Transformers (film)

The Transformers
Directed by	Michael Bay
Written by	Alex Kurtzman Roberto Orci John Rogers
Produced by	Tom DeSanto Don Murphy Lorenzo di Bonaventura Steven Spielberg
Starring	Shia LaBeouf
Distributed by	DreamWorks/ Paramount
Release dates	July 4, 2007, (USA), (Canada)
Language	English

The Transformers is a live-action movie based on the popular Transformers franchise and toy line. The film has a projected release date of July 4, 2007 and is currently in pre-production. The feature will be directed by Michael Bay. The official announcement of the project was made at Comic-Con International in July 2005. The Transformers characters are expected to be CGI.

The Transformers is a joint collaboration between DreamWorks SKG, Paramount Pictures, and Hasbro, Inc. DreamWorks is the domestic distributor, while Paramount will handle the international release. Hasbro will take an active role in the film's production, along with its promotion and merchandise tie-ins.

Plot details

Writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci indicated that the storyline will not be based upon the original Generation 1 series. Optimus Prime, Megatron as a tank, Vortex as a MH-53 PAV Special Ops Helicoptor, Scorponok as a mechanical scorpion and minion of Vortex, Ratchet, Starscream as an F-22 Raptor, Soundwave as a 4 foot boombox, Brawl as a police car, Devastator as an M-1 Abrams tank, Bonecrusher as a mine clearing vehicle, Kaltor as a Decepticon truck, Ironhide as a pickup truck, Bumblebee as a Camaro and Jazz as an exotic car will be amongst the Transformers featured in the film[1].

Director Michael Bay recently revealed on his official forum that these are codenames for the actual characters set to appear in the movie. The real names will not be revealed until the toy boxes are actually printed[2].

On April 23, 2006, Ain't It Cool News posted an interview with Bay that took place at the director's offices in Los Angeles [3]. Amongst the subjects covered included confirmation of Scorponok's existence in the movie, a chase scene featuring Optimus Prime and an unidentified Decepticon truck, and the fact that Prime's faceplate would be retractable so that you could see his mouth. The subjects most heavily stressed, however, were the advanced kinematics and realistic engineering of the Transformers themselves. Bay explained that these were essential for the "many disco showdowns" that would erupt between the Autobots and Decepticons during the course of the film.

[4] Arcee, who was originally announced to be among the ten, has since been announced to be removed, for 'story purposes'.

Producer Don Murphy has stated that he wishes the original voice cast of the animated series to reprise their roles, especially Frank Welker and Peter Cullen as Megatron and Optimus Prime. The logic to this is that a famous name makes no difference to the one half demographic which is children, while retaining the original voice cast would please the fans. New voice talent is all but guaranteed, since several original voice actors such as Scatman Crothers (Jazz's voice actor) and Chris Latta (Starscream's voice actor) are deceased. Jon Voight, has recently been confirmed as playing Secretary of State "Keller" alongside the already-cast Shia LaBeouf as "Spike" and Megan Fox as "Mikaela", the love interest.

Murphy came up with the idea for the film and negotiated the rights with Hasbro. He then brought on DeSanto who had worked on X-Men. The two were turned down by every studio, since the heads of those studios were too old to remember the property. Eventually Mike DeLuca at Dreamworks "got the property" and bought it.

Confirmed

Actor	Role	Source
Main Characters
Shia LaBeouf	Sam ("Spike") Witwicky	[5]
Jon Voight	Secretary of State ("Keller")	[6]
Megan Fox	Mikaela	[7]
Josh Duhamel	Lennox	[8]
Bernie Mac	Bobby Bolivia	[9]
John Turturro	Simmons	[10]
Travis Van Winkle	Trent	[11]
Ron Jeremy	Ron "Sparkplug" Witwicky

Initial cast

It has said that along with the most popular Transformers characters, there is a possibility of some new characters created for this movie.

Production

The movie has been given the green light by Michael Bay and announced by Don Murphy, which makes the movie official. ILM is producing C.G. models. Principal photgrophy begins on may 22, 2006. Bay has also confirmed a teaser trailer and Teaser poster for July 4th 2006.

References

• Transformers Touchdown In 2007. Retrieved July 17, 2005.
• Is Transformers Happening?. Retrieved July 17, 2005.
• Transformers Cast In Talks. Retrieved April 20, 2006.

External links

• Template:Amg movie
• Official website
• Official message board
• Don Murphy's board
• Fan site with up-to-date news
• Template:Shh
• Transformers @ The Moon TF @ The Moon
• TheTransformers.net
• Transformers at IMDb
• Comics2Film's main page about 2007 Transformers film
• Transformers Movie News at TFW2005.com
• Transformers Movie News at SEIBERTRON.com