue for Optimus Prime on the official Web site, which will be included in the film, apparently taking a page from the publicity campaign for Snakes on a Plane, which also incorporated a fan-suggested bit of dialogue. The writers said that the movie will rely heavily on characters from the generation one chapter of the long-lived franchise, centering on the war between the benevolent Autobots and the nefarious Decepticons—a war that plays out on Earth in 2006. Michael Bay is directing Transformers, which is currently in production with an eye to a July 4, 2007, release |
| QUOTE |
| Transformers To Get Real Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, writers of the upcoming Transformers movie, told fans that the movie will take a real-world approach to its depictions of the robots that can change from everyday objects such as cars into futuristic fighting machines. "In translating this thing to live action, ... all of these Transformers are being designed in the movie such that, when they transform, there's no cheating," Orci said in a a live video Q&A on Yahoo! on Aug. 18. He added: "It's very much what it would realistically look like if a Transformer was sitting right there as a car, and it turned into the character that you know." As a consequence, some of the everyday incarnations of well-known characters may change for the movie: Bumblebee, for example, is now a Camaro instead of a Volkswagen. "All the vehicle decisions were made based on literally sitting and staring at the actual vehicles and seeing how they would actually transform and deciding based on what is going to be the coolest version of seeing this live," Orci said. Transformers is the big-budget adaptation of the 1980s comic, toy and animated franchise and deals with the war between the benevolent Autobots and the nefarious Decepticons, which plays out on Earth in 2006. Kurtzman and Orci are perhaps best known for writing several episodes of ABC's hit TV series Alias for creator J.J. Abrams and also for penning the script of Abrams' Mission: Impossible III. For Transformers, which is being directed by Michael Bay, the writers wanted to come up with a story that is based in reality. "[We said,] 'We really need to find a way to get people to understand that it's not just a cartoon,'" Kurtzman said. "This is a real movie where humans, actors, are going to be interacting with robots. ... We approached it from the point of view thinking, 'You know, when Steven Spielberg went to make Jurassic Park, nobody could imagine what it would be like to watch humans interacting with dinosaurs.' So the more people ask us, 'Well, [is it] a cartoon?' the more we thought, 'Wow, no one's ever seen anything like this before. We have this amazing opportunity to do something for the first time.' And that's kind of what shaped the way that we approached writing the characters, making our decisions and how we shaped the story." Transformers is currently in production with an eye to a July 4, 2007, release. |
| QUOTE |
| Transformers Details Revealed SCI FI Wire got a rare peek at the production of director Michael Bay's upcoming Transformers movie in downtown Los Angeles on Aug. 26, including the first up-close look at the disguised versions of four key Autobots: the chartreuse search-and-rescue vehicle Ratchet, the giant black GMC 4x4 Ironhide, the sleek silver Pontiac Solstice sports car that is Jazz and the muscle-y yellow-and-black Chevy Camaro that is the new Bumblebee—so new that the car in the movie is a prototype for a vehicle that hasn't even gone into production yet. Ironihide had an Autobot logo on his tailgate; Ratchet featured a fire department seal on its doors with the same logo in the design. |
| QUOTE |
| Transformers co-writer Roberto Orci told SCIFI Wire that the soon-to-shoot sequel will build on the first film, delve deeper into established characters and devote screen time to a favorite Transformer from the original animated TV series. (Possible spoilers ahead!) Orci and his longtime writing partner Alex Kurtzman scripted the first Transformers movie and have written the story for Transformers 2; Ehren Kruger (The Ring) drafted the screenplay, and Michael Bay is set to return to the director's chair. "We want to follow some of our lead characters, which we thought were so successful," Orci said in an interview in New York while promoting the upcoming Fox SF TV series Fringe. "Shia LaBeouf's character, [Sam Witwicky, was] amazing. Where is he two years later? His girlfriend, [Mikaela, played by Megan Fox,] where is she two years later? But for fans--I guess I'll address this more to fans-- ... I think if you didn't know Transformers at all and you liked the first movie, you'll like the second one." Orci added that some of the diehard franchise fans may have wanted the film to be less light-hearted and have more science fiction. "I think the second one will deliver on a true Transformers story," he said. "You know, the first one, we had a limited budget for what it was. Every second of Transformer time is $1 million or whatever the heck it is. So this time, because we were able to prove, thank God, through the whole thing that it's a viable live-action movie, we have a little more freedom this time to actually learn about the Transformers, to see them, hear them. ... It's a better balance between the humans and the Transformers." Orci was coy at first about the identity of the Transformer character he felt most compelled to include in the sequel. But he relented after a moment. "I'll tell you, man," he said. "We had to get Soundwave in there." Where Soundwave goes, Ravage will follow? "Perhaps," he said. "You know, we had Ravage in an early draft of the first movie, and Soundwave, and we couldn't do it right. I think this time, hopefully, we'll have the ability to do it." Separately, Transformers star Tyrese Gibson told SCI FI Wire that the sequel will do things that haven't been done before. "There's going to be some real, one-of-a-kind things going on in this," Gibson (Tech Sgt. Epps) said in an interview on the New Mexico set of Legion, which he is currently filming. Gibson added: "Michael Bay is really going to try and up the ante on round two and take it to a whole other level. I can't go into any detail, but it's going to be some real one-of-a-kind things going on in this movie that no one has ever visually seen in their life. Michael Bay is really fired up and trying to outdo what he did on the first round." The Allentown, Pa., Morning Call newspaper, meanwhile, contained a report about future location shooting for the film in the old Pennsylvania steel town. Transformers 2 will open June 26, 2009. |