Transformer Movie???

[Gloria]

I heard there is going to be a live-action Transformer movie.  The same people behind X-men and LXG are joining forces to create it.  Is there any truth to this?

[MacGuffin]

Transformers Live-Action Announced

Here's the official release on the live-action announcement:

"The Transformers" -- the ever-morphing Hasbro toy line introduced in the mid-1980s that has gone on to spawn comic books, multiple television series and an animated feature -- are being prepped to change shape again, this time into stars of the big screen. Angry Films topper Don Murphy (whose next film is "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen") and writer-producer Tom DeSanto ("X-Men" and "X2: X-Men United") have teamed to produce a feature-length, live-action movie based on the popular brand. The duo are expected to shop the project to studios shortly, and DeSanto said they have already received interest from a handful of directors hoping to get involved in the project. DeSanto is currently working on a story treatment for the project before he and Murphy hire a screenwriter to adapt it for the big screen.

Tom DeSanto Talks The Transformers Adaptation
Source: Sci Fi Wire

X2 producer Tom DeSanto spoke to Sci Fi Wire about the proposed live-action adaptation of The Transformers, which he says will make use of both computer and practical effects for the signature machines and will mostly be based on the original 1980s lineup.

"We're working on the storyline for Transformers, and we're hopefully going to set that up," DeSanto said in an interview at Comic-Con International over the weekend. "We're going to start going out to studios."

DeSanto also said that he and producing partner Don Murphy are close to hiring a director. "We've been talking with several now," he said. "But we have a big guy next week." He declined to comment on a report on IGN FilmForce that quoted Murphy saying that the candidates include Michael Bay, Robert Zemeckis and Joseph Kahn.

Tom DeSanto on the Live-Action Transformers Feature
Source: Ain't-It-Cool-News

Ain't-It-Cool-News reports that producer Tom DeSanto said to Dreamwatch magazine that he's going to do for Transformers what they did for X-Men...

"There's no better mythology to bring to the big screen than Transformers. Transformers has got great characters and created an iconic world, and the mythology still resonates with people 20 years after it was launched. Even though they're robots the characters have a lot of personality and a lot of heart and people still care about them. That's a great thing."

"The plan with the movie is that it will combine live action with CGI. I think it's going to be something the audience has never seen before. In all the years of movie-making, I don't think the image of a truck transforming into a 20-foot tall robot has ever been captured on screen. I also want to make a film that's a homage to 1980s movies and gets back to the sense of wonder that Hollywood has lost over the years. It will have those Spielberg-ian moments where you have the push-in on the wide-eyed kid and you feel like you're 10 years old even if you're 35. That's the energy I want to go for."

[Gloria]

Thanks, MacGuffin.  Seriously, you find the most information on any movie.  You must be a Google god.  

[Find Your Magali]

Maybe they can sign up Mark Wahlberg to do a rendition of "The Touch" for the soundtrack.  

[MacGuffin]

Murphy Talks Transformers
An update on the live-action feature.

In a posting yesterday on the message board of his official site, producer Don Murphy gave fans a brief update on the status of the live-action Transformers movie. "The Transformers film that I am doing with Tom DeSanto is still on target," wrote Murphy. "Three studios are discussing a deal as we speak. We hope to conclude a deal within the next month."

The producer promises Transformers fans that the filmmakers "are going to get this film right, and follow the classic mythology of the show and the comics."

Murphy adds that "everything you post on the board is read and discussed by us. That is why it is here. We do not always have time to reply – but your voice is listened to!"

So if you care to let Don Murphy and company know what you think about The Transformers, post a message at his site.

[MacGuffin]

Scribes Toy with 'Transformers'

Scribes Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci have been tapped to write the DreamWorks/Paramount live-action adaptation of "The Transformers."

Steven Spielberg is executive producing the film, which is based on the 1980s Hasbro toy line of robot action figures that double as vehicles.

The first generation of Transformers revolved around two groups of robots, one led by Optimus Prime, who believes in tolerance and the sanctity of life, and the other by Megatron, who espouses survival of the fittest and the extermination of biological life.

Tom DeSanto wrote the screen story that will serve as the basis for the script.

Kurtzman and Orci have a two-year, first-look deal to write, direct and produce films for DreamWorks, where they rewrote "The Island" They also rewrote "The Legend of Zorro" and recently finished working on "Mission: Impossible 3."

Before their feature careers hit high gear, Kurtzman and Orci were best known for their work as writer/exec producers of ABC's "Alias."

[Myxo]

Quit fucking with my childhood!

[Pwaybloe]

Who do you think their target market is?

[MacGuffin]

'Transformers' on Bay's radar
Source: Hollywood Reporter

Michael Bay is in talks to direct the DreamWorks/Paramount live-action adaptation of "The Transformers," Hasbro's popular 1980s toy line of giant robots that morph into cars, trucks, planes, ships and other technological creations.

The move would reteam the director with DreamWorks, which is handling domestic distribution on the movie. Bay is helming DreamWorks' upcoming summer release "The Island," a co-production with Warner Bros. Pictures.
 
Bay also would reteam with writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, who -- under their two-year, first-look deal with DreamWorks -- rewrote "Island" and wrote "Transformers."

The Transformers are divided into two groups of robots, one led by Optimus Prime, which believes in tolerance and the sanctity of life, the other by Megatron, which espouses survival of the fittest and the extermination of biological life.

Angry Films topper Don Murphy and Tom DeSanto, who wrote the screen story, are producing the feature along with Lorenzo di Bonaventura. Steven Spielberg will executive produce.

John Rogers wrote the initial draft.

Marc Haimes and John Fox are overseeing for DreamWorks.

A Nov. 17, 2006, release date has been set.

[Tryskadekafobia]

Oh, well.  Deleting yet another pop-culture facet from my childhood memory.

[jtm]

Who do you think their target market is?

that's a good question.  i used to love tranformers when i was a kid and i could care less about this movie.. and i don't think kids these days are even aware of them.

[deathnotronic]

They need to make a really really sweet Thunderbirds Are Go! movie.

[cine]

Who do you think their target market is?

robots [in disguise]

[B.C. Long]

They should get the FX crew who did this....

http://www.theembassyvfx.com/citroen.html

[MacGuffin]

Transformers Robots Revealed!
Some fan faves will be featured in the film!
 
For those have been following IGN FilmForce in the past year, we've been keeping you abreast regularly on the development of a live action Transformers film. Steven Spielberg and Michael Bay are serving as producers, and it's also been rumored that Bay will direct.

Today FilmForce was on hand for a press day to promote Michael Bay's latest, The Island, which opens on July 22nd. Bay was non-committal when asked again today if he would be directing, but we managed to land some big news from Transformers' writers Alex Kurtzman and Bob Orci. Up until now, it's been up in the air which characters would be featured in the film. As Kurtzman and Orci near a completed draft of the film, today they revealed to FilmForce a short list of characters to be included in the film!

"Right now, we're thinking there will be five Autobots and five Decepticons," says Kurtzman. "But you know the ones everybody knows like Optimus Prime and Megatron and Starscream and Soundwave and Bumblebee. R.C. is gonna be in it."

Although the writing duo hasn't yet finished the script, they have figured out the characters and are now fleshing out the story. "We're in the middle of writing it. There's nothing that came before it, it's a movie that's based on a toy line, so the trick with that movie was again figuring out, 'Okay, what's the character story here, because the action scenes are a given, so what is this story really going to be about?' We spent some time with Steven Spielberg talking about that, and Michael (Bay) may direct it, which would be, I think, perfect in a lot of ways."

It's unclear as of yet how much of the film will be practical vs. CG. Kurtzman comments: "At this point we're not sure, but I think there will be a lot of CGI." Both Kurtzman and Orci said that, for now, that won't play an effect on their script.

"That's where Michael comes in," says Kurtzman. "People like Michael, when you have a director of that magnitude, come in really handy. Sometimes when you're spending all of your time sort of going, 'Okay, what's the logic behind a giant robot? How do you make that work?' Michael will say, 'Guys it's this, this is the vision I have of it.' He sees things on a different kind of a scope, so he helps get you out of your head and kind of remember, it's all about what's on screen. Sometimes you can really get through it just by having an amazing visual."

The fan expectations also play a part for the writers as they shape the story. "It is hovering for me," says Orci. "We're trying to come up with the story that you would come up with if there was no pressure, and then sort of go, 'Okay, we have to be vigilant of fans and what is good about the source material and what is truly necessary.'"

There's a chance that some of the voice cast from the original show could return for the movie, but nothing is set so far. "Not at this point," says Kurtzman. "There's been a lot of discussion about that and I'm sure, obviously that will come up when we make the movie, but at this point, in a way, we're sort of trying to tune out all of that stuff… We have all those voices in our head just because we've done so much research on Transformers, but as a screenwriter, you metabolize so much of what the fans love about the franchise, because we're fans too. You have to divorce yourself from that and say, 'What's the movie that we're making?'"

When asked whether the voice cast could include Hollywood A-listers, Kurtzman says he's not sure. "I don't know that I think it does [need to have them], but I also can see a version that does have big name stars [for] the voices."

Both writers were fans of the shows and the toys. "[We've got] All the comics and we've got an office full of toys," says Kurtzman.

Orci laughs, "Who knew all that time as a kid, we weren't wasting [our time]. [In a motherly voice]: 'Stop watching all those cartoons!' (Laughs) I didn't have the toys, but we used to watch the stuff. I remember seeing it after school."