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Independence Day for Transformers Live Action 437

An anonymous reader writes "Transformers, the long-planned, live-action movie based on the robot-morphing cartoon, comic and toy franchise, will roll into theaters July 4, 2007, DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures announced Wednesday. Michael Bay (The Island, The Rock) will direct; Steven Spielberg will executive produce. "
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Independence Day for Transformers Live Action

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  • Homepage (Score:5, Informative)

    by FrontalLobe ( 897758 ) on Thursday July 14, 2005 @03:02PM (#13066423)
    They've already got their homepage set up.
    Homepage [transformerslive.com]
    • by BRock97 ( 17460 ) on Thursday July 14, 2005 @03:31PM (#13066748) Homepage
      So, how long before we get Optimus Prime's blog up on that site! It would be awesome:

      Planning For The Trip
      Monday, July 11th, 2005

      My bags are packed and I have an Energon snack pack since the trip to the space bridge is a couple of ours by way of Jetfire. Got another message from Elita-1 which says that it will be good to have me home. I don't know. You know the old Cybertronian saying, "You can't go home...". I have never felt that as being more true than right now. I am so nervous, my energy storage unit is backed up into my Matrix of Leadership....


      Damn it Spike
      Sunday, July 10th, 2005

      I swear I don't know what I am going to do with that human. Just as I issued the orders to roll out, he hopped into Bumblebee and came on the last defensive of the human's oil refinery. Sure enough, he gets caught in an explosion and almost fell into the Earthen sea. I hate to do it, but I think I will have to make Bumblebee his care taker from now on. That goldbug has been asking for a promotion anyways...


      Energon
      Tuesday, July 5th, 2005

      God, I love energon. Just thought I would let you guys know that.
  • by opposume ( 600667 ) on Thursday July 14, 2005 @03:02PM (#13066424) Homepage
    Let's hope it's not another AI flop. Seriously though, cool concept, but I'm curious as to how they're going to pull it off "live action"
    • Let's hope it's not another AI flop.

      I was waiting for someone to mention that. You must understand that A.I. was not Speilburgs movie! The movie was Kubrick's, but he died before he could finish it. Out of professional curtesy and respect for Kubrick himself, Speilburg finished the movie.
      • dude, thematically and storywise, AI was Spielberg's movie. I'm a huge Kubrick fan; and it's almost an insult to attribute AI to the Kubrick body of work.

        No insult to Spielberg and his fans, but Kubrick is a completely different caliber of director.

        Prevalent in most recent Spielberg films is the father/son paradigm from the perspective of the son, usually a little boy. Minority Report, War of the Worlds, AI, etc. The theme predominates.

        Kubrick is more a "thinking" director, critical, analytical, and Spie
        • This WAS Kubricks pet project for a long long time. He's the one that developed the story/screenplay from the short story. But it was also said that a long time ago he decided not to direct it and always had Spielberg in mind to direct it while he produced it.

          From the IMDB: "Stanley Kubrick worked on the project for 12 years before his death, but along the way decided to let Steven Spielberg direct saying it was "closer to his sensibilities". The two collaborated for years, resulting in Kubrick giving Spie
    • Let's hope it's not another AI flop. Seriously though, cool concept, but I'm curious as to how they're going to pull it off "live action"

      Are you somehow trying to infer that the reason that AI "flopped" was because of the actors not successfully pulling off acting like the director's vision of humanlike robots?

      If that's what you meant, I'm sorry to inform you that you are absolutely wrong. The actors did an incredible job of staying true of the vision of humanlike robots. The rest of the story, in typi
      • I agree, to a point.

        AI is a very good movie (I'm kind of reserved about excellent, though many of Kubrik's films do qualify in my estimation) up until the point (SPOILER!) where the child robot finds the blue fairy at the bottom of the sea.

        When the scene faded out from him wishing over and over again I thought it was an absolutely beautiful and profound movie.

        Then came the 20 minute welded-on happy ending that completely ruined it for me. I've always wondered if the ending was concocted and hacked

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • by Bitsy Boffin ( 110334 ) on Thursday July 14, 2005 @03:22PM (#13066634) Homepage
      The only reason that AI was a _box_office_ flop is that the morons in the world (the majority) when they heard it was a "Science Fiction" movie were expecting guns, shooting, robots killing robots, robots killing humans, explosions, implosions...

      AI was an excellent movie, it's not an action movie, perhaps that's part of the reason it's an excellent movie.
      • The only reason that AI was a _box_office_ flop is that the morons in the world (the majority) when they heard it was a "Science Fiction" movie were expecting guns, shooting, robots killing robots, robots killing humans, explosions, implosions...

        Instead we had a fairy tale that took place in the future, so it was 'Science Fiction.'

        So in addition to disappointing those who wanted a popcorn click, it disappointed those who were looking for something more then a retelling of pinocchio with andro

      • were expecting guns, shooting, robots killing robots, robots killing humans, explosions, implosions...

        And don't forget hot girl on girl... oh wait, did you say science fiction?
  • by bc90021 ( 43730 ) * <bc90021&bc90021,net> on Thursday July 14, 2005 @03:02PM (#13066428) Homepage
    For those who are curious about what "live" action [wikipedia.org] might look like for a robot movie, start here with an intro to the Citroen commercial [carpages.co.uk], and then get the commercial here [yahoo.com].

    With Spider-Man 3 (May 2007) and the Transformers (July 2007) coming out in the same summer, it looks like I'll be spending a lot of time in the theatre in 2007!

  • is it just me (Score:5, Insightful)

    by SirSlud ( 67381 ) on Thursday July 14, 2005 @03:03PM (#13066437) Homepage
    I love Transformers. Therefore, I could care less about the movie, because there already *was* a TV show and a movie. I like new ideas, not infinate interpretations on a theme.
  • Speilberg!? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by deft ( 253558 ) on Thursday July 14, 2005 @03:03PM (#13066438) Homepage
    Wow, how did they get speilberg to sign on for a toy movie? I wonder what his motivation is since he can do whatever the hell he wants... and it's my beloved transformers...

    anyone have any insight?
    • Re:Speilberg!? (Score:2, Insightful)

      Maybe he's already done his Academy Award bid picture for that year and he's looking for his cash a big ole movie check picture?

      Not sure that this'll be big money maker though. I mean, I liked the transformers way way way back but come on, that was like...... aww shit I feel old now.
    • by Sawopox ( 18730 )
      Speilberg's reason looks like this:

      Mr. Speilberg, $1,000,000,000,000,000,000,00.00 has been deposited to your account. Thanks for the Transformers movie.

    • Well, he was involved with batteries not included [imdb.com], which, for whatever I reason, I have fond memories of (although it's probably because I was 7 at the time.)
    • He's made some good stuff in the past. But here lately, most of the stuff I see with his name attached to it just doesn't seem that good to me.
    • Because, since childhood, Speilberg has been captivated by the two transformers known as 'Benjaminotron' and 'Ulysses Prime'.
    • Wow, how did they get speilberg to sign on for a toy movie? I wonder what his motivation is since he can do whatever the hell he wants... and it's my beloved transformers...

      I love the transformers too. It was one of my favorite cartoons in the 80's.

      But I have to question what Speilberg can add to the transformers. Why not bring back the crew who did the original 1980's show? Give them the same tools they had back then. That is what will make money, Dads taking their kids to see a cartoon movie they l

    • Well, there is some precedent [imdb.com] for such things. ^_^

      (Although since he's producing and not directing, not really a big deal anyway.)
    • They offered to make him a transformer rendition of himself named "Speilbergatron". It doesn't transfom itself, rather it transforms great movie ideas into a steaming pile poop.
    • Re:Speilberg!? (Score:4, Informative)

      by mbbac ( 568880 ) on Thursday July 14, 2005 @03:47PM (#13066899)
      If Dreamworks is involved with a movie, it is highly likely that Steven Spielberg will be an executive producer of it.
  • Oooo, you know it will be good then.
  • by garcia ( 6573 ) * on Thursday July 14, 2005 @03:04PM (#13066444)
    "It will be GREAT," Murphy continued, "and then we will make sequel after sequel. There is no doubt that this is true."

    I wasn't aware that a movie being GREAT was a prerequesite for sequels. In fact, why even bother to *plan* on sequels when they aren't necessary?

    Why not spend all the time you can being true to the original intent derived from the cartoon and making sure that *this* movie doesn't get the raving piss-poor reviews that Fantastic Four did (people going to see it on opening weekend doesn't mean it's good folks).

    Just make the movie and let the market decide whether a sequel is necessary. We're not talking about a story that deserves sequels (like LOTR) either.

    Just because it was a serial cartoon doesn't mean the movie has to be.
    • I seriously hope they don't stay true to the cartoon. Honestly, the thing I remember most about the cartoon was how whiney the robots were. I mean c'mon - they're robots - wtf is with the whiney voices and temper tantrums!!!
    • [rabid Tolkien Fan]What the heck are you talking about? There were no sequels to LOTR. Those three movies were The Lord of the Rings; as in one story broken into three parts - not The Fellowship of the Ring II: Frodo Heads to Mordor and the Fellowship of the Ring III: Frodo Blows Up Mordor.

      There haven't been nor ever will be a sequel to LOTR because J.R.R. Tolkien is long since deceased.[/rabid Tolkien Fan]
  • by mcsnee ( 103033 ) on Thursday July 14, 2005 @03:04PM (#13066449)
    The article gives short shrift to the animated 1986 "Transformers: The Movie," calling it "little-loved". Personally, I thought it was great... am I the only one?
  • I love how (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Tebriel ( 192168 ) on Thursday July 14, 2005 @03:06PM (#13066461)
    the movie hasn't even gone through pre-production and people are already extolling/condemning the movie.

    Can't we at least wait until there's something a bit more concrete before warring over it?
  • Who keeps deciding this guy can direct? All his movies are arguably terrible. Let's tap into some new talent. Just the fact that he is directing pretty much means this will be a travesty to my childhood memories.
    • From Team America: World Police:

      I miss you more than Michael Bay missed the mark
      when he made Pearl Harbor. I miss you more than that movie missed the point,
      and that's an awful lot girl.

      And now, now you've gone away,
      and all I'm trying to say
      is Pearl Harbor sucked and I miss you.

      I need you like Ben Affleck needs acting school,
      he was terrible in that film.
      I need you like Cuba Gooding needed a bigger part,
      he's way better than Ben Affleck.

      And now, all I can think about is your smile
      and th
    • I like that song 'Pearl Harbor Sucked'.

      There are movies you can geek out to (like LOTR, Star Wars, Star Trek, Harry Potter, Spider-man, Batman, etc...)
      and there are movies you can veg out to (Star Wars, Michael Bay movies, Patrick Swayze movies, etc...)

      Just check your brain out and grasp whatever you get. You'll kinda look like Keir Dullea in 2001 during his journey.
  • by kooganani ( 646567 ) * on Thursday July 14, 2005 @03:08PM (#13066484)
    Why all these remakes of crap shows? Why can't they do cool shows from the Olde Days like Falcon Crest or Knott's Landing?
  • by geders ( 206556 ) on Thursday July 14, 2005 @03:09PM (#13066502)
    I can't wait to go to the theater and watch them slaughter the current generation of tranformers to help introduce this years "New and Improved" series of transformer toys! It will be like 1986 all over again...
  • by Chosen Reject ( 842143 ) on Thursday July 14, 2005 @03:11PM (#13066520)
    Next will be Thundercats!
  • With live action, how are they going to reproduce Megatron?

    He's as big as an 18 wheeler truck in robot form, but is a handgun in disguise.

    I'd like to see how they pull that off.
    • "With live action, how are they going to reproduce Megatron.He's as big as an 18 wheeler truck in robot form, but is a handgun in disguise

      Don't tell anyone, but I checked the schedules of the forthcoming monster truck rallies for the next 18 months. A lot of famous transforming-trucks are absent from the playbills, presumably due to filming duties. Among the names: Truck-a-Saurus, Tyrannosaurus Trucks, Bronto-Bilt, Semi-rapter, and, yes, Smith-and-Wobot (the truck that turns into a pistol). I expect we wi

    • by Dogtanian ( 588974 ) on Thursday July 14, 2005 @04:26PM (#13067277) Homepage
      With live action, how are they going to reproduce Megatron? He's as big as an 18 wheeler truck in robot form, but is a handgun in disguise.

      A really damn *big* handgun... ought to get attention from some people.

      "Is that an 18 wheel truck in your pants, or are you just happy to see me?"

      Anyway, I think that "Ravage" (who transformed into an audio cassette) would have the same problem- can you imagine how unthreatening a robotic panther the size of a C90 would be?

      This isn't an issue anyway, as neither Ravage (nor his ghetto-blasting cassette-deck buddy Soundwave) will be appearing in the movie, having become rather unfashionable and outdated.

      Apprently, they will be replaced by an iPod that transforms into a style-conscious robot. "iKill" will, claim producers, be the first openly gay Transformer.

      Sadly, the loss of Ravage and Soundwave deprive us of the opportunity to witness some extremely screwed-up psychosexual issues, as "cassette" Ravage hides inside his "cassette player" buddy Soundwave.

      This loss is a double-blow to Ravage, who never recovered fully after someone recorded a Debbie Gibson album on him in 1989.
  • Wasn't The rock supposed to be in the Doom [imdb.com] movie? Whatever happened to that?

    Doom, to Transformers? Very strange. Rediscovering his adolecent childhood I guess.
  • by John Seminal ( 698722 ) on Thursday July 14, 2005 @03:13PM (#13066542) Journal
    Not the 90's armada version.

    I was a huge fan of the transformers in the early 80's. It was a great block of cartoons. There was He-Man, then Transformers, and then GI Joe (which I thought was weak). Oh, and for a couple years, they had Robotech, which was awesome, followed by Voltron. Talk about good cartoons, I don't think even Thundercats could dethrone those cartoons. Nothing good today like those cartoons.

    Back to the Transformers. The new series stunk. It was not true to the old one. I don't think I even saw Megatron, at least not the way I remembered him. He was fairly smart back in the 80's, not crazy like starscream. The new series has no thought in it, that is why i dislike it. It is just like one thoughtless attack after another, no strategy.

    And what happened to the robot that replaced Optimus Prime, when he died, I remember this robot was stuck inside a comet or astroid, and he had to be found.

    Oh, and bring back the big mega robot, that is combined by 5 smaller ones, the green one that is all the construction machines that form a big robot.

    Please, please, please, get this movie right. It will be a delight for all of us who watched the original series. Put most of the money in the script, something really good. I would rather have an awesome story and so-so graphics than a bad story and million dollar graphics.

    • I would rather have an awesome story and so-so graphics than a bad story and million dollar graphics.

      Have you SEEN a US Made movie lately?

      I mean, PIXAR is good for that sort of thing, but really, you can only expect so much.

      If we're lucky, they'll just lift the script from the first few seasons of the 80's cartoon with editing. that's the best case scenario, and we all know it.
    • by KanSer ( 558891 ) on Thursday July 14, 2005 @03:40PM (#13066827)
      Put most of the money in the script, something really good. I would rather have an awesome story and so-so graphics than a bad story and million dollar graphics.
      Do you have any idea who Michael Bay is??? He's going to shit on your childhood 10 times worse than Lucas could ever dream of. It's going to be Bad Boys 2 meets Transformers.
      • by LiberalApplication ( 570878 ) on Thursday July 14, 2005 @07:24PM (#13068682)
        Do you have any idea who Michael Bay is??? He's going to shit on your childhood 10 times worse than Lucas could ever dream of. It's going to be Bad Boys 2 meets Transformers.

        The screenplay is being co-written by the moron [imdb.com] who brought us the bombs "The Core" [imdb.com] and "Catwoman" [imdb.com], so my guess is that John Rogers will be the one shitting all over our childhoods, and Michael Bay will simply be sculpting it into offensive shapes and taking pictures of the result.

    • by chrysrobyn ( 106763 ) on Thursday July 14, 2005 @07:00PM (#13068551)
      I was a huge fan of the transformers in the early 80's. It was a great block of cartoons. There was He-Man, then Transformers, and then GI Joe (which I thought was weak). Oh, and for a couple years, they had Robotech, which was awesome, followed by Voltron. Talk about good cartoons, I don't think even Thundercats could dethrone those cartoons. Nothing good today like those cartoons.

      Friend, I don't know how to break this to you, but don't see these cartoons on rerun. Keep your memories alive. They were great when we were kids, but anything with a computer in it was too. If you were forced to watch an entire episode of any of those old series, you'd need a huge shot of nostalgia to keep you from impaling yourself on your TV remote just to end the pain. Nostalgia and childhood inexperience are the two things that make those cartoons great (with the possible exception of Robotech, which I was not privvy to). Those old TV shows made Star Wars (insert your least favorite number, likely "I") sound like it had good writing.

      Transformers: The Movie was the only film I have cried in. I'm nearly 30 and still to this day, when I play the Transformers sountrack (you're a fan, so you have it, too, right?), I can't help but get chills and a tear in my eye when Optimus goes to the bright UPS in the sky.

      Back to the Transformers. The new series stunk. It was not true to the old one. I don't think I even saw Megatron, at least not the way I remembered him. He was fairly smart back in the 80's, not crazy like starscream. The new series has no thought in it, that is why i dislike it. It is just like one thoughtless attack after another, no strategy.

      There are several [wikipedia.org] new series. Not all of them have the cliche, "the world is always reset to the zero state at the end of the show so you can see it in any order". Megatron was indeed changed, as were all the characters. They went with the recent CGI fad, which presented a completely different style. Arguably, they had to mix up the characters some because the graphics were so different.

      Personally, I'm learning that some remakes are acceptable. I don't know about Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and any version of A New Hope where Han doesn't shoot first is blasphemy, but the new Battlestar Galactica is clearly its own work inspired by the original. Take it beyond video for a minute, and I enjoy Leaving on a Jet Plane by either Chantel Creviazuk [wikipedia.org] or Me First and the Gimme Gimmes [wikipedia.org], but not John Denver [wikipedia.org] or Peter, Paul and Mary [wikipedia.org]. Additionally, I can't stand Prince [wikipedia.org], but I enjoy Darling Nikki [wikipedia.org] by the Foo Fighters [wikipedia.org].

      And what happened to the robot that replaced Optimus Prime, when he died, I remember this robot was stuck inside a comet or astroid, and he had to be found.

      I think you mean Hot Rod [wikipedia.org]. Wikipedia has a better explanation than I can.

      • Any of the Mainframe shows were really good. They were this awesome studio out of Vancouver that are most notorious (depends who you ask) for Reboot. They did subsequent versions of transformers that I absolutely LOVED. Transformers meets a real writer.

        Seriously man, the Mainframe beauties are to transformers what DS9 is to Star Trek. That really awesome show with great production value, entertaining dialogue, massive story arcs, plot twists and damn fine effects. And both are completely unsung and often i
    • I'm not sure how a post that reads like a parody got modded to +5 Insightful. (At least I hope it's a parody. I've certainly seen parodies that are almost identical.)

      He starts out saying how awesome the original series was, then questions why the recent shows which are clearly set in a different continuity aren't just like the old show, and then "reminisces" about the show by half-remembering a few things and misremembering a few others. And he decries the "90's Armada version", which began in 2002.

      It'
  • Woah. (Score:4, Funny)

    by njfuzzy ( 734116 ) <ian.ian-x@com> on Thursday July 14, 2005 @03:15PM (#13066562) Homepage
    At first glance, I didn't parse "The Rock) will direct; " very well. Man was that a scary moment.
    • Re:Woah. (Score:2, Insightful)

      What, Michael Bay isn't scary enough?

      At least it isn't Paul W.S. Anderson or Uwe Boll.. The other members of the axis of stinkbombs...
  • This will do fine, hopefully.
    I am not a marketing expert, but I imagine a lot of us 23-35 somethings (even the non nerds- the jerks even: the slightly balding 30 year olds who wear their baseball caps backwards and big knee braces and yell a lot while playing a pick up game of basketball-we all know people like that) will see it because we all watched as youngsters (I loved the action figures).
    Seems that the Pokeman/ Power Rangers ages would see it, plus any movie kids will like doubles the receipts becau
  • Live Action? Hmmm... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by cshark ( 673578 ) on Thursday July 14, 2005 @03:25PM (#13066669)
    Define live action.

    Seems to me that there would need to be so much computer animation in it to make it work that it might as well be a cartoon anyway.
  • I am too old, I never watched transformers on TV! I am waiting for captain future [absoluteanime.com] , or captain herlock [vap.co.jp] or even a Grendizer [grendizer.net] movie, true old anime from the end 70s/begin 80s
  • Writers? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by j1ggl3x ( 701715 ) on Thursday July 14, 2005 @03:34PM (#13066768)
    Let's see, according to imdb, here are the billed screenplay writers [imdb.com]:
    John Rogers (screenplay) and
    Roberto Orci (screenplay)
    Tom DeSanto story
    Alex Kurtzman screenplay

    Googling around, it seems like John Rogers will be the head writer. His creidts? Catwoman and The Core.
    (Budget/US Box Office)
    Catwoman [boxofficemojo.com]: $100 million/$40 million
    The Core [boxofficemojo.com]: $60 million/$30 million

    Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman? Episodes of Alias, the Island, MI3, Zorro sequel. I highly doubt the Island will be good, and sequels just for money usually don't have stellar stories, so not looking too great.

    The only possible saving grace in the bunch is Tom DeSanto who is credited for the story in X-Men. Hollywood must seriously be about the connections. I just don't know how anyone would be willing to invest money in the guy who wrote Catwoman or The Core.
  • Credits (Score:3, Funny)

    by mbbac ( 568880 ) on Thursday July 14, 2005 @03:36PM (#13066789)
    OK, so we know Michael Bay has done The Island and The Rock, but what movies has Steven Spielberg done?
  • by xlr8ed ( 726203 ) on Thursday July 14, 2005 @03:46PM (#13066888)
    If there is even one single Autobot with "spinners" on their wheels...I am going to go completely postal....
  • Wa-wa-wa-wa (Score:5, Funny)

    by NaDrew ( 561847 ) <nadrew@gmail.com> on Thursday July 14, 2005 @04:14PM (#13067170) Journal
    As long as they make that sound when they change forms, I'll be happy.
  • by Zobeid ( 314469 ) on Thursday July 14, 2005 @04:19PM (#13067205)
    Isn't it a bit late for April Fool hoaxes?

    I mean seriously. . . Transformers? What's next, a big-budget movie adaptation of HR Pufnstuf?

    Yep, I can bet I'm gonna burn a lot of karma on this one. But I just don't get it. We're talking about a cheesy SatAM cartoon designed as a half-hour long toy advertisement. Right? On top of that, its heyday was 20 years ago.

    • Burn baby burn! (Score:3, Insightful)

      by hellfire ( 86129 )
      Yep, I can bet I'm gonna burn a lot of karma on this one.

      *transforms into an industrial strength flamethrower and proceeds to turn you into a slashdot burger*

      It wasn't just a cheesy SatAM cartoon designed as a half-hour long toy advertisement. It was a Cheesy SatAM cartoon with the greatest action cartoon character of all time, Optimus Prime designed as a half-hour long advertisement for really fuckin' cool toys. You're a slashdotter you can get understand really fuckin' cool toys can't you? :)
  • by bloxnet ( 637785 ) on Thursday July 14, 2005 @07:01PM (#13068557)
    For the love of God, your only hope of success is to make this movie take place in the 80s.
  • by patio11 ( 857072 ) on Thursday July 14, 2005 @07:56PM (#13068879)
    How in movies you can say "This will open two years from now on July 4th" and everyone knows it probably will but with video games if you said the same thing anyone with an ounce of sense would say "Third quarter 2008 at the absolute earliest."?

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