Sci-Fi Film and Television Developments
Transformers 3
6/11/10 – USA Today reported that Transformers shooting is underway and plans to debut next summer. Michael Bay and Co. acknowledge missteps with the last one and aim to upgrade the shape-shifting robot franchise with a more coherent story, less goofball humor and a pledge that characters who die will stay dead. It will also be in 3-D. Bay is not one for mea culpas, but he says he can do better. "This one really builds to a final crescendo. It's not three multiple endings," the director says. Bay calls the second film's villain, The Fallen. The new movie's foe is certain to make fans of the original '80s incarnation smile: Shockwave, the robot cyclops-turned-laser-cannon, who became dictator of their home world of Cybertron after the other Autobots and Decepticons journeyed to Earth. "One thing we're getting rid of is what I call the dorky comedy," Bay adds. So the twins, the two bumbling, slang-spewing robots? "They're basically gone," he says, though John Turturro returns for comic relief. The new film features Sam Witwicky (LaBeouf) taking his first tenuous steps into adulthood while remaining a reluctant human ally of Optimus Prime. "Shia has this great line: 'You know, I've saved the world twice, but I can't get a job,' " di Bonaventura says. Megan Fox, who played Mikaela, was dropped just before shooting, so LaBeouf's character also has a new love interest, played by Victoria's Secret model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. Plot details are under wraps, but it delves into the space race between the U.S.S.R. and the USA, suggesting there was a hidden Transformers role in it all that remains one of the planet's most dangerous secrets. "The movie is more of a mystery," Bay says. "It ties in what we know as history growing up as kids with what really happened."
5/19/10 - Megan Fox will not return to star in Transformers 3, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The actress last year likened franchise director Michael Bay to Hitler and Napoleon, and said he was a nightmare to work for. Bay plans to take the story in another direction and will cast a new love interest. The third installment has been amassing a higher level of actors, with John Malkovich, Frances McDormand and Patrick Dempsey being new additions.
5/14/10 - Alan Tudyk has joined the cast of Michael Bay's Transformers 3 in an as-yet-unspecified role, The Wrap reported; Tudyk joins a cast that includes John Malkovich, Frances McDormand and Patrick Dempsey.
5/13/10 – According to AP, Shia LaBeouf, who starts work on the next Transformers sequel Tuesday, said the third installment will be the best one yet. The new script restores a human element that got lost in the second movie. "When I saw the second movie, I wasn't impressed with what we did," LaBeouf said. "There were some really wild stunts in it, but the heart was gone." Michael Bay returns for the third time as director of the science-fiction franchise, which centers on dueling races of giant robots that bring their war to Earth. The next movie will have what the last one lacked -- a sense of human consequences. Transformers 3, the toll of the robot war will be grave for our planet, LaBeouf said. "There's going to be a lot of death, human death. This time, they're targeting humans," LaBeouf said. "It's going to be the craziest action movie ever made, or we failed."
5/5/10 - Patrick Dempsey has signed on to star in Transformers 3, according to Access Hollywood. Patrick will play the boss of Mikaela Banes, played by Megan Fox. Hangover star Ken Jeong is also reportedly on board. "Transformers 3" is expected to begin filming later this month and will be released in summer 2011. The movie will film in Africa, Russia, China and the U.S.
4/7/10 - The parentals are back for the third outing of Paramount's Transformers franchise. Thesps Kevin Dunn and Julie White have closed their deals to return in the roles of Ron Witwicky and Judy Witwicky, respectively, and reunite with leads Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox. Michael Bay is in pre-production with the threequel, and will direct from a script by Ehren Kruger. Produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Ian Bryce, the film is set to open July 1, 2011. Steven Spielberg is exec producer.
3/22/10 – Variety reported that Frances McDormand and John Malkovich signed onto Transformers 3, which begins pre-shoots next month. Also on board is Ken Jeong. Transformers 3 is set for release July 1, 2011. Bay did disclose that the newest Autobot to join the franchise is the Ferrari 458 Italia. Ehren Kruger penned the script. Storyline is being kept under tight wraps; Bay has previously said the threequel will be much more character-driven. Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox return for the lead roles.
3/2/10 – SCI FI Wire reported that in the third Transformers movie Optumus Prime and Bumblebee will get a makeover. The Industrial Light & Magic team is hard at work updating the robots in disguise for their third big screen adventure. "Our two lead characters, Optimus and Bumblebee, needed to be updated for the next chapter in the Transformers series," said animation supervisor Scott Benza. Benza added that Prime's updates would be badass. "We always want the robots to look cooler than they did the last time, so he's going to look a little more heroic, I would say.” They will also be developing more new robot characters, hopefully cooler than Mudflap and Skids. "Yes, we are," Scott Farrar said. "We can't say anything, but these are great big difficult movies, and it's a long haul for everybody. It's not easy stuff, so we're pretty pooped when we get done with a movie. We have a little rest time, and I know it's dumb, but some of these new ideas come along and you start to get excited again. Yes, some really great ideas for characters."
1/15/10 - Michael Bay is working on a third installment in the hit movie franchise, Transformers, and he told the Los Angeles Times' Heat Vision blog a little about it. Seems it's going to be more of a character piece. The third film—which will hit theaters in summer 2011, won't be as robot-heavy and there will be fewer explosions, a tight-lipped Bay said after the Q+A. "There will be a nice crescendo ending," Bay said. "It gets much more into the robot character. The last time you kind of met a few of the robots; this time you're gonna get a much cooler landscape."
10/1/09 - Director Michael Bay has said the third installment of Transformers is coming out in 2011, not 2012, and is already gearing up for production. Bay makes the announcement himself in his blog. “Well its official: We have a great Transformers 3 story. The release date is now July 1st 2011. Not 2012. Today is Day One. This morning started with an ILM meeting for five hours in San Francisco. Currently I'm flying with writer Ehren Kruger to Rhode Island to talk to Hasbro about new characters. P.S. Megan Fox, welcome back. I promise no alien robots will harm you in any way during the production of this motion picture. Please consult your Physician when working under my direction because some side effects can occur, such as mild dizziness, intense nausea, suicidal tendencies, depression, minor chest hair growth, random internal hemorrhaging and inability to sleep. As some directors may be hazardous to your health, please consult your Doctor to determine if this is right for you.”
3/18/09 - After reported that Paramount had staked out a July 1, 2011, release date for a third Transformers movie, director Michael Bay has chimed in on his official blog to say: No way! "I said I was taking off a year from Transformers," Bay wrote on his official forum. "Paramount made a mistake in dating Transformers 3. They asked me on the phone. I said yes to July 4—but for 2012—whoops! Not 2011!!! That would mean I would have to start prep in September. No way. My brain needs a break from fighting robots."
3/17/09 - Paramount and DreamWorks are forging ahead with Transformers 3 and have set a release date of July 1, 2011, Variety reported. It's the first official word of the project. Paramount insiders told the trade paper that the studio wanted to claim the date before another studio did, and that this isn't an official announcement that Transformers 3 is a go. No writer has been hired. DreamWorks and Paramount executives weren't immediately available to confirm whether director Michael Bay and stars Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox are set to return for the third installment in the franchise.
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