Transformers: Dark of the Moon continues to steamroll the competition worldwide. With the weekend close, day 12 of release, the film has a domestic total of $261 million and international total of $348 million for a worldwide total of $645 million. These stats put Transformers 3 as the highest grossing film in the US of the year. It has a ways to go to pass Pirates 4 international total of $778.9M. Deadline notes that thanks to these numbers, Michael Bay once again will make between $80M to $100M off the third film. With these kinds of numbers, you can see why Bay ultimately chooses to ignore the critics and focus on the numbers.
DOTM earned $47 million in the US box office for a 52% (as expected) compared to last weekend but less than ROTF's 61%. TF3's US sales also continues to lag behind TF2's totals at $261M to $293.4M but the low drop in box office indicates it may be able to make up the difference over time. This will be the last time Transformers 3 is number 1 at the box office as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 takes the spotlight next weekend. Regardless, it is international sales and ability to withstand the Harry Potter onslaught that will determine if this film can break the $1 billion threshold.
I didn't even want to waste my time writing this or your time reading it but sadly ShowbizSpy's link bait article claiming Jason Statham (The Transporter, The Expendables) is up for a role in Transformers 4 has popped up on at least 4 websites that I am aware of. It is complete nonsense that isn't even worth repeating. A Hollywood insider told the site, "It’s clear the franchise still has huge potential but with a new leading man capable of taking Transformers in a new, darker direction. Jason could be just the man to do that and his relationship with Rosie would be an added bonus in marketing the movie."
Translation: A bunch of guys were standing at some studio office talking about how hot Rosie Huntington-Whiteley looked in DOTM, which likely led to them talking about how her boyfriend Jason Statham would be perfect for a role in the next movie but he only likes dark stories with flawed "heroes". Someone heard this and called the website who thought "hey this will get a lot of hits!" and thus a BS story like this is born.
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Industrial Light & Magic and Hasbro each paid for ads in the Hollywood Reporter to Michael Bay for Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Below are the ads as posted on MB.com.
An amusing video from College Humor that provides the Michael Bay formula to successful box office films.
GQ.com has posted a long but very interesting article that is a combines interviews with many people that Michael Bay has worked with over the years to give you a profile on the very successful career of the world famous director on the eve of the release of Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Through quotes from friends, family and Hollywood stars and peers, it goes from childhood, to his big break with Bad Boys, and his other films to Transformers 3. The title is the article is right on the nose - "Blow-Up: An Oral History of Michael Bay, the Most Explosive Director of All Time." The people that pipe in include his mother, teachers, fellow directors like James Cameron, Ben Affleck, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. Of course Michael Bay also is involved as are many of the Hollywood actors he worked with over the years including Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, and Shia LaBeouf. This is also the article that revealed why Megan Fox got fired. Below are a few quotes but really worth reading the whole article by clicking here. Read More »
Movies Online has posted a short but interesting interview with Michael Bay when he was in Moscow. He revealed that 532 cars were destroyed for Transformers: Dark of the Moon, all donated and how 3D tech had to be modified to match what he wanted for the movie. The full article is here.
So do new technologies make your work harder, or more difficult?Read More »
It actually, new technologies make it harder, because you keep trying to push the boundaries. Jim Cameron called me up and he asked me, he said, “So making the third one, was it easier, or, or harder?” And I knew he was asking that because of “Avatar II”. And I said, “Jim, it’s definitely harder because you keep trying to push yourself farther.”
An article from USA Today talks with Michael Bay about what he hopes Transformers: Dark of the Moon does with 3D and the strong criticism his films received. Full article here, main highlights below.
"I don't know why people like to take so many shots," Bay says at a park bench on the Paramount Pictures lot, where he had just wrapped Transformers: Dark of the Moon. "I think the media does that with anyone who has success. I make movies that audiences like, that I'd want to see. That's all. It helps take off some of the pressure."Read More »
Michael Bay has posted on the Shoot for the Edit forums a thank you letter to the fans. Thanks to Feris for the heads up.
Thank You
I just want to take the opportunity to thank all the fans around the world for letting me have fun with the Transformers franchise. It has been a wonderful opportunity to have worked with about 4000 crew members around the world. These artists are some of the very best in the entire film business. I’m honored to have had you work along side me. We had an amazing time.
‘Dark of the Moon’ has some of the most technically challenging sequences ever shot. And shot in 3D. I must urge you to find the very best theatre and see this movie in that format. 3D was a forethought, not an afterthought in this movie. I’m glad Jim Cameron and Steven Spielberg really convinced me to shoot in this new technology. We used and invented many new techniques to make the 3D sharper, brighter and more color contrast. I think theatre owners heard their audience that they need to respect the specs of the projectors and not dim the bulbs to save money.
Many theaters are presenting it in the brand new 7.1 sound, which is awesome. This is the most complex, intricate sound track that me and my Academy Awarding winning sound team have done. They really out did themselves to make this a big picture experience. Hopefully you will have as much fun watching this movie as we all had making it.
Thanks,
Michael Bay
Michael Bay once again demonstrates just how serious he is about wanting the best 3D experience for audiences with a letter that was sent out to projectionists. The letter asks them to crank up the brightness of the movie as instructed. I guess this is just in case the theater bosses decided to ignore his plea to do the same.
In a profile piece on Shia LaBeouf from Hero Complex, Shia LaBeouf provided a story from the set of Transformers: Dark of the Moon that led to Michael Bay posting a comment on it in the Shoot for the Edit forums. The story took place at Kennedy Space Center last October. Apparently the two were arguing over what song to play to help Shia get in the right emotional frame of mind for a scene. Shia wanted Feist’s “Brandy Alexander" while Bay wanted a track from The Dark Knight score. Read More »
New York Times has posted an article that discusses Shockwave and the scenes that were filmed in Chicago last summer with Transformers: Dark of the Moon director Michael Bay and Visual Effects Supervisor Scott Farrar. Among the highlights I found interesting is the middle base jumpers in the scenes we have seen is computer generated "since he has to land on Shockwave's shoulder." At the time I figured that scene would be 3D post-converted but it turns out the camera man that trailed the base jumpers had a small 3-D camera on his head.
Some filming occurred at 35 East Wacker Drive, specifically the Jeweler's Building which is described as playing "a significant role in the last part" of the film. The articles mentioned that in its first few years of existence (circa 1881) it had car sized elevators at street level for security reasons. After all leaving your car then made you more vulnerable. The article just drops in this historical anecdote for some reason so figure it might become useful once see the film. Read More »
Thanks to @thesamnickelson, below is video that was filmed during a closed set in Chicago last summer. This apparently took place off of the main public filming locations as I know I never heard anything about it. The scene shows Michael Bay giving directions to Rosie Huntington-Whiteley as she stands on top of a blue object. Typically those blue objects get replaced with Transformer parts in post-production but are necessary for when the actors are physically "touching" a pure CGI creation like a robot Transformer, in this case Megatron. As the recent TV spot hints at, Carly and Megatron have a conversation in a scene that Sam describes as when "Carly persuades Megatron to rise and fight again." At the end, when someone suddenly starts waving their hand for no apparent reason? That is them wanting Sam to get out of the scene.
Australia's News.com is reporting that Transformers franchise Executive Producer Steven Spielberg is the one that fired Megan Fox, not director Michael Bay. The reason why was because her comment back in September 2009 in Wonderland Magazine that Bay "wants to be like Hitler on his sets, and he is." Below is a major portion of article.
The comparison angered Spielberg, who is executive producer of the Transformers series and deadly serious when it comes to Nazis. Bay revealed for the first time he was told to get rid of Fox.Read More »
"You know the Hitler thing. Steven (Spielberg) said, fire her right now," he said ahead of the premiere of Transformers 3. The comment drew the ire of the film's crew, who compared her acting to that of a porn star.
Last Saturday, Steven Spielberg and Michael Bay were inducted in the 2nd Annual Transformers Hall of Fame ceremony at Botcon 2011. Below are the two videos that was shown with various producers and actors of the Transformers movie franchise commented on their impact on the TF universe. Thanks to Feris Othman for the link.
The Hollywood Reporter has posted the full 16 minute video of the "3D: A Transforming Visual Art A Conversation with Michael Bay and James Cameron" that Paramount sponsored last week to promote Transformers: Dark of the Moon's 3D trailer. The polish indicates this will be a future special feature for the Blu-ray/DVD release.
Paramount Pictures UK has posted a brief video of some footage from "3D A Transforming Visual Art Conversation with Michael Bay and James Cameron" that was held Wednesday for the press as a promotional tool for the Transformers: Dark of the Moon 3D trailer that was released today. (via Tyrese, thanks to Brad for the link).
Update: Previous video kept freezing at 2:31 point. Replaced with video provided by MichaelBay.com. Thanks to Feris Othman for the vid.
In a run-up to the release of the 3D version of the Transformers: Dark of the Moon trailer on Friday May 20th with Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, a press event called "3D A Transforming Visual Art Conversation with Michael Bay and James Cameron" was held for local LA press by The Hollywood Reporter and Paramount Wednesday night. During the "art conversation", Cameron (huge proponent of 3D) and Bay (forced to embrace 3D by Paramount) discussed 3D before showing the first five minutes from the movie, clips and the 3D trailer. Side note, the 3D trailer is expected to just be an extended version of the recently released 2D trailer. The two talked about the good and the bad of working with 3D. Below is a video from Collider as discuss what they saw and after that is links to various other articles about the event along with choice segments.
Hasbro has issued a press release (below) that announces that the two new human additions to the Transformers Hall of Fame are Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg. The 2nd annual ceremony will be held at Botcon on June 4th and will be attended by Michael Bay. Should be fun for attendees as Bay has been very friendly to fans, especially when compared to most other directors and stars. On the Transformer side Ratchet, Ironhide and Soundwave will be inducted. A fourth Transformer will be inducted based on voting from "Fan's Choice" (no idea when/where this was done) but the choices were Grimlock, Shockwave, Erector, Waspinator and Jazz.
HASBRO TO HONOR MICHAEL BAY AND STEVEN SPIELBERG WITH INDUCTION INTO THE TRANSFORMERS HALL OF FAMERead More »
Bay to attend ceremony at TRANSFORMERS “BOTCON” Fan Convention in Pasadena, California, on June 4
Pawtucket, R.I. (MAY 18, 2011) — Earlier today on its official TRANSFORMERS Facebook page, Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS) announced the induction of film industry legends Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg—the director and executive producer of the blockbuster TRANSFORMERS film franchise—into its TRANSFORMERS Hall of Fame. The second annual TRANSFORMERS Hall of Fame ceremony, which celebrates more than 25 years of “MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE” action, will take place during the 2011 TRANSFORMERS “BOTCON” fan convention in Pasadena, California, and will feature TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOONdirector Michael Bay in person to accept his honor and share some special surprises with the audience.
For reasons I don't really understand, it seems the suggestion that the Twins return for Transformers: Dark of the Moon in yesterday's movie review from Capone has kicked off a minor fire storm. Bay and co. have repeatedly said they are not in the movie. They were filmed for the movie but later cut from it. The one question the naysayers have not answered is how Michael Bay benefits by lying about this as I do not see the benefit. In the past Bay has lied but in general it has been an attempt to keep major plot points hidden. I don't entirely agree with the tactic but understand the motivation. In this case though there is no value to keep their appearance a secret. Those who read the spoilers (and probably regret it) know there are much bigger secrets to keep for the film. Since yesterday Capone (who has actually seen the film, important to know when the trolls come marching in) has clarified his review and Bay literally put money where his mouth is with a bounty.
From Capone:
Hey, everyone. Just to be 100 percent clear, I'm not referring about the "The Twins" here; they are most definitely not in this film. I'm talking about Wheelie (Tom Kenny, who also voiced Skids in REVENGE OF THE FALLEN) and other similar smaller robots, who act like streetwise teenagers.From Michael Bay:
After the internet posting of a nice review by someone who saw Transformers Dark of the Moon, the writer had not been clear on one thing. He misstated that the Twins are in the film. They are not.Shortly after he wrote:
So I am offering a $25,000 REWARD to anyone who can find them performing in Transformers 3, on July 1, when the movie opens.
Michael
The Twins are not in the movie. You will not find them anywhere. Trailer houses sometimes use shots that are not in the movie! End story I'm don't wasting my time this!I hope this will put the "controversy" to rest but somehow I doubt it. So once again I simply ask "Don't feed the trolls." Thanks to John W. for the link.
The LA Times has posted a "new" interview with Michael Bay as he discusses Transformers: Dark of the Moon. The reason for the quotes around new is the interview took place at the Los Angeles Playa Vista soundstage when production was doing the moon sequences among others shots. That would place the estimated time frame of the interview sometime in June 2010. Over all nothing specific is revealed, just a general overview of the franchise and Bay's desire to make Moon better than Revenge. Choice segments are below, the full article can be found here. Thanks to AiC Hokie for the link.
"The cast this time is terrific, you can't even compare it really, and that was important to me. We needed to take everything up a few levels and that starts with story and with acting," Bay said...Read More »
"I think the guy is great, I loved working with him," says [Patrick] Dempsey, one of the new imports meant to bring some acting chops to a franchise that had become far too fixated on special effects and a barrage of gags. "The scale of the movies he makes and the way his crew works for him and the things that they can accomplish, it's pretty awesome to see in action. And I think he believes this movie is going to be a great one."
