Transformers II Visit the Pyramids

Waxword and site reader Dan have confirmed that Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen filmed in Egypt over the weekend.

First segments from Waxword:

A major milestone quietly passed last weekend: the first major Hollywood film in decades filmed in the heart of the Middle East. “Transformers II” turned its cameras at the Pyramids in Egypt, and again in the upper Egyptian town of Luxor, near the famed Valley of the Kings. This is significant for many reasons but mainly because it represents a rare move by two Hollywood studios, Paramount and DreamWorks, to connect to a country and culture that is perceived to be hostile the United States.

I say ‘perceived’ because my guess is you’d probably find no more avid fans elsewhere in the world than those clustered around Shia LeBeouf, the star of the film, in this part of the world. But after years of anti-American images in the Middle East, and years of entrenched mistrust, this is the kind of interaction – and publicity - that makes a difference. I hear from sources within the studio that DreamWorks was “petrified” when producers got clearance to shoot at the pyramids and in Luxor, and that LeBeouf was hesitant but decided to take the leap. (I agreed to hold this news until production had been safely completed.)

In the end, “Transformers II” shot for several days, bringing together a crew of 150 Americans and several dozen local Egyptians for an effort that producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura, who called from a cellphone while standing beside the pyramids, told me was “remarkably smooth.”

And now the report from Dan:

Hi there, I'm not a fan of Transformers but I can confirm after visiting the Pyramids section in Cairo last Friday (17th oct) that there was indeed a film crew filming on the third pyramid in the Giza area (can't remember the name, but for those of you that know, its the Pyramid with half of one side that looks like it's been dug out. They were filming some scene late in the afternoon before sunset (when the heat was less intense) and it was quite amazing because my girlfriend and I sat on some rocks 20 metres away from it all and managed not to get sussed out by the security crew (who were all wearing T2 badges...one of the crew was tying up his shoelace behind me and confirmed to me it was T2)about 40 people on site, the locals were trying to get their camels and donkeys in the scenes, which involved one of the cast climbing part of the pyramid.....

There is also rumors that TF2 was going to film in Jordan but if the above is any indication it looks like security is extra tight on the schedule to protect the cast and crew so we will probably not hear about it anytime soon.

Thanks to Dan for his information and Rich for the link.