Producers Tom and Don Video Interview

IESB.net has a two part video interview with Transformers producers Tom DeSanto (on left) and Don Murphy (on right). Both are apparently huge comics books and movies fans with both owning 10,000+ comics (me to but want to sell mine) and apparently thousands of DVDs (hmmm I bet the surround sound is sweet). Gives them geek creds at least. Very very wealthy geeks. Ah the things I would buy. Anyway, back to the videos.

Tidbits of note:- Transformer rights where purchased in May 2003 from Hasbro.
- Most of the studio exec pitched too at the time where to old to understand or know Transformers but at second pass they indicated that maybe hit the slightly younger demographic execs to show that the interest is there (how giant transforming robots laying the smackdown using current FX tech wouldn't be popular is beyond me).
- Tom believes that Transformers is character driven sci-fi with a great mythology (yet oddly they use very little of said mythology, maybe future sequels?).
- "The fans trust you guys."
- "...Surprised and pleased about how passionate the fans are. ...There is a solid fan base that Tom and I and the film makers are trying to service and keep happy. At the same time there is a mistake to think there is a universality in that fan base." I still say we are hearing from the vocal minority when it comes to complaints and most know that the cartoons are just not worth copying. They are filtered through childhood eyes, but when see em as adults, they suck to be blunt.
- Apparently an early script had Arcee in it. News to me anyway.
- "At the end of the day you have to stay true to the heart and soul of what Transformers are." Basically, all said and done, the goal isn't to copy the cartoons.
- The voice of Prime was decided because at the point in the film making process where a decision needed to made to move forward. They are not at that point with Megatron, but Frank Welker has been auditioned for the role and his name is being discussed. He's still in the running for the role. Ultimately, the decision on casting is Michael Bay's, not the producers.
- Soundtrack decisions are still in the very early phase.
- Tom challenges fans to bring non-TF lovers to see the movie and make them a convert.
- Don asks fans to hold their opinion until they see a 3-D CGI polished moving Transformers.
- The end of the interview was about future projects including the PG-13 animated Teen Titans (no relation to the Cartoon Network version).

The article, video part 1 and part 2.

Don Murphy's Weekly Post

Don Murphy posted his weekly random thoughts on Transformers and fandom in general. Suffice it to say, he probably isn't going to make any friends with it.

Weekly POsting- Brought to yo by the NUmber 10 and the Letter "C"
So – a busy week- what have we learned? Here’s ten thoughts, questions and observations from the week.

- Preliminary, not final, two dimensional designs for Megatron and Starscream’s head get “leaked” bringing on a horde of fan haters
- A small percentage of the fanbase are not very good readers. They take last week’s plea to reserve judgment until they actually see a Transformer move in a trailer or clip as a brush off. Many of the same fans just learned to walk erect this past week as well it turns out.
- Big visit to the set by the fan community this week. Lots of interviews with lots of different people, not just me. Let’s see what the fans think after these start coming out.
- Found out about a secret attack site by Covenant. At least we know what he’s made of now.
- Bowspearer visited the cornfield and made a triumphant return. God I like that guy’s pluck.
- People have emailed me for posting at AINTITSHIT news. As anyone here knows, I hate that inaccurate rumor site. I was wronged years ago by Harry. While I now think Moriarty is a stand-up guy he is barely involved with the site. Therefore, be advised I would never be caught dead at AIS. And you shouldn’t be either. These are the people who continue to leak stolen, copyrighted early images from the film. No honor, no pride.
- In the midst of all the haters, one hater promoted and pushed himself far and wide to get some much needed attention. We stood up to his piss and vinegar. He spread his campaign across many sites. We decided to delete the battle as we were giving him what he wanted- attention.
- As I said in the interview yesterday…people want Welker. They want the Transformers noise and the song. They hate Starscream’s head. They hate the flames on Prime. They don’t love Megatron. While far from a consensus, I get the complaints. I am sure that others on the team get the complaints. If not, I will make sure they get them.
- We changed the look and shape of the board. Now it is even more of a free for all. Everybody- PILE ON GRIMBOT!!!!
- To the real fans both here and at Seiberton, Allspark, TFW, Tfans- EVERYWHERE. Thanks for your feedback and your intelligent suggestions. They are being heard above the hate that a few newbies insist on spewing.

Hang Tight Stooges, Hang Tight.

As far as what blog or board he is talking about with a hater, I have no idea what he is talking. While I understand as a producer, Don hates Ain't It Cool News, as a fan I am glad its there. As for the set visits, already some have hit the web and will be posting on them as find them. Mostly I will just summarize what, if any, new information they reveal and leave the reading of them up to you.

Update: Here is the link on the story of the blogger that apparently set off Don Murphy. Kreon posted about how he felt that the movie shared very little with the source material beyond giant robots and didn't appreciate being talked down to by Don. That got the attention of many, as the 200+ responses showed. Don Murphy then replied to it, basically calling the guy a desperate attention seeking loser, only with many more words. Kreon then replied to it here and here, with Don making one last dig in the above. Not sure why this person, among the gigantic amount of noise being made right now, became the focus of Don Murphy's anger, but only Don can explain.

Personal Message from Don Murphy

Transformers producer Don Murphy has posted a personal message on his forums. The main thrust of the message is patience. With all the reveals from this weekend, the cast list, toy designs, alt mode pictures, well the ire of the Transformers fan base has been heard (but I say just a vocal minority has been heard).

Hey there Stooges---

There’s a lot of good stuff to tell you about showing SHOOT-EM-UP to the studio and them loving it… about another project that looks like it will happen… about something I so desperately wanted to do in 2002 but got wronged by a friend, and now the karma turns. Like I say there is a lot of good stuff to tell you.

But let’s talk Transformers shall we? There has been a lot of leaks of photos, scripts, tidbits both true and false. Roberto and Alex spoke on a webcast this week. Lots of things coming out which are costing people their jobs. Good stuff, bad stuff.

But you know what? You haven’t actually SEEN a damn thing yet.

Now the negative ninnies out there, the people like Bowspearer who just live in a cesspool of hatred, will say “We’ve seen enough. This isn’t my Transformers.” To those people who are so old school and stuck in their ways I say the following- Go away. Seriously. We don’t need you here. You hate and you haven’t SEEN a damn thing yet.

Oh sure, Prime doesn’t look EXACTLY like he did in the cartoon. The Autobots are only five. The Decepticons don’t have Soundwave. There are complaints out the wazoo. Well you know what?

I have complaints too. There are things I wanted in this film which are not going to be in there. But I know what some of you know- filmmaking is not a democracy. Hell, Adam Goodman is in charge of production at Dreamworks. He’s the guy who BOUGHT this film. He is working day and night to get this ready for July 07. There are things I know he wishes were in the film. But they aren’t. You’ve talked online here to Brian Goldner. He owns the property but everything is not EXACTLY as he wishes. Tom Desanto is the most devoted producer out there- I know there are things he wishes were in there. You saw that Alex and Bob didn’t get everything they wanted. And Michael Bay, who spends 16 hour days shooting this mega-film? Michael Bay who sets up every shot himself and oversees to the point of operating the camera at times? He’s made a zillion compromises to get a great film he can be happy with.

No, filmmaking is a series of happy accidents. When Tom and I shopped this project around every studio passed, including Dreamworks and Paramount. When those two studios and others came around, we ended up with Dreamworks because Steven Spielberg and Adam Goodman (and creative VPS John Fox and Marc Haimes) knew that this was a BIG cool idea for a franchise. Hell, those guys wanted it in cinemas THIS summer. It’s now 07 because everyone wants to get it right. No one is trying to make anything but a great film here.

When I say you haven’t SEEN anything, think about it. You’ve seen a toy mold. A truck still. A Bumblebee model with a guy underneath it.

You haven’t SEEN Bumblebee transform. You haven’t SEEN Optimus walk or Megatron awaken. You’ve seen sketches, designs and stills. Most of you get it when Brian Goldner says “We are doing something here that has never been done.” He’s right. The technology is there to make a LIVE ACTION Transformers film. To make several of them. But this is not a cartoon. There are cartoons already. Hasbro is making more. This is something new and different. LIVE ACTION robots.

So you negative ninnies- I’d like you to give us a break. And if you don’t, I’d like you to go away for a while. Seriously. Come back in six months. Wait until you SEE something that Michael and ILM and all of us have done. Not some leaked bullshit from some coward. Wait till you SEE the magic that I believe will be Transformers the Live Action Movie. Then if you don’t like what you see, hate away. Till then, I challenge you to be a grown up and reserve judgment. Even the majority who seem to like what you see have a right to hate later on.

We’re trying to do this right- to appeal to the fans and the rest of the world. Cullen is hired. Welker is going through the process. Other things are being reviewed and considered.

There will always be someone who wants to hate. That’s so easy.

But I challenge the haters to wait until they SEE a Transformer in Live Action.

And the rest of you, most of you, thanks for the many suggestions and kind words. It continues to be a surprising and fun ride.

Hang Tight Stooges, Hang Tight.

I have to agree with Murphy (and no not kissing butt cause frankly why bother) on this one. Patience is the watchword. Its simply to early in the process to have all this hatred. Look at X-Men, Superman, Spider-Man, Lord of the Rings, well the list goes on. The more the fans seem to think they know what is best, the more we seem to be wrong.

I personally like what I have been seeing so far and I was not just come lately fan. I have a collection of G1 on up toys that would make many green with envy. I also have the original DVD collection of the G1 Transformers cartoons and the movie. Trust me, they are not nearly as good as you remember them to be. Go back and watch them with the eyes of an adult. The very LAST thing you want them to do is copy the cartoon and those designs. If did that, then it might as well be the Brady Bunch, why waste the effort if you can just pretend its 1984 and basically make the movie a joke.

All involved are in this weird delicate balance where on ooriginalof the pendulum swing is orginial cartoons and its universe. Lots of great ideas in there. Lots of bad ones to. On the other end of the pendulum swing you have this massive "re-imagining" of crappy worthy proportions (say Miami Vice or Batman and Robin). The goal is the middle of the swing. You take the idea of the orginial that work (real world objects that change to robots at war with each other lead by Optimus Prime and Megatron) but add a modern beat to it (current objects, sharper, deadlier, realistic designs) with what I hope is an entertaining story. So far I have faith that this is being done.

Now to the movie folks I add this, don't assume the vocal minority speaks for the majority. Also, as the Snakes on the Planes (and Serenity) box office showed, the internet does not a success make (anymore then a $20 million a movie star does). The hype machine of the internet is maturing and eventially it will become all that us netizens hope, but that age has not yet arrived. You still have to satisfy John Couch Potato and trying to listen to all of us fandom suggestions is a sure way to fail in that goal. No one being told that but I say again mimicing the 80s cartoon would be an insane mistake.

In the end, thanks for your diligence, I all appreciate the input we are allowed and I hope the vocal minority doesn't cost us that peak we are currently enjoying in the movie making process of this movie. I just want the best damn movie talent and money can buy and from what I have seen, it seems we might just be getting. Us fans just need to have patience to see what unfolds and the movie folks need to have patience with our passion.

- Updated link back to original source of message, Don Murphy's message board. Note to self, tfans.com not fans of sourcing.

Don Murphy on Casting Peter Cullen

Transformers producer Don Murphy has once again shared some of his viewpoints on Transformers the movie over on his forum. Most interesting bit (for me anyway) is "I got to spend the early part of the week with a lifesize, gigantic Megatron which was surreal and so cool you’re all jealous." Yep I am jealous.

and then the Cullen thing. As you all know when we started this grand experiment two years ago, Cullen and Welker were the ONLY Thing you gave me any consensus on. I’m serious, because I read everything you write, no matter how shitty. And if someone suggested something, half of you would shout it down. And the ONLY thing you overwhelmingly agreed on was that Prime should sound like Prime and Megatron should sound like Megatron. Which makes sense, especially since both actors are alive and well. So I pushed your agenda. As some of you know, that was not an easy one. My own partner advocated celebrity voices. Then I showed him the results of your guys’ input and he immediately joined the bandwagon. Ian Bryce came to the show well in to the process and saw the results and supported immediately. John Rogers needed no prodding god bless his pointed head. One or two Dreamworks executives also supported from relatively early on. The interesting thing is that the director never gave an opinion any way. He had a lot of us telling him that there was no choice, really, the fans had spoken. But he had Skorponok and a lot of people at Dreamworks and Paramount FIGHTING actively not to do it. The forces of Cullen kept the push going. Several weeks he came in and auditioned, which was all anyone could ask the director to do. Then he came back for a meeting. And now, Optimus Prime has his voice back. And there is much rejoicing.

before you negativists start asking wotup with Welker, hey we are all working on it. Fact is I was told he was harder to arrange audition time with and his schedule--- hell I don’t know. No one wants Cullen without Welker. I will not say that the director has made the decision because he hasn’t.

My gut tells me that Michael Bay weighs every decision QUITE STRONGLY. You have to remember that. HE finally okayed Cullen once HE was convinced. And should Welker happen, as I know everyone hopes, it will happen when he can make the decision. Which, quite frankly, is not an urgent decision to make at this moment.

The entire post is worth reading, click here. Does this mean when it was reported that Peter Cullen auditioned for the role and Don Murphy said "don't put words in my mouth", he was covering up this reveal for comic-con? If so, bravo man. Good play.

Movie Budget Apparently $140 Million

A bonus of Don Murphy's post on pic posting is that the budget of the Transformers movie has been revealed when he stated "If it were my $140 million."

That is a lot less then my estimation of $200 then $175 million. Shan repeatedly said in various post comments said it was $145 so he was the closest of I saw anywhere. He gets the "No Prize" award for that.

That size budget is actually fairly low by today's standards for summer movies which seem to hover in the $200 million mark. Then again, since this film has so far avoided the highly priced (and in my opinion highly overpaid) "A-list" actors that usually populate those films, they probably saved $30 million or so. Well at least for now since the voices haven't been cast yet but I would assume an actor doesn't get the usual rate for spending a day or two in an ADR room. This also indicate that use of the Transformers will be done very carefully to get maximum bang for the buck as any scene that so much as shows a TF finger has high CGI costs associated with it.

Don Murphy on Website Pics

Don Murphy the other day decided to add his 2 cents into the court of public opinion regarding the recent spate of Transformers pictures, such as the Bumblebees one, that has been hitting the internet these last few weeks over on his website forum.

What is So Hard To Understand?
Listen
If it were entirely up to me
If it were my $140 million
I'd say go crazy, find secret images and do whatever you want.
I'd even let the criminals trying to profit off out work at transformerthemovie (who tried to sell us the url a year ago) do whatever they want.

Because DON MURPHY (me) believes that fans make shit happen.

I was such a fan of Star Trek in the 1970s that I SUBSCRIBED to fondly forgotten fanzines like THE HALKAN COUNCIL and MENAGERIE.

I've read comics since DEFENDERS #8 at summer camp.

I am a fan who smartly has been able to turn what he loves into a film career.

Fine. Good for me. Who cares.

The problem when something like TF comes about is that you have a lot of other cooks involved.

You have Tom Desanto, a terrific guy, who refused to see the wisdom of the voice actors.

You have Lorenzo DB who jumps on to films and talks about the glory days when he ran a studio and made TWISTER.

You have Michael Bay, a majorly talented director who we were lucky to get, who is a total perfectionist.

You have Dreamworks execs like Marc Haimes and John Fox who sheperded this with me for two plus years.

You have Adam Goodman the president of production, the person who got Steven and Michael on board.

And hell, you have Steven, the most successful filmmaker EVER who wanted this movie more than anything and made it happen/

That's a lot of people.

And we aren't mentioning the dozens internally at Dreamworks or Paramount or those MAKING the film.

Or Ian who watches the cash or John, Roberto and Alex who wrote the thing... Or the dozens at Hasbro who own this behemoth.... etc

And if ANY of these people want to keep a lid on the trailer till Monday...
If ANY of them want to keep photos that they own off the web...
If ANY of these people want to stop some Welsh people from profiting from their images

Is it not their right?

Well, it is.

The people at TONS of sites have been hearing from DW over every leak.
People have been fired.
People have been sued.
That site WILL come down.

This is NOT anti- fans.

This is PRO MOVIE.

Again, if Chokass or any of the Tools from that site want to pay the $140 m plus then I say great, you run the show.

Otherwise, obey the law.

I don't have interests in being the guy who has to deal with the asshole fans.

There are just too many good guys out there who I have met through this board.

On their msg board that suck site comments on my behavior as if THEY DESERVE POLITENESS for behavior that has ruined my freaking day because of all the calls I had to deal with from legal etc.

They aren't fans. Fans don't advertise.

In fact- wait for it- TFW2005 and ALLSPARK and SEIBERTRON - they are run by fans. I met the TFW guy after FIGHTING with the guy and the ill will disappeared in FIVE seconds- because we were both fans and just wanted fans to be happy.

So what the hell am I banging on about-

Hate me, hate Michael, hate whatever the hell you want.

But break the law, someone is gonna call me. Someone is gonna smack you.

And you deserve it.

To sum it up, he is saying don't post unauthorized pics, the work being depicted is not sure yours to make money off of. He personally doesn't care but understands why others do, so stop it. He has a point on that, I definitely see where the others are coming from.

Having said that, it doesn't really change anything. Sorry but on all these sites devoted to sharing and releasing information about movies, entertainment, Transformers, etc, their mandate is information. A picture from the movie is information. Failure to share it fails in their mandate which in turns fails the readers of the sites. Its basically a rock and a hard place. For every site that tries to maintain the "trust" with the studio there are going to be a dozen that doesn't. Keep in mind this trust with the studio is a one way street, which is fine, but it means there is no obligation to listen to them or follow their orders.

This is saying its not "right" just explaining the way things are, like it or not. Its more welcome to the real world, rather then the la-la world of Hollywood where money and how people get it follows its own strange set of business rules.

I am curious to any lawyers out there, how do sharing pictures like this break the law? Its seems like Don et al are on very legal shaky ground claiming that posting a pic is in violation of the law. Also am I wrong, but wouldn't any case they bring be a civil, not criminal case?

Of course all that is moot since the justice system is less about the law and what is "right" and more about who has the means and the money to get what they want. In this case the studio does and the average site owner doesn't so I think most, include myself, will continue to do as instructed when we receive the notice to pull something from a site.

Until then, all I can say is I will try to continue to post information as I get it, pics and all. I will link to sources when I have them as its only fair and I hope I get reciprocated on that. I still want information and any pics you stumble across as it seems of late I find out about only after the studio has done their thing to get the info pulled.

I am looking forward to next year, I want this movie to succeed beyond all expectations as it means we can look forward to the birth of a franchise and all the fun in toys and media (and money for some) that entails. On that, I think all of us, the studio, movie producers, site runners, fans and so forth all share in common.

Peter Cullen Audition Confirmed - Rejected!

Don Murphy has posted once again on his boards about Peter Cullen. In it he denies the Peter Cullen audition:

I never confirmed ANYTHING of the kind. Nada.
Someone else posted it.
I made fun of them.
DO NOT PUT WORDS IN MY MOUTH.

Seems like a reasonable mistake to make considering on he previously said "absolutely true, when I feel you can handle the truth I will tell you." Upon review of the thread as a whole, its jokey tone indicates its was a misreading on my part so for that I apologize. So consider the Peter Cullen audition as a fun but unsubstantiated rumor.

Hopefully Don Murphy will be so kind as inform the fans when (or if) the audition it does occur if for no other reason it will give us something to b%$^# about if Peter later doesn't get the role.

Peter Cullen Audition Confirmed

Don Murphy has confirmed over on his boards that Peter Cullen, the original voice for Optimus Prime, has auditioned for the role in the live action movie.

Now this only means that the producers, director, etc are open to the idea of the original voices, not guaranteeing their use. There are political and financial pressures that have to be taken in consideration. Realistically, if some A-list actor shows interest and voice is good enough, they would be fools to pass that up.

In animation, usually the voice actors are done first and the animation (or CGI) are done after to make sure that the mouth movements match. Since your looking at giant robots, therefore giant faces and mouths, its probably in their best interest to have the cast nailed by the time they finalize those portions of the CGI. My thinking is they are hoping the teaser trailer might get the attention of bigger fish.

More information about Peter Cullen's long career is here and here.

UPDATE: Consider this "confirmation" to be no longer confirmed as posted here.

Roberto Orci Drops Some Hints

Roberto Orci is one of the writers on the live action Transformers movie. He decided to head on over to Don Murphy's message board and hint some possibilities on the upcoming movie figuring "why should I be the only one muzzled."

The gist of his hints is that Starscream might show up in his classic treacherous mode, Optimus Prime will clearly the OP, a teaser trailer is coming t hat "will rock" and Soundwave "will be closer to the one you know and love than the rumors would lead you to believe." He also confirmed the TF name alias and aiming for an "official coming out party on July 4th.

Thanks to tformers.com for the message summary.

Bernie Mac and Josh Dumamel Confirmed

Don Murphy over at his board tossed up a variety article that confirms that Bernie Mac has signed on as the car salesman that sells a Transformer to Shia LaBeouf's character. Josh Dumhamel is a unidentified role but probably one of the military characters who gets the girl in the end. This had been basically confirmed already through other reports but always good for it get officialized.

Producer Tom DeSanto Video Interview

Click here for video interview by The Movie Reporter over at iesb.net. Tom DeSanto is the another producer of Transformers live action movie. May ring a bell that he was a producer of X-Men movies. Looks like the interview was made for a premier of direct to video documentary "Ringers: Lord of the Fans."

Highlights:
- Shooting starting "in three weeks" so sounds like around May 20th.
- July 4th, possible release of a teaser trailer.
- Tom DeSanto, like Don Murphy, is a fan of the original voices.
- "I am a fan." (cool, didn't hurt that he was a fan of the X-Men).

Don Murphy mini Q & A

TFormers.com posted a little Q and A with TF producer Don Murphy.

Q: Is the whole Brawl, Devastator, Bonecrusher thing acurate?
A: Nothing is set in stone. They're still far off from the final script.

Q: What's happening with Soundwave in the movie?
A: Soundwave is still in the script but he might be put off until the next movie since currently having him as a CD and not mass-shifting could make it seem really strange for a lot of people.

Q: Any info on the soundtrack to the movie?
A: That will be probably done in the final cut of the movie...so nothing until then.

Q: Will Soundwave's voice be synthisized in the movie?
A: Yes.

I hope they get the naming right. Its a minor thing I know, who cares if a name is right but shoot, its because its a minor thing that they have no excuse for screwing it up. Unless the story is Brawl is a Autobot undercover. I hope not mainly because it takes time to set up and have a payoff on such stories. Time will tell. As for Soundwave...he has a point. They have enough to do with the origin and all that without tossing in how a CD player can suddenly grow into a 6 story robot. In cartoons, that doesn't have to be done, but in a live action movie, that kind of question can toss the audience out of the "reality" of the movie.

"It's a wrap."

Don Murphy posted on his board in a thread called "Shoot "Em Up" that "It's a Wrap." Usually this term is used to indicate that shooting is done for the film. It could mean that the human side of the casting is complete for filming in May. Another possibility is that the script is finalized. Time will tell what he meant I guess.

3 Decepticons Named?

A rumor over at the TF producer Don Murphy's message board is that the names of three Decepticons that will be in the movie.

As many have speculated, the Decepticons do in fact outnumber the Autobots in the script.

It had me scratching my head when I learned who they are, and what their alt modes are.

Brawl--a police car (for a chase scene)
Devastator--M1 Abrams tank (and a single bot)
Bonecrusher--Mine clearing vehicle

It just seems like a bunch of random names slapped on random alt modes.
If they want to use a Decepticon car, I think the names Runamuck or Runabout would be more suitable.
The tank should be Brawl, since he was a tank in G1.
Not sure how I feel about Bonecrusher. He was a bulldozer in G1 and there are mine clearing vehicles that look like bulldozers, but I think they should just stick with Combaticon names and go with Swindle or Onslaught.

Hmm, got to admit, little concerned. Getting the names "right" should be easy and basic. It would take all of three seconds to come up with a Decepticon name that is valid. More likely this information is either flat out wrong or a bit off intentionlly.

Brawl is probably really an Autobot. I am betting for at least the first movie they are going to stick with the Autobots = automobiles, Decepticons = other war equipment. The M1 Abrams is more likely Megatron as they cannot use the gun form from the cartoons do to legalities with making gun toys. Megatron was a tank in the G2 iteration and several after that. Also, really Megs is a supposed to be a big evil SOB that carries a big stick. That sounds like a tank to me. I think they should hold Devastator in reserve for a possible sequel. He is a known Transformer and having a gestalt Transformation would THE teaser trailer moment of a sequel.

New draft in the works

Don Murphy has graced his board with another update. Shia is official and two other roles are closed to be cast. Vegasplaya and Cowboys at Midnight. Nope thats not a type, those are the character names, I assume the two human ones. Kind of groan worthy so I hope that is just temp fun names for the characters.

The movie drafts are stilling be worked out but apparently coming out with greater frequency indicating its more about clean up rather then practically starting over. On a film like this though the script and the final product will probably be dramatically different. The strange thing to me though is that normally with films that will have extensive and expensive CGI FX have to allow time for story boarding and pre-vis. Technically a month is long enough to get it together but then thats a rush job in two critical elements of pre-prep which if done incorrectly can negativily effect the budget. It makes me wonder exactly how much the actual transforming robots will be a part of this film.

Spike Witwicky goes live

Don Murphy has pretty much made it official by posting on his board an article from Variety or some other magazine that Shia LaBeouf is in negotiations to star in Transformers. He will be cast as Spike Witwicky, 18 year whose first care is an Autobot. Judging by past movies, Shia will be brown haired earnest irritant versus the blondish earnest irritant from the cartoons. Does that mean one of the female cast will be Carly? And what about his dad Sparkplug? I have my fingers crossed that one or neither makes the movie other then as a wink-wink cameo.

Read the "official" post here.

For those saying "who the @#$@ is Shia LaBeouf", chances are you will recognize the face just not the name. He starred in Holes, Dumb and Dumberer, the Project Greenlight movie The Battle of Shaker Heights, I, Robot, Constantine, and the Greatest Game Ever Played. Before pre-judge him, this is one of those times where I think you have to reserve judgment. Spike was such a bland character in the cartoons that really how much like him or hate him will be based entirely on how he is written and acted. Its not like he is a Peter Parker or Clark Kent.

More about Shia LaBeouf check out imdb.com and wikpedia.

Another week, another update

Once again from Transformer movie producer Don Murphy's message boards:
"Ah yes, Transformers. A Casting Director and Director of Photography have been hired. I'll let you know who once their deals are done. Suffice it to say, this is a GREAT thing. Even though, for some reason, we don't have the full green light, hiring people makes it clear that the green is a'coming."

So the script is being worked on, people are being hired, money is being spend and budgets decided upon. Basically money is flowing out for a project that hasn't been approved.

Even odder, apparently Activision thinks there is a greenlight. They have released a press release saying they are making the game for the Transformer movie. Maybe they jumped the gun or maybe Don is out of the loop. Or, more likely, since a producer is part Circus barker, he is waiting for the right timing.

Another Don update

Don posted another update. Basically execs want new voices because new movie so our favorites are probably out but I think most knew that already. Also, thanks to the merge, no greenlight yet but one could be coming (me, I think the longer it takes the less likely it will occur).

Now that I think about it, didn't they claim June 2007 as a release time? Odd to stake out a date without a greenlight.

TF Budget Decided

As reported by TF producer Don Murphy, on his site the budget for the movie has been decided. No amount indicated but it wouldn't suprise me if its in the 75 million dollar range. What this mainly indicates is that the movie is more likely to happen as the dollars tend to be the biggest sticking point in getting movies made. The next hurdle is probably casting. Some say screenplay but this is a popcorn movie, so as long as a few things go boom, the execs will be happy.

On the plus size the more they have to save for effects the less they can spend on huge stars whose salary is usually above and beyond what they are worth. For those holding hope for at least some of the orginial voice actors...well don't hold your breath but at least there is still hope.

Some Non-News

Apparently the Transformers Movie producer Don Murphy provided a little mini update over on his board about the progress of the movie. Basically its comes down to the script and budget is still being worked out. Michael Bay is still on as director and for now the 7/4/07 release is good. Thanks to xaxis over at tfw2005 for bringing this to people's attention.