Take this with a HUGE grain of salt. Showblitz.com is reporting that Hasbro said on a Monday earnings call that they were in “active discussions” with Paramount, Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg on how to move forward with the film franchise. Sources close to the planning process tell the website it could actually be two films headed into production, a measure that can save millions because cast and crew deals only be negotiated once, among other factors. Ehren Kruger is said to have an idea for the next installments that the studio likes. Shia Leabouf is still out and, once again, Jason Statham has been discussed yet again. Statham was previously rumored to be Lebouf’s replacement and later dismissed by Michael Bay himself.
Again, take this with a HUGE grain of salt. We’ll keep you posted as more information rolls in. For the time being, sound off in the discussion thread.
Tuxedo Mark
I'm guessing they're wanting to get Statham for Rosie, who has said she wants a fourth TF film.
Another article (dunno if it's already been posted):
‘Transformers 4 and 5′ May Shoot Back-To-Back, Jason Statham Could Star | /Film
Matty
A lot of times I personally just need to leave topics on movieverse alone or at least very heated ones. It becomes difficult to enjoy the movies if I try to defend them. To each his own, seriously.
I can't convince people Bay did not rape your childhood and you can't convince me the movies are something of hellish design.
But logic doesn't exist on the internet.
03Mach1
What can I say? The movieverse is a divided place.
The irony of it all is that some of the divisiveness comes from factors outside of the actual movies. Which probably explains why people are so passionate about them. Just keep in mind that subjective =/= objective.
Matty
They screwed up bad with the G1 movie. It was a GREAT movie, it really was. To the defense of people working on the brand at that time though they really had NO idea how big Optimus Prime was and killing off Prime and that cast was just the logical way of introducing new toys. Whoops. Won't ever happen again.
Stepper
Bring on Jazz back in TF4
Pete Sync
Gotcha. I personally think it was a great movie. It just hurt the brand. Kill only a couple Autobots, still reformat Megs and bring Prime back at the end in a NEW body to save the day. Still would have been a good movie and Hasbro gets their new toys. Hindsight. Ah well…
Hot Shot.
I know all of that. I was responding to how he thought I was upset over it.
Pete Sync
Actually, go talk with someone who worked on the brand in the 80's. The 86 movie did harm to the line which it never recovered from. Was it still making money? Yes. But G1 would never again reach the success it had during the 84/85 years. The "cast" change is considered the main reason for this.
Starfire22
Never on this site (as a lurker and a member) have I seen so much fighting.
thebruteslayer
i
Stepper
Even if he is stuck at doing Transformers movie,is also not bad because the movie earn big bucks,isn't that the purpose of film maker.
Ash from Carolina
Bay seems like a pretty intelligent person even if he's not a very good story teller or the best at phrasing something in an interview. So at some point he's got to see how bad he's been screwed compared to other directors.
Peter Jackson did Lord of the Rings and he got rewarded with the King Kong film he always wanted to do. Christopher Nolan gave his studio a big hit with The Dark Knight and he got rewarded with Inception which would have been so hard to pitch without "I make you money" to sell it to the studio executives.
Bay, no reward so far. If he doesn't stand his ground at some point then he's going to be stuck doing Transformers movies he's tired of rather than working on that dream project that could only get off the ground as a reward for making the studio money.
Hot Shot.
I love you, too.
I prefer being called a "cancer", BTW. Or "AIDS".
I find this hilarious, because the transformers's themselves as characters in the movies are an after-thought. The plots are an after-thought as well(at least, ROTF).
Yes.
No.
No, I said any old changing robot is called a "transformer" because of how recognizable the brand still was.
I was talking about the Armada/Energon/Cybertron timeframe.
I had no problems finding Cybertron toys, Wing Saber aside. Compare that to today, when scalpers lurk every forum, who take note of what everyone wants and hang around TRU in the early morning. Everything is hard to find now.
G1 cartoon aside, the gimmick always complemented the character. Not so in Bayformers.
And now you're lumping me in with the "Geewun" cartoon fans. Smooth.
And now we're back to the same-old "If you hate the movies, you're a Geewunner stuck in the past!" accusation I get labeled with EVERY. SINGLE. TIME I have this discussion. Do you know how old I was when Transformers began? -9. I got into the fandom with Energon! One would think my user name was enough of a hint.
Was Beast Wars a rehash? No. Early IDW? No. Prime? NO. Show me ANYTHING on the list I posted that was a rehash. Being well-written and recognizable does not a rehash make. Iron Man. Hulk. Captain America. Batman. Spider-Man. All have had their own movies that have been well-written and said characters were recognizable as themselves. And in different situations! Tell me, why can't Transformers be like that? Why can't the director have some respect for the brand, instead of writing it off as silly and stupid and doing his own, loosely-based thing?
Repainted
You, sir/madam, are what I call "poison" to this franchise. You dwell on the memories of when it was mostly an after thought. It probably burns your soul that the last 3 live-action films by Michael Bay were considered big successes, while the G1 film of 1986 was seen as the beginning of a slow demise for a time in TF history that should have had more justice than what it did.
There's no doubt some merit to your little list of preferences. Maybe an educated fan who comes in by way of the movies will come to think just as well of it as you. You mentioned strong & healthy being the status for Transformers at the same time the Power Rangers debuted. Lets see, being that was the early 90's, it was actually the end of G1 that started in 1986 when-guess-which-movie came out. They then tried this G2 crap a year or 2 later which involved needlessly altering episodes and some of the most hideously colored re-releases in any series. That died along with the brief experiment to release Machine Wars to K.B. Toys locations as a test which also failed. So, a strong and healthy Transformer franchise it was not as you so claimed.
Scalpers always lurked with this franchise. They were marking up Beast Machines toys on eBay over a decade too and guess what? They actually did sell some of those at the prices they went for! So for you to say it's a recent trend only brought about by more recent times/series is just misinformation on your part.
The way I see it with Optimus & Bumblebee is if these incarnations click with kids of today, why change what's working? Is Bumblebee the tiny car, spying bot he once was, no. Is it the same Optimus who'd uphold all these idealistic values in one of the cartoons, Hell no. If you're so knowledgable, you'd know Transformers have always had oddities like a fast talker in Blurr, a rhymer in Wheelie, Arrogant animal bots like Sky Lynx & Grimlock, dronish sounding cons like Soundwave or trios that talked in unison like Reflector, or in 3rd person like the 2 TV versions of Waspinator. So, at the end of the day Optimus still fights for his Autobots & humanity & for you to call one bot a gimmick and look past all the others over the years is just absurd.
The intent with the live action interpetation is to not have villains always flying off swearing a return on another day. It won't come off well with a general audience to have them being reduced to components in a storage vault, imprisoned in magnetic cages, being restrained with their version of handcuffs a.k.a. stasis cuffs, or taking banishment on some asteroid when they can fly through space anyways. In real life, in a real war, you kill those trying to kill you before they can do the job first. They're not going to hog tie a Decepticon in cables and chains and send him to DeceptiJail. That may work for sometimes shoddy animation quality of 20 something years ago, but not with this.
Seeing as you loathe the movie verse which is actually the most dominant Transformers entity to date, I've already made my recommendations for your nostalgia craze. There's only so much revisiting the past over and over again will get you because there's only so much to that little list of your's. Even I know if they mess up with this in the future, they won't be able to revisit the successes they've already had. To me, you're like one of those music fans, oh you hate the mainstream, but support the underground, until they get the fame you've been bucking for them to have then ditch when they get it because they have then "sold out." What kind of person does that make the so-called supporter? I may be easy to please in liking ALL of the movies even the 86 film that nearly buried all Transformers based futures with it. But I'd rather be that than some insatiable nitpick with a gripe about everything.
Stepper
You maybe right but will still prefer well known director to take over this popular franchise.
JazzIsBack
fixed
OrionsBelt
Yeah, don't bet on Spielberg. Besides, there are still a great many low profile directors to choose from, and hell, maybe an up and comer that we don't know about.
Stepper
Chances of Speilberg taking over is high indeed
johndoe4880
did you know that transformers prime is Produced by Alex Kurtzman …. executive producer (20 episodes, 2010-2011)
Roberto Orci …. executive producer (20 episodes, 2010-2011)
if bay was to step down as director he can be a producer instead.
and it was rumored that speilberg was going to take his place.
for a transformers 4 i like to see a quint.
Nachtsider
After he denied bald-facedly that Megatron would not appear in ROTF, I don't know what to believe anymore.