Roberto Orci Gives Update on Status of Transformers 2 Script

It seems the end of the Hollywood writers strike has jump-started the production of the Transformers Movie sequel, with many of the film's behind-the-scenes workers making public statements about the progress of the film.

Director Michael Bay chimed in saying that robot designs were finished, early pre-vis was underway and a script template had been finished by him during the strike. We also heard from Scott Farrar, the film's visual effects supervisor, at the VES Awards, where Transformers won 4 awards. And finally, the film's male lead, Shia LaBeouf, gave his impressions of early pre-visualisations of the film.

Now Roberto Orci, one of the movie's writer, has posted on producer Don Murphy's message board, and gave a quick update on the status of the sequel's script and screenplay. Read his series of posts by clicking here.

Michael Bay Responds to Dreamworks' Statements on Status of TF2

Transformers Movie director Michael Bay has responded to Dreamworks studios statements, reported in an article by MTV News, that no production office has been set up for the film's sequel and that the status of production had not been updated, contrary to Bay's earlier statements that character designs and a script template had already been finished.

To view Michael Bay's post click here.

Oh really???? Is that why 20 people in production are in my office right now, another 20 art designers another location, scouts in two countries, one back east??? Don't ever bet against me in making my date - June 2009!

Michael

Shia LaBeouf Talks Transformers 2

Transformers Movie star Shia LaBeouf spoke with Empire Online about the upcoming sequel to the Transformers Movie.

Read the entire article here.

I know of a few things I have to work on for the next one,” said LaBeouf. “I’ve seen pre-vizes of the action scenes and I just saw Michael yesterday. It’s going to be bad-ass. We’re not making another one unless it is, and Mike is definitely not resting on his laurels — he’s doing insane shit again. And the pre-vizes that I’ve seen… it’s just massive. If the first one was any indicator of how massive massive can be, this is going to blow that out of the water. It’s insane. Mike’s mind was just kind of made for this — it’s amazing. There’s going to be a lot more characterisation with the robots, which I’m excited about. I was a fan of Transformers before the movie came out. And there’s going to be a lot of action…That goes unsaid, I guess”.

With the writers’ strike now thankfully over, Ehren Kruger, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman can start getting on with the script. They’d better get a move on, since the film is set to start shooting in less than four months for a June 26, 2009 release.

This early in the game, LaBeouf wouldn’t be drawn on exactly what scenes he’s preparing for, despite our threats to kick him in the shins and moans of “Awwww, you’re mean”. But he would say, “There’s gonna be new robots on both sides. I can say that the war isn’t over… It’s hard to do interviews when you’re not allowed to talk about the movies. It’s like I give two or three things away and then I get reprimanded for it. It’s never fun to get reprimanded by these people”.

Dreamworks Contradicts Michael Bay's Statements on Status of TF2?

Statements made by Transformers Movie director Michael Bay in recent weeks in regards to the Transformers Movie sequel are being contradicted by recent statements by Dreamworks Studio, signalling that production on the film's sequel may not be moving along as was previously stated.

Michael Bay had declared earlier that character designs had been finalised, a script template had been completed and that Bay himself had written 60 pages of an outline - but now, according to an article by MTV news, Dreamworks is reporting that the project status has not been updated, and that no production office has even been set up yet for the film's sequel.

Read the article in its entirety by clicking here.

Michael Bay Talks More Transformers 2, Including a "Geriatric Robot"

Transformers Movie director Michael was present, alongside other creators who worked on the film, during a VFX Technology presentation on the Sony Movie lot. Michael Bay spoke about the upcoming Transformers Movie sequel, and how the film was prepared in case of a prolonged writers strike (which will now no longer be a cause of delay for the film, as the strike ended last night).

Of note is Bay making mention of the writers returning, and a story that will see deeper robot characters as well as a "geriatric robot" - the article also goes into great detail about the VFX work in the first film.

Read about the event on Variety editor Anne Thompson's detailed blog post by clicking here.

Hollywood Writers Strike Officially Over!

CNN.com along with numerous other news outlets, are reporting that the Writers' Guild of America has officially voted to end their 3-month long strike. The WGA members' votes were tallied 48 hours after meeting this weekend to discuss the new contract regarding revenues and royalties of DVD sales and new media revenue, like internet streaming. The strike, which began on November 5th 2007, stalled numerous television shows, and even threatened to delay the production of many films, including the sequel to the 2007 Transformers Movie, which is scheduled for release on June 26th 2009.

See the news on CNN.com by clicking here.

Now that the strike is officially over, writers should be geting back to work in the coming week, allowing the production of Dreamworks and Paramount's Transformers Movie sequel, directed by Michael Bay, to continue without delay.

Michael Bay: TF2 Characters and Script Template Done

Transformers Movie director Michael Bay recently spoke with Rottentomatoes.com and has announced that, while the Hollywood writers strike may only be hours away from ending (the WGA is expected to make an annoucement tuesday night), he has already prepared an outline himself and is determined to have the film finished for its June 26th 2009 release date.

Read the article on Rottentomatoes by clicking here.

It looks like the Writer's Guild strike could end any day now. But while Michael Bay is not only ready to jump back into development on Transformers 2, it turns out he's already finished writing the story.

"I've been writing Transformers 2," said Bay. "We've got our characters all designed. I always write all my scripts, my movies anyway so at least I've got something to give the writers. It's like a template. We have a really good outline so I worked on that."

It might be a tad unorthodox, but Bay has high pressure demands. "We had to because I want to make my date. I'm not going to let the strike take me down."

Now that the major effects of transforming moving parts have been figured out, Bay has all sorts of new characters in store for the sequel. "When you do your first movie, you break the back of it. Now we can have a lot more fun. We can actually make the depth of these characters more fun and a lot more interesting characters. To see actually what you can achieve visually, you never know. When you go into a movie, you never know visually. I think I've got a lot of fun, interesting, funny characters."