Nelson, admin for MichaelBay.com, has officially revealed the actual Transformers names of the red Ferrari 458 Italia and Mercedes-Benz E550.

Post 1:

Let's welcome the Ferrari 458 Italia to the Transformers family
His name is "Dino."
It's pronounced Dee-No.

Post 2:

And the Mercedes E550 is...
Que. Pronounced "Q."

The second post also had a link to the wikipedia article on the famous "Q" of the James Bond movies. The name of the Ferrari is out of left field and has no correspondence to Transformers that I am aware of. As for the "famous Italian”, Nelson said it is after Enzo Ferrari's son, Alfredo Ferrari for which the 458 was named in the design stage. There was also the Ferrari Dino from 1968-1976.

Ironically, the name of the Mercedes was leaked last July but none of us gave it serious thought that would be the final name mostly due to copyright/trademark problems with the 007 franchise. I guess the change in spelling to "Que" gets around that obstacle. The loud groan you here from California is probably everyone at Botcon as this news spreads. Thanks to NHLfan for the links.

Nelson dropped a minor bomb over at the Shoot for the Edit forums when he posted that the red Ferrari 458 Italia is no longer going to be called "Mirage" in the movie. He wrote, "All I will say is that he speaks with an Italian accent and is named after a famous Italian.”

The name Mirage was first confirmed due to an unintentional leak from Hasbro with an image of the Mirage Speed Stars toy and repeatedly verified in the various novel and comic book adaptations recently released. However, Nelson's response to that is "That doesn't mean shit. In the comic and novels the twins are still in it." His point being that the Twins where cut from the film (to the point of a $25k bounty if see them in it).Read More »

Two images from book removed due to DCMA request from whoever the publisher is. If they had contacted me directly could have learned what else they found questionable but I guess contacting me directly like an adult is beyond their capabilities.

Last week a leak of the comic book adaptation of Transformers: Dark of the Moon revealed major story spoilers from the moon that was significant enough to get Don Murphy to force all sites (including this one) to take them down. The info is significant enough that I don't recommend looking for it. Now this week it seems the childrens' book of "The Lost Autobot" and "Optimus Prime's Friends and Foes" is doing the same thing but not nearly at the same degree as Cth from TFW2005 reports (mirror). Thanks to Feris Othman for the link.

To start with what I don't consider spoilers (the name and alt mode of characters), the images do finally confirm beyond doubt that the alt mode of Wheeljack (aka "Einstein")is the blue Mercedes-Benz E550. A whole lot of hints up to now made it common knowledge but this is the first real piece f official anything that put it all together. This would mean that Wheeljack is the new BFF for Wheelie that Nelson mentioned.

SPOILER WARNING!Read More »

Per the request of Transformers: Dark of the Moon producer Don Murphy, the copyrighted images and spoilers have been removed. Due to the content of the comments, they have been cut off.

Amazon.com has posted a preview of the official comic book adaptation of Transformers: Dark of the Moon scheduled for release on May 25th. If you click the cover or "Search inside this book" you get about the first seven and last seven pages of the trade. A system error revealed more pages than intended leading to major story points being revealed.

I don't consider characters and alt modes to be spoilers. So knowing that, I will reveal that the leaked images did confirm that Soundwave's alt mode is the silver Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG as indicated by the game image. Also Wheeljack is a confirmed Autobot in the movie but I saw only has his name being said. Did not see his robot mode or vehicle mode to confirm if "Einstein", the blue 2011 Mercedes-Benz E550.

It should be noted that adaptations usually work from a final movie script along with designs and storyboards offered by production. However, as Sir Peter Jackson points out, there are three phases to a script - writing it, filming it and editing it. As a result what the comic shows for a scene and what the movie shows may not be the same. Certain elements like the major plot points, characters, etc tend to stay static due to cost but the specific details can easily change (scenes, characters, etc being left on cutting room floor).

If you wish to seek out the spoilers, that is up to you. Be warned the pages did reveal major plot and character developments in the story. If you are even a little bit sensitive about spoilers it is advised to not seek out that information.

Hasbro released a bunch of official images from the Transformers: Dark of the Moon toys. One of them accidently revealed one of the bigger secrets Transfans has been trying to work out. As the images below show, the red Ferrari 458 Italia is named Mirage. It is too early to tell if he sports any homage to the G1 character but the change from blue to red color scheme is clearly not one of them. Now all that is left is the names of the rest of the Decepticons and the Einstein character (my guess is Wheeljack).

There is also an image of "Big Hoss" with Monster Truck alt mode. No idea if this is based on a movie character. If interested in more official Hasbro images of DOTM toys, hit the links - Speed Stars & Stealth Force, Cyberverse & Sets, Wal Mart & TRU Exclusives, and Ultimate Prime. Thanks to Sahara for the links.

Yet more Transformers: Dark of the Moon toys are revealed with some probably new additions to the line, some repaints and possibly a few fakes thrown in for some confusion.

DOTM Legion 3 Pack (1x)
A Yahoo Auction shows of a legion class 3 pack that includes the first use of the name "Rodimus" (aka Hot Rod) in relation to the movie toys. The robot mode suggests a color scheme is designed to invoke his G1 as based on the Universe legends class toy. As a result trying to take a leap that this is confirmation of the red Ferrari's name would be premature. The pack includes Bumblebee and Soundwave with his satellite alt mode. (via TFW2005)

DOTM Silver Bumblebee (2x)
We already knew that deluxe Starscream as a repaint in the works and now it appears that Bumblebee does to. I guess it could be a custom figure but its size does match the smaller deluxe class being used for the DOTM line and the mold cracks don't seem to match the two deluxe class 'Bees that have already been revealed. (via Seibertron)Read More »

The April 2011 issue of Empire Magazine, now hitting newsstands has scored a heck of a coup. As the images from TFW2005's Shockwaved show, they provide a fantastic look at Sentinel Prime and Optimus Prime in their full CGI glory. A summary of the article (which is not available on Empire's website for turn of the century reasons) from TFW2005's knook:

Does and Don'ts for TF3:
1. No sand
2. No "dorky" humor ("we wanted to make the movie much more serious, more adult)
3. When robots die, they're really going to die and we're gonna show that
4. We're not bringing people back
5. Give the robots more 'weight' in the story ("They were missed in movie two. We've given them a strong back-story and pathos")

- Sentinel Prime is "A big brother and mentor to Optimus Prime"
- The Ferrari is a 'Con who (Michael) bay is dubbing as 'Dreadbox' [incorrect info, see below]
- New companions for Starscream, Shockwave and the rest
- "The scale on one of them is jawdropping" - "It will be 'what the Hell was that thing?"
- Apollo 11 'incident' show in the teaser is government secret
- No army for this, Chicago is left up to the 'Bots but some heroes sneak in through the back-door so to speak
- The human gliders are used because they slip under the 'Con radar - as do humans - so they'll be the people who can hammer it to the 'Cons and create an opening for the 'Bots

As pointed out in the comments by cypherXR, the information about "Dreadbox" is incorrect. As Bay posted on his forums back in March before production started saying "I also was at a Ferrari charity event this week raising money for a hospital being built by Ferrari in Haiti. I announced that night the newest Autobot to join Transformers: the Ferrari 458 Italia."

I have not read the article but it appears its the usual job where a reporter got hold of pictures but no interviews or additional information. Since just posting the pictures for a front page story isn't enough, they compiled the article from other online sources from the previous months of set leaks which we all know can lead to incorrect information. I guess they didn't check out my cheat sheet to verify what has and has not been officially confirmed. Thanks to Sahara, Chris, Katie, Ryan, Kris and others for the link.


Corrections made in regards to "Dreadbox" and relating it to the Ferrari.

Nelson, the admin of MB.com and general inside man on all things Michael Bay has posted a new update on the forums that says the Twins are not in Transformers: Dark of the Moon. I am guessing the post is a response to an IO9 article that inexplicably brought them up when posting about the Daytona 500 TV spot. Nelson wrote:

Just a little update:

1.- Michael is NOT directing a movie starring Taylor Lautner. It's a project Platinum Dunes might produce.

2.- And for the final time the Twins are not in this movie period - end of story.

PS. I will have the DOTM 1080p Daytona ad tomorrow night.

Read More »

In a little break from all the Transformers: Dark of the Moon pictures how about more pictures of the various Autobot vehicles including the Ferrari, Bumblebee, Sideswipe, and few others. The full gallery can be found here. Thanks to lordberti for the link.

As a run-up to tonight's debut of the teaser trailer for Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Collider has posted an interview with director Michael Bay. The site previewed the trailer and a "huge chunk of footage" but sadly they did not reveal any major story points in the articles. The overall impression of the chunk was very positive and that is without the visual effects (anima tics used as placeholders). Empire also was there but Collider's article is much more detailed.

Below is a video from Collider as "Frosty" and AICN "Mr. Beaks" kind of expresses everything they saw during the three hour visit with Bay while the experience was still fresh on their minds. The article is so click here with a few highlights below. Thanks to Ray and Kris for the links.Read More »