New Trailer For TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION

Here's a new trailer for Michael Bay's TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION. The effects look jaw dropping good as usual for these films and with the addition of Mark Wahlberg and a "soft reboot" of the story, I'm hoping for a revitalized franchise that focuses more on human characters and their journey.

The movie stars Wahlberg, Nicola Peltz, Jack Reynor, Stanley Tucci, Kelsey Grammar and Li Bingbing.

Here's the storyline for the movie:
TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION is the fourth film in director Michael Bay’s global blockbuster franchise. The film begins after an epic battle that left a great city torn, but with the world saved. As humanity picks up the pieces, a shadowy group reveals itself in an attempt to control the direction of history… while an ancient, powerful new menace sets Earth in its crosshairs. With help from a new cast of humans, Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen) and the Autobots rise to meet their most fearsome challenge yet. In an incredible adventure, they are swept up in a war of good and evil, ultimately leading to a climactic battle across the world.

TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION opens on June 27.

Bumblebee's New Look For TRANSFORMERS 4

Check out the new look for Bumblebee in Michael Bay's TRANSFORMERS 4. Looking pretty stylish! I wonder if Universal Studios will update the Tranformers Ride with the new version of Bumblebee. Probably not. (Loved that ride by the way).

Love the concept Camaro's sleek new headlights and flares over the tires. Of course it's shot in Bumblebee yellow. What's interesting is that there is a customized version of the 1967 Camaro that will also be in the movie; so which year's model gets the most screen time? I'm wondering...

These images are straight from Bay's website.

TRANSFORMERS 4 opens on June 27, 2014.

Source: Michael Bay

Michael Bay Shooting TRANSFORMERS 4 With New Small Form Factor 3D IMAX Cameras

Here's an interesting story out of Cinemacon (unfortunately I couldn't make it this year!) from a friend of mine, Steve Weintraub of Collider. He had a brief chance to talk with Michael Bay and he made the most of it - Steve can work wonders in a short period of time and he asked exactly what I would have asked him too if I could have made it down to Vegas.

Essentially Bay said that IMAX has given him very expensive, new small form factor (Bay shows us the size using his hands) 3D IMAX cameras to use on TRANSFORMERS 4. To top that off, there is so much data streaming out from these things (VERY high resolution), that Bay's finishing company would not be able to handle it all if he was to shoot the movie in this way. That's saying a lot knowing that Bay does NOT use cheap services. So, Bay will only be shooting key scenes with these cameras for TF4.

Bay also revealed that he will not be shooting in HFR (high frame rate).

Here's the interview from Collider - enjoy!

Michael Bay Talks TRANSFORMERS 4 And I Talk TF3D Ride At Universal!!

I just experienced the TRANSFORMERS 3D Ride at Universal and WOW - thrilling! I had a Front Of The Line pass so I was able to see it multiple times and it never got old. One scene in particular involving a floor of a building (if you've seen it you know what I mean) is just jaw dropping. I won't say more! See it for yourself!!

And a great way to break into a post about the movie franchise too! With Michael Bay's recent muse Mark Wahlberg (PAIN AND GAIN) joining him, Michael Bay is coming back to his Transformers franchise in a different way with TRANSFORMERS 4 kicking off a new trilogy of movies.

So where do you suppose he's going with this movie?

Here's what Bay had to say about TRANSFORMERS 4 recently:
“We’re going to start off smaller. There’s a brand new cast. To freshen the franchise we’ve redesigned everything from top to bottom. The history of the first three movies is still there, we start four years later and there’s a reason why we’re meeting a new cast.

Mark is really excited about it and it’s a great redesign. I said that 3 was going to be my last one. Paramount was letting me do PAIN AND GAIN and the Transformers ride was opening at Universal and it was bittersweet to think of passing it off. I wanted to set it up on a really sure footing and to bring someone else in on that, it would have been overwhelming.

We keep the Transformers the way they were, it’s just four years later. There’s a reason the Transformers are redesigned. We’re trying to broaden the franchise and give it more places to go.”

Sounds great to me. I'm all for the continuation of such a visually rich franchise with some fresh content brought in. I'd like to see some solid storytelling in there too of course.

Source: Forbes via Collider

Mark Wahlberg Looking Solid For TRANSFORMERS 4

A while ago, Michael Bay quickly dismissed rumors about Mark Wahlberg being considered for TRANSFORMERS 4 but apparently those very same rumors got Michael Bay thinking about actually using Wahlberg for the the movie.

That, or the original rumors were true. Doesn't really matter though - the end result is that Bay is indeed thinking very seriously about Wahlberg and it looks like it will happen.

Hit the jump to read what Bay had to say on the matter:

Update On What We Know About Michael Bay's TRANSFORMERS 4

Michael Bay finally got to complete his "small" film PAIN AND GAIN after years of trying to get it done and now is transitioning back to what I like to call "BLOCKBUSTING".

TRANSFORMERS 4 has been moved to Bay's front burner and getting full energy from his production company. He recently spoke out about the movie and what to expect, namely: It WILL NOT be a reboot...

It’s not a reboot, that’s maybe the wrong word. I don’t want to say reboot because then people will think we’re doing a Spider-Man and starting from the beginning. We’re not. We’re taking the story that you’ve seen — the story we’ve told in three movies already — and we’re taking it in a new direction. But we’re leaving those three as the history. It all still counts. I met with the writer before I went off to do ‘Pain and Gain’ and we talked about a bunch of ideas. We let that simmer for a bit. He’s been thinking about stuff and now we’re getting back together next week to see what we’ve got and to see if it gels.

So without as much of a human focused story, will the autobots be going to space?

I think so, yeah, a little. That feels like the way to go, doesn’t it? I want to go a little off but I don’t want to go too sci-fi. I still want to keep it grounded. That’s what works in these movies, that’s what makes it accessible.

It looks like TRANSFORMERS 4 will cost about $30m less than TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON so what does Bay have to say about budgeting?

Here’s the thing, it’s tough to find someone who’s done these kind of movies and to have the complication of creating the new stuff that needs to be in this movie – not just characters but a new type of action, I hope – and that’s a lot for someone new to bite off. And so after this one I will leave it in the best hands possible. That’s the plan.

TRANSFORMERS 4 is slated for a June 2014 release with an entirely new cast. No word on whether TF4 will follow TF3's stereoscopic epicness, but one would certainly assume so.

Source: LATimes

Wow. Michael Bay Is Directing TRANSFORMERS 4 *AND* It Will Be A Reboot Slated For 2014!

I am amazed at how fast a billion dollar movie can be generated. Seriously amazed. Yes, Michael Bay's team is a well oiled machine. Yes, he has had precious few failures and this is guaranteed money in the bank. Yes, there seems to be an unending need for more and more autobots. But these movies bring in a billion bucks a shot folks.

Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura told MTV that Bay was in fact coming back for TF4 and that the release date is the summer of 2014. Bay has another project on the go as well in between called PAIN AND GAIN (starring Dwayne Johnson and Mark Wahlberg).

Here's what di Boneventura said about Bay (for all of you outside of the US an can't watch the clip):
“Yeah Michael’s gonna direct and it’ll be releasing in the summer of 2014. We’re excited and I think the challenge there is we really are gonna do a reboot, and what that’s gonna be we don’t even know yet.”

And di Bonaventura on the story:
“Well I mean again it’s hybrid. It’s not the way—I’m not involved with Spider-Man but what I perceive Spider-Man to be is a redoing of the whole thing, [Transformers 4] is not. It’s an evolution. There’s still continuity that’s going on, and yet there’ll be a lot of new cast. Whether there’s anybody from the [original] cast, we don’t even know yet. But the truth is, it’s gonna be a whole new story. The characters that would certainly come along would be Optimus and Bumblebee I’m sure.”

And on the Jason Statham casting rumor:
“No, it’s so silly. We’ve gotta get a story first. You can’t pick characters until you have a story.”

I am definitely up for a reboot. I think the franchise needs to be overhauled while keeping some of the more popular elements of the originals. There's nothing better than a Michael Bay visual effects smorgasbord once in awhile. Are you with me?