Shia Not Returning for Fourth Transformers Film

While at the MTV Movie Awards, Shia LaBeouf and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley briefly discussed Transformers: Dark of the Moon (videos below). Rosie spoke about Michael Bay, saying they have the same work ethic.

Shia spoke about how the film has "the best action" with "the most solid screenplay we've had since we started." More important, he made it clear he isn't returning for a fourth film. While Bay had suggested it in interviews, I do believe this is the first time Shia has gone on the record.

"I'm not coming back to do another one. I don't think Mike will either. It still is a hot property, I think, especially coming out of the third one. So I imagine they'll reboot it at some point with someone else."

I am not entirely sure why a reboot is needed but that is big in Hollywood right now so would not be surprised if that is what happens. Keep in mind so far there has been no discussion of a fourth film but look for that to change if this film does well, especially if it breaks the billion dollar barrier which could happen considering how well the last two films did. Read More »

Shia Talks Different Vibe on DOTM Set

In an interview with Hero Complex, Transformers: Dark of the Moon star Shia LaBeouf (Sam Witwicky) spoke about Megan Fox leaving and the change in vibe that the casting of Rosie Huntington-Whiteley (Carly Miller) brought to the set. In short, he felt Megan couldn't handle being rudely treated a bit like a piece of sexy meat while Rosie has no problem with it or with Bay's abrasiveness.

“Megan developed this Spice Girl strength, this woman-empowerment [stuff] that made her feel awkward about her involvement with Michael, who some people think is a very lascivious filmmaker, the way he films women,” LaBeouf said. “Mike films women in a way that appeals to a 16-year-old sexuality. It’s summer. It’s Michael’s style. And I think [Fox] never got comfortable with it. This is a girl who was taken from complete obscurity and placed in a sex-driven role in front of the whole world and told she was the sexiest woman in America. And she had a hard time accepting it. When Mike would ask her to do specific things, there was no time for fluffy talk. We’re on the run. And the one thing Mike lacks is tact. There’s no time for [LaBeouf assumes a gentle voice] ‘I would like you to just arch your back 70 degrees.’”

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3D Conversation with Bay and Cameron Video

The Hollywood Reporter has posted the full 16 minute video of the "3D: A Transforming Visual Art A Conversation with Michael Bay and James Cameron" that Paramount sponsored last week to promote Transformers: Dark of the Moon's 3D trailer. The polish indicates this will be a future special feature for the Blu-ray/DVD release.

LA Times Bay Interview at Playa Vista

The LA Times has posted a "new" interview with Michael Bay as he discusses Transformers: Dark of the Moon. The reason for the quotes around new is the interview took place at the Los Angeles Playa Vista soundstage when production was doing the moon sequences among others shots. That would place the estimated time frame of the interview sometime in June 2010. Over all nothing specific is revealed, just a general overview of the franchise and Bay's desire to make Moon better than Revenge. Choice segments are below, the full article can be found here. Thanks to AiC Hokie for the link.

"The cast this time is terrific, you can't even compare it really, and that was important to me. We needed to take everything up a few levels and that starts with story and with acting," Bay said...

"I think the guy is great, I loved working with him," says [Patrick] Dempsey, one of the new imports meant to bring some acting chops to a franchise that had become far too fixated on special effects and a barrage of gags. "The scale of the movies he makes and the way his crew works for him and the things that they can accomplish, it's pretty awesome to see in action. And I think he believes this movie is going to be a great one."

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Interview with DOTM's "Neil Armstrong"

In an interview with Skewed & Reviewed, actor Jon Jeans discusses his Transformers: Dark of the Moon role as Neil Armstrong during the Apollo 11 mission. The full interview is here, the DOTM portions below. (via TFormers)

Who do you play in the new Transformers film and what can you tell us about your experiences on the film? What were the first thoughts that ran through your mind when you got the script?
I play Neil Armstrong in Transformers: Dark of the Moon and it was an amazing experience. Actually, I never got a script — I was given sides to audition with, but they were just a vague outline of the actual script. Director Michael Bay did not tell me this, but apparently he’s had many attempts to hack his computer and steal the script so he is, justifiably, very guarded with regards to the script. Cory Tucker, who plays Buzz Aldrin, in the film, and I were shown a page of script while Michael held it in his hands on set. I can say that when my agent called me to tell me I booked the role, I was here in my apartment and fell down yelling for joy on the floor!

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Michael Bay Press Preview Transcript

/Film has posted the entire 7200 word transcript form the interviews that Michael Bay participated in when he screened portions of the film for the entertainment press. He briefly spoke of Frank Welker so can call that official confirmation he returns as Soundwave and mentioned a new character called "Brains" that could be the Einstein character (with Mercedes-Benz E550 alt mode). Bay goes into a great level of detail about the complications of shooting in 3D, experience of filming in Chicago, working with actors, film editing, sound design and more. Below are segments from the transcript but if want to read the whole thing, click here. Thanks to Winston for the link.

Question: Does this have a feeling of closure, this chapter?
Michael: I think so. But it still can be rebooted. Not with Shia. He’s turning grumpy in his old age.

Question: Out of curiosity, shooting in 3D, what did it make you rethink about axis in motion and progression…
Michael: A lot. I mean you’ve got to watch the panning because it strobes too much. You’ve got a guy on the set who’s got a control where when the camera goes like this, he can turn the 3D almost off. He sits there and it’s like if the robot comes close, we tell him what’s going on in the shot and he can kinda try to do where you want the eye to kind of look. But I can’t always check over him because there’s a lot going on on the set. So anyway, that was my process for doing it. I was able to shot about 60% native 3D, and then you’ve got 15% of all digital shots that were 3D, and then the rest is converted close-up stuff.

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Nimoy Comments on Transformers 3 Casting

A little over a week ago Entertainment Weekly revealed that Leonard Nimoy was cast as the voice of Sentinel Prime in Transformers: Dark of the Moon. What the article lacked was comment from anyone associated with the production. That has now been corrected in the latest issue on newsstands now as Nimoy briefly comments on the "run" role and "complex" character. The article is reproduced below to avoid the eye strain of reading the picture.

Leonard Nimoy unretires for Transformers sequel

Leonard Nimoy knows this sounds a little illogical. After announcing his retirement last April in the wake of his Spock role in J.J. Abrams' 2009 Star Trek reboot and his guest turn on TV's Fringe, the 80-year-old actor has now signed on as the voice of long-lost Autobot leader Sentinel Prime in Transformers: Dark of the Moon. "I'm doing it! I'm doing it! I'm back-back after, what is it, 25 years or something?" says Nimoy, referring to his work as the voice of Galvatron in 1986's animated The Transformers: The Movie.

"I have been through many resurrections in my career," he says. "I have died and come back. I have left and come back. I've been canceled and come back. I did intend to not do any more work. And the fact is, I don't consider this work. This is great fun." Nimoy is also rumored to be the voice of the dragon Smaug in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit, though he says only: "I have heard about that rumor, and that's all I know about it."

Nimoy has already recorded two sessions with Transformers director Michael Bay. "I don't think I'm very privy to any plot points, but I'm seeing some interesting footage." Asked to describe Sentinel Prime, Nimoy says, "Complex," and then "Why are you laughing?" Then he laughs too. -Anthony Breznican

Rosie Wants Transformers 4

In a brief interview with MTV, Transformers: Dark of the Moon start Rosie Huntington-Whiteley commented on wanting a Transformers 4 and some of the research she did for the role.

Ken Jeong's DOTM Role

At about this time last year, we learned that Ken Jeong was going to be in Transformers: Dark of the Moon but we never learned the details on the part. CraveOnline was able to corner the comedian and find out absolutely ...nothing except that it is a small role. I suspect his role is something simliar to Rainn Wilson's in the second movie, a kind of brief comic relief for Shia to bounce off of. The TF3 portion of the interview is below, the rest can be found here as he discusses Community and Hangover 2.

CraveOnline: Do you get a cool role in Transformers 3?
Ken Jeong: Yeah, it’s a small role in Transformers but yeah. I had an out of body experience working on that one because I just couldn’t believe I was [there]. Still, that was not a thing where oh, I’m going to be a part of a blockbuster franchise like Transformers 3 or even now Hangover 2 for that matter. So I can’t believe I’m a part of these franchises in any way. It was amazing. Michael Bay is brilliant and it’ll blow your mind.

CraveOnline: I’ve been on Michael Bay sets including Transformers 1. He keeps things so riled up, I see how it can be misconstrued, but it’s high energy.
Ken Jeong: He doesn’t like things to wait and neither do I. You want to keep moving, you want to keep the pace, you want to keep the energy. That I respond to because Todd’s like that too. Because you want that comedic energy to stay fresh. Especially on movies when there’s huge budgets and huge effects, you worry about spontaneity being lost. Yeah, Michael Bay just kept everything going.

Brian Goldner Talks DOTM

Hasbro CEI Brian Goldner provides his perspective on Transformers: Dark of the Moon and the shortcomings of Revenge of the Fallen in an interview with MTV. They tried to get an answer from Goldner on whether they are going to continue the franchise without Bay but without success as he instead answered "perhaps he'll change his mind, perhaps he won't, but I'd rather put out this movie first then cross that bridge at some point."

Turning his attention to the forthcoming movie, Goldner agreed with his contemporaries Bay, Shia LaBeouf and Tyrese Gibson in describing "Dark of the Moon" as the best film in the series: "I really believe it is, and the reason is because we've learned so many things as we've made [these films]."

"The fact is, there's a lot of story here… but we also understand the great spectacle of what 'Transformers' can be," he continued. "It's a great marriage, but with greater meaning. The first trailer shows that the space race is a backdrop to something that had gone on in our past that nobody was aware of. In typical 'Transformers' fashion, it's all about more than meets the eye. That's the core of what 'Transformers' is: you can never judge a book by its cover. We're going to reveal to you, in much more of a thriller style than ever before, that idea of what's going on behind this whole 'Transformers' pre-history."

"If everyone had understood why each Transformer was in the movie, people wouldn't have cared how many there were," he said [about Revenge of the Fallen]. "But once they're just these robots without any real meaning of why they're there, it just became robot melee, and that's not as enjoyable as knowing something about each robot and their personality so that when they do fight, there are stakes to it. That's really what was missing. It wasn't that there were so many robots; there were so many robots that you didn't know."

"'Dark of the Moon' has many meanings. It's clearly what we know from the teaser trailer, but it's also this idea that there's darkness, a real cataclysm that could occur here based on knowing the truth of what's happening."

Tyrese, Rosie Talk Dark of the Moon

In two separate members, Transformers: Dark of the Moon cast members spoke about the film. Tyrese Gibson spoke with MTV describing the film as "the biggest and best" of the series while Rosie Huntington-Whiteley spoke briefly with Total Film about being cast in the movie.

On her character, Carly, Huntington-Whiteley tells us: "She's English and is working for the British embassy... I can't tell you more! That's all I can say for now!"

Huntington-Whiteley was cast as Sam's (Shia LaBeouf) new girlfriend after Megan Fox left her breakthrough franchise. "I went to the casting unaware they were looking for a new female lead", says Rosie. "We were told it was for a 'nemesis' role and I left thinking I was awful. The next day I was offered the lead! I met with Shia that evening and within three weeks I was on set shooting my first scenes..."

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Bay Confirms Sentinel Prime

In an interview with MTV, Michael Bay has finally confirmed that Sentinel Prime is in the movie but still has not confirmed if it is the red Rosenbaurer Panther airline fire truck as rumored. Bay revealed this information during an interview with MTV at the premiere of "I Am Number Four" that he executive producer of. He continued to re-iterate his promise that this film will be much better then Revenge of the Fallen and that this was his final Transformers film. Thanks to Mcat for the link. Update: Hasbro's released official images that verify that the fire truck is the alt mode of Sentinel Prime.

"The second one, we had a tough go," Bay told us. "It was a very, very tough thing to make a movie under those circumstances. It affected a lot of Hollywood at that time."

This time around, Bay said, "We worked extra hard" and struck upon "a better story." "It's epic and it happens in a city," he added. "It's more accessible because you recognize stuff — it's not in a desert. It's kind of like 'Black Hawk Down' with our small group of heroes in a city."

On the carpet, Bay also briefly touched on two new alien bots set to debut in "Dark of the Moon." "Sentinel Prime is great. He's great," he said. "I can't tell you anything else, other than he's great."

And about the villain Shockwave, Bay say, "He's bad," adding that compared to Megatron, "He's got a much bigger gun [and is] a little bit more vicious."

Though Bay is certain he's got a winner on his hands, the director maintained that "Dark of the Moon" will be his final "Transformers" film. "It does have an end, yes," he said. "Because I am finished doing this."

Bay Talks Revenge, Moon

In an interview with Hero Complex, Transformers: Dark of the Moon director Michael Bay discusses the disappointment he had with Revenge of the Fallen and how he thinks Dark of the Moon is a much better film, comparing its style "as a sort of homeland version of ”Black Hawk Down.” The full article is here.

“[Revenge of the Fallen] was kind of a mess, wasn’t it?” an unsmiling Bay said of the 2009 film, which was far from a flop — it grossed a potent $836 million worldwide, finishing third for the year behind only “Avatar” and the sixth “Harry Potter” movie. But the director still talks about the blockbuster in tones of regret. “Look, the movie had some good things in it and it was entertaining and it did very well, but it also failed in some key ways. I learned from it. And now with this third movie we’re going back to basics and I absolutely believe this is going to be a much better film than the second one.”

“I’m still having fun and especially with this movie,” Bay said. ”Look, we got burned on the last movie. The big thing was the writers strike, it hurt the film and it made it hard on everybody. We had three weeks to get our story and, really, we were going into the movie without a script. It’s tough to do that. It was too big of a movie. There were too many endings or too many things that felt like endings. There was so much animation [in the visual effects postproduction work], too, and we ran out of time. We used the schedule of the first movie for the second movie but on the second one way more labor was needed for the animation. And then it felt like we were writing the script in the edit room, trying to put together a story.”

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Michael Bay Interview on Transformers 3

As a run-up to tonight's debut of the teaser trailer for Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Collider has posted an interview with director Michael Bay. The site previewed the trailer and a "huge chunk of footage" but sadly they did not reveal any major story points in the articles. The overall impression of the chunk was very positive and that is without the visual effects (anima tics used as placeholders). Empire also was there but Collider's article is much more detailed.

Below is a video from Collider as "Frosty" and AICN "Mr. Beaks" kind of expresses everything they saw during the three hour visit with Bay while the experience was still fresh on their minds. The article is so click here with a few highlights below. Thanks to Ray and Kris for the links.Read More »

Transformers: Dark of the Moon ET Report

Entertainment Tonight has posted their article of video of the behind the scenes report from the Chicago set of Transformers 3. The video includes set footage, explosions and the sales pitch of the movie from Michael Bay, Shia LaBeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Tyrese Gibson, and Josh Duhamel. Pretty much no spoilers are revealed but the title does drop a "the" with official title being "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" which oddly enough does make a difference. If want to get a little meta, thanks to Colin Hinkle for the picture of behind the scenes of ET filming behind the scenes of TF:DOTM with Samantha Harris in the yellow dress. Also thanks to Teddy83 for the link.

"I think what we were lacking in the second movie was heart," says Shia about the last installment of the blockbuster franchise, 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.' "But, I think with the addition of Rosie and new characters … you still have the magic of the first film, but you have depth in the ending of the third."

"Sam's coming out of heartbreak," explains Shia about the film's emotional center. "He's looking for a rock. He's looking for stability. He's looking for a person who doesn't love him because of his involvement in the wars, or because of his involvement with the robots. … And, so he's looking to define himself and find a person who understands the definition and loves him for him, and he finds it in Rosie."

"The story, I think, is really rich," says Michael. "This is kind of a good old fashioned, kinda espionage 'Transformers' movie." He adds, "I just told Mayor Daley that I'm sorry about messing up his city."

di Bonaventura: More Comedy Than Before

In an interview with IGN while promoting Red, Transformers 3 producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura spoke about 3D, comedy and action. At one point the he said the movie would have more comedy which seems to contradicts Michael Bay but he said he was "getting rid of ...the dorky comedy" so I guess that part is (hopefully) getting replaced with more natural comedy. Thanks to rumah for the link.

"[3D] captures scenes in a way they haven't been captured before and here's a different sensibility to the movie as a result" he explained. "Michael is so awesome at shooting, the question originally was how the cameras would work because they're cumbersome. Look how long it took Jim Cameron to make one movie. All those things are quite daunting, but Michael figured out how to use the cameras in a day.

"We had a day early in pre-production set aside just so he could test the cameras and see what they were like. If you look at Avatar, the camera isn't sweeping around in the way Michael uses the camera, so we had to make sure it could do what Michael does. I think people are going to be pretty wowed by the result."

"What you can expect is more comedy than we've ever had before" di Bonaventura revealed. "You can expect bigger action sequences than we've ever had before and you can expect a different character through-line for our lead because he's a little bit older and Rosie's a little bit older - there's a maturity there that didn't exist before.

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John Malkovich On Transformers 3 Role

Way back in March it was revealed that John Malkovich signed on to the cast of Transformers 3 and yet the only detail learned was the character was the boss of Sam. Finally, in a interview with Hit Fix to promote Secretariat, the actor finally added a few small details including the name of the character as Bruce Brassos. Based on the description he is essentially playing the equivalent of the Rainn Wilson character from Transformers 2. If watch the video, the TF3 portion starts at 2:15.

A newcomer to the series, Malkovich plays the boss of our hero Sam (the always present Shia LaBeouf) and said he was subject to only one day of action. And he bluntly and slyly describes his "loudmouth" character as, well, a "jerk." He also volunteers he had a "very, very enjoyable time" shooting with John Turturro, Rosie Perez and LaBeouf. Malkovich ends with, "For me, it was a blast."

Duhamel About Rosie Casting

Shia LaBeouf and Josh Duhamel recently spoke with MTV while promoting their respective movies of Wall Street 2 and Life As We Know It. In both cases they had nothing but glowing comments about Rosie Huntington-Whitely who replaced Megan Fox on Transformers 3 and some of the Chicago footage they have seen. Thanks to Katie for the links.

"I think there's positives and negatives to her not being [in the movie]," said LaBeouf, who was at the Toronto Film Festival to promote "Wall Street 2." "It's awesome that we get the discovery again. I think when everybody's vetted and everybody's been through these wars, then that discovery of the first film is nonexistent. It's kind of beautiful in that we get a new set of eyes, a fresh set of eyes for the audience to vibe with. So you get the discovery again, which is something that wouldn't happen if Megan came back."

LaBeouf said she's "doing great," though there's little he could do to prepare her for the experience of working with famously fiery director Michael Bay.

"You can only do so much," he laughed. "Fight or flight. A tap on the back and a 'Good luck!'"

"I've seen about 10 minutes of it — just the stuff we shot in Chicago — and it's pretty awesome," [Josh] revealed to MTV News.

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Shia Comments on Set Safety

While at the Toronto Film Festival to help promote Wall Street 2, Shia LaBeouf spoke briefly about set safety for Transformers 3. I am sure he is going to get asked this a lot in light of the serious injuries that occurred on September 1st to Gabriella Cedillo on the Indiana TF3 set.

"I got some scars, but I'm good," he explained. "They're hard movies to make...It's a very safe set. These are professionals. These are the best at what they do. Things happen all the time, but in life things happen all the time."

The 24-year-old actor said despite director Michael Bay's love of explosions, he's never felt at risk. "You've got the be weary and attentive to what's going on," he continued. "You're always informed of where the bomb is... or, you know, the mine field but, I never feel unsafe."

I have not seen or read any current updates on Mrs. Cedillo’s condition. As of early last week she remained in a medically induced coma after brain surgery. There also have not been any updates on what occurred that day with conflicting reports that she was involved in a stunt and reports that she wasn't.Read More »

Hardcore Eddie, $50k Bounty, Concept Art and Hostages (Updated)

I guess I could have broken this up into four or five posts but figured better to hit all the bullet points at once for this interesting day in the world of Transformers. The news covers an interview with Lester Speight, new concept art, a reward from Michael Bay and Discovery Communications held hostage.

Michael Bay once again is prepared to take out his checkbook for a cause, in this case in bringing someone to justice for animal cruelty. From his website.

There is a disturbing video going around the news outlets. It's a video of blonde young woman in a red sweatshirt casually tossing squealing puppies into the fast-moving river one by one.

Michael Bay has informed me that he is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and successful prosecution of the woman in the red sweatshirt and the person who shot this act of cruelty.

If you have any information, please e-mail me at webmaster@michaelbay.com

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