Transformers Producer Di Bonaventura Effects Update

Rotton Tomatoes has provided a brief update on the effects for Transformers from producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura. Right now everything is apparently on schedule and budget but plenty of work to do. I am thinking they will be working right up to deadline.

From the site:

"Transformers" Effects Progressing but Not Done
Posted by Scott Weinberg on Monday, Mar. 05, 2007, 12:34 AM

Ftopel writes: "As the release of the live action "Transformers" movie approaches, some web sites have been strategically shown footage. While reports have improved some skeptical notions, the work is not complete, says producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura.

"We were very proud of what we've seen so far of the movie and we thought it was time to show some people so the hardcore fan base could relax a little bit," he said. "They're not relaxing a lot but they've relaxed a little bit since we've put it out. It's a lot of fun. It's very true to these characters."

The filmmakers know it is a double edged sword of having a massive built-in audience, but a large number of equally difficult critics to please. "When anybody's passionate about something, you have a certain responsibility to try to deliver what drove their passion. What is great on "Transformers" is that people have made a lot of assumptions about what they're going to look like and they're all wrong because we haven't even seen 'em, so I don't know what they think they've seen. There isn't a single visual effects shot that's finished in the movie yet. So what's great is that it's going to keep getting better and better."

With the film on the books for this summer, there's still plenty of time to finish up. "This was planned. We're right on schedule. So far everything has moved really sensationally. We finished on time, on budget and our visual effects are coming in on schedule. They're just really complicated so they take a long time. We've seen the process so we've seen the evolution of a lot of the shots."

(source)

Transformers' Zack Ward Interview

SciFi.com has posted up an interview with Zack Ward, who plays Donnelly, one of the special-forces rangers in the movie. I think he is part of the opening desert sequence involving Scorponok.

The brief interview:

Transformers' Ward Channels Paxton

Zack Ward, who co-stars in Michael Bay's upcoming Transformers movie, told SCI FI Wire that he plays a character resembling Bill Paxton's cowardly soldier from Aliens in the film, an action epic based on the 1980s toy, TV and comics franchise. "It's a $200 million movie, man," Ward said in an interview. "It was insane."

Ward plays Donnelly, one of a group of special-forces rangers who encounter the title characters, alien machines who arrive on Earth to continue their galactic conflict.

"We're inside Iraq, coming back from a recon mission behind enemy lines, landing in the Blackhawk helicopter," Ward said. "I basically play the Bill Paxton character from [James Cameron's 1986 sequel] Aliens, but my character is a Boston smart-mouth, not a California surfer-dude smart-mouth."

Transformers will follow five separate storylines, which will all converge with a final battle between the Autobots and Decepticons, starting at Hoover Dam and ending in an American city that looks a lot like Los Angeles.

"It was an amazing film to work on," Ward said. "A lot of the robots and Transformers are actually half robot and half CGI, so there's a great integration between real and computer-generated things. It really creates a different platform for the audience." Transformers opens July 4. —Ian Spelling

(source)

Bernie Mac on his Transformers Role

In an interview with Coming Soon, Bernie Mac briefly discusses his car salesman role in Transformers. In the film, he is the car salesman that sells Sam Witwicky the '70s Camaro that turns out to be Bumblebee near the beginning of the film.

From the interview:

"I play a used car salesman," said Mac. "And all used car salesmen are full of sh*t – scuse my French – but they're con men. And they came to my set and I sold them the Transformer; I didn't know it was the Transformer, I thought it was a piece of junk. And the first thing you do as a salesman, a car salesman – I didn't know this, I did some investigating myself – they always sell you the 'bs' cars first. It's almost like a restaurant – get rid of the food, rotate it. When they come, I didn't know what the car exists of, and I just threw them a line; I'm a fast talker, quick whit guy."

(source)

Another Sector Seven Update

Sector 7 has added another Optimus Prime sound file to the site. The sound file is a cleaned up version from the previous "emails" as its a reply from Dr. Howard claiming that Optimus (NBE 2) wants to help. In the clip Optimus (Peter Cullen) says "This is Optimus Prime. device to help stop the Decepticons who are determined to destroy the Earth...wants to enslave the human race. Megatron must be stopped, no matter the cost."

To reach the file, go to Sector 7 > enter as the password "thefirst7" > click the scorpion icon > choose the most recent email. Based on some comments read on various message boards, you might get "Warning. Login Failed...Retinal Scan Required." The password is still valid as some people are able to get in so it seems the error is more of a result of the site getting slammed rather then the password being inaccurate so keep trying. Thanks to Joe P.for providing the above information.

Transformers The Game Screenshot

IGN has posted a screenshot from Transformers The Game which is based on the upcoming live action movie. No indication is made if the screenshot is for the XBox 360 or PS3. Nor does it indicate if the shot is actual game play or part of a rendered cut-scene. If had to hazard a guess, I am thinking its not actual game play but hopefully I am wrong as the screenshot looks pretty sweet in the detail.

(source)

High Resolution Pics of Various TF Movie Toys

TFW2005.com has posted hi-res pics of Leader class Optimus Prime, Ultimate Bumblebee, Optimus Voice Changer Helmet and Optimus Blaster. The pics are below or here and here. There is a great deal of detail for the toys and they look pretty slick especially Optimus. However, if previous experience is any hint, the final toys will not have quite the same extent of shadowing and paint that gives the toys that polish that the pics themselves have.

Sector Seven Site Update

Sector 7 website has had another update. Log in with password thefirst 7 and click the scorpion icon.

The update has added two new emails dated Feb. 25, 2007. The emails have a subject called the Megaman Digital Sound Files. The first email from "Dr. Rebecca Howard" covers a message from Optimus Prime with portions of it translated to English from what assumes is the movie's version of the Cybertronian language. "Megaman" while a reference to the Capcom game, also seems to be the name assigned to Megatron. "N.B.E. Two" is the label for Optimus.

In the first sample you can here Peter Cullen say "destroy the Earth" and "Megatron". The second sample has what sounds like a few english words including "Autobot City" and "their in" and ends with "...no matter the cost." The last is a reference to a line from the animated movie before the death of Optimus Prime, "Megatron must be stopped, no matter the cost."

The phrase Autobot City seems to be spoken by a different voice. Deeper in voice, its a toss up on who but for some reason "Ironhide" popped into my head, not sure why. The second email is a reply that orders to stop attempting the communicate with NBE 2. No idea what NBE stands for. Any ideas?

Thanks to Daniel S. for the heads-up.