Transformer Movie???

[pumba]

Michael Bay Says No to Transformers 2
Source: Michael Bay
August 21, 2007


Transformers director Michael Bay has responded to Paramount/DreamWorks' decision to become exclusive to HD DVD instead of releasing movies on both Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD:

Bay said: "I want people to see my movies in the best formats possible. For them to deny people who have Blu-ray sucks! They were progressive by having two formats. No Transformers 2 for me!"

Will this change Paramount/DreamWorks' mind about at least releasing Transformers also on Blu-ray Disc? We're not sure, but we have a feeling Mr. Bay isn't the only unhappy one. Yesterday's press release itself concluded with a note that read, "Today's announcement does not include films directed by Steven Spielberg as his films are not exclusive to either format."

[Kal]

What a fucking douchebag... but I agree with him.

When is the fucking industry going to learn with this shit... cant we just get along? The only problem they create with these format wars is for the people who spend their money in products and they dont want to deal with this shit.

We saw it before with VHS and BETA... then Windows Media and Fairplay... DRM and all these fucking limitations are stupid, especially for an industry that has been struggling to fight piracy and get their sales numbers up. They need to make the products available and easy for everyone.

[Stefen]

What a fucking douchebag... but I agree with him.

lol.

When did Kal become the funniest poster on the site? Dudes been killing me lately.

[MacGuffin]

Bay Retracts No Transformers 2 Statement
Source: ComingSoon

Early Tuesday morning, Michael Bay posted on his official website that Paramount/DreamWorks' decision to exclusively support HD DVD and not Blu-ray meant he would not be coming back for Transformers 2. Now, he's taking it all back. Here's his new post:

Last night at dinner I was having dinner with three Blu-Ray owners, they were pissed about no Transformers Blu-Ray and I drank the kool aid hook line and sinker. So at 1:30 in the morning I posted - nothing good ever comes out of early am posts mind you - I over reacted. I heard where Paramount is coming from and the future of HD and players that will be close to the $200 mark which is the magic number. I like what I heard.

As a director, I'm all about people seeing films in the best quality possible, and I saw and heard firsthand people upset about a corporate decision.

So today I saw 300 on HD-DVD, it rocks!

So I think I might be back on to do Transformers 2!

Michael Bay

[Kal]

I just imagined Ari Gold calling Bay and telling him to fucking change his statement before they burn down his house.

[Pubrick]

Last night at dinner I was having dinner

no shit, idiot.

i can see him giving directions to his cast:
"this is the end of the movie so this is where it ends."
"you just got hurt real bad so now you're in pain."
"you wanna touch her boobies cos you're young and virile. hey so am i, check out my chest hair."

still, he's no ratner.

[Stefen]

Last night at dinner I was having dinner

no shit, idiot.

i can see him giving directions to his cast:
"this is the end of the movie so this is where it ends."
"you just got hurt real bad so now you're in pain."
"you wanna touch her boobies cos you're young and virile. hey so am i, check out my chest hair."

still, he's no ratner.

LOL. His chest hair game is something else, but you know they gave him tons of cash to switch sides.

[davidchili]

did Bay really consider Blu-ray that much of a better format to show off his slow-mo shots than HD Dvd?

[picolas]

he didn't say it was a better format. he just didn't want to deny one of the hd players the movie.

[davidchili]

he didn't say it was a better format. he just didn't want to deny one of the hd players the movie.

ok, i got it.
so, by taking up both format he ultimately get a wider dvd release ,which equals more mony in return, perfect sense...

[Stefen]

I hate filmmakers like Bay who make movies to make money instead of making money to make movies.

[MacGuffin]

Don Murphy Comments on Transformers 2
Source: ComingSoon

Transformers producer Don Murphy has explained on his message board why we haven't heard any official Transformers 2 news:

For those of you most anxious about TRANSFORMERS 2, the silence you hear is primarily because people are fretting about a presumed strike in June 2008. Will it happen? I don't know- does the public care about strikes anymore in this day and age? What do rich people have to strike about anyway? I don't have any side here (you hear about the writers and the Producers but that actually means the STUDIOS) I just think stopping work is kind of pointless. But since no one wants to be filming IF a strike happens, everything needs to be done filming by the end of May 2008. So this is affecting the lack of news about Transformers 2 at least for now. Stay tuned.

[Ravi]

Paid 50 cents to see this today.  That's about what its worth.  I agree that the first part of the film was interesting, and Shia was pretty good.  But geez, the damn ebonics-talking robot!  After a while this just became a jumble of noise and flashing images.  I couldn't tell one hunk of metal from another hunk of metal.  The CGI work is excellent, but I wasn't invested in the story.

[MacGuffin]

Bay says 'Transformers' DVD could have been better
By Mike Snider, USA TODAY

Most directors diplomatically go to bat for DVDs of their films. Filmmaker Michael Bay (Armageddon, Bad Boys, The Rock) is just as likely to drop verbal bombs while talking about his DVDs as when he is directing.

Bay's take on the new Transformers DVD, which has sold 8.3 million copies since its release last week: "It's a good DVD. But not as good as it could have been," he says. That sales total made Transformers the year's fastest-selling DVD in North America, according to Paramount Home Entertainment.

Despite setting a record, Bay, 42, says a hectic studio schedule prevented him from being as personally involved in the DVD as he was back in the days of Pearl Harbor. His 2002 four-disc director's cut of that film set the standard for buffed-up special editions.

"I was traveling promoting (Transformers) while they were doing the DVD," he says. "You try to guide people as to what to do (in making it), but ultimately if you rush your date, you are not going to get the DVD as good as it could be. ... Studios want to pump this stuff out, and my job is to care about it and try to put the right people on it. They just see it as a show they are selling, and I see it as a movie. That's how your movie lives on, in the DVD format."

An aspect of the DVD that Bay says he personally fought for was having the film be on a disc by itself, with just a commentary. He won that battle in the $20 single-disc version that hit shelves last week along with a deluxe, two-disc $40 version.

The two-disc set has many bonus features:

•Producer Steven Spielberg talks about wooing Bay to direct. "Michael Bay was born to direct Transformers," he says on the DVD. "He was the perfect fit for this concept."

Early on, Spielberg knew that he had made a good choice. "Michael staged huge, logistically complicated scenes of massive destruction and explosions, and even when I was watching those dailies without the actual Transformers there, it was just eye candy," he says.

•Also covered in the filmmaking extras are Bay's dealings with the military, toy company Hasbro and General Motors, which supplied many of the vehicles. An Easter egg on the DVD is a "Bay Bot," a Transformer robot with Bay's face. "(Hasbro) made that for me, but I didn't know it was going to be on the DVD," Bay says.

•An anatomy of a scene details how Bay and the crew created the desert attack by the scorpion-like Skorponok. Filming that scene early on convinced Bay that the Transformers movie could work. "As soon as I saw how violent and vicious it was and we added a rough visual effect to it, I said, 'Oh my, I get it,' " he says.

Transformers is the first major film to arrive on HD DVD ($40) since partners Paramount and DreamWorks joined that side of the high-definition video disc format war. Universal also makes its films available exclusively on HD DVD. Sony, Disney and Fox support rival Blu-ray Disc, while Warner releases on both formats.

Bay caused a brouhaha on his blog (michaelbay.com) by voicing his displeasure that Transformers would not be available on Blu-ray and that he was rethinking his plan to direct a sequel. The next day he backpedaled, but he is still upset about the format war.

"It's short-sighted and it has delayed consumers' moving to HD (home video)," he says. "As a director, my critical eye is that Blu-ray is where my money is. Consumers are smart, and they are going to wait it out."

The HD DVD version also set a new mark. Its 190,000 copies sold is the best debut of any high-def disc.

Bay expects the cast to return for Transformers 2, which is targeted for June 25, 2009. The first film's take recently surpassed $700 million worldwide, and it has reached No. 18 on the all-time U.S. box office chart and No. 28 internationally.

"It just caught on in our culture, and I am excited to do the second one," he says. "There are so many different and innovative ways you could have fun with this movie."

[modage]

i love Michael Bay.