Transformers: Dark of the Moon is the third and final film in the Transformers film series, directed by Michael Bay and produced by Steven Spielberg. It is the sequel to Transformers and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and is scheduled for release on June 29 in selected locations and July 1, 2011 in the US. The film will be presented in regular 2D, Real D 3D and IMAX,featuring Dolby Surround 7.1 sound.
Shia LaBeouf, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson and John Turturro are set to reprise their starring roles, with Peter Cullen returning as the voice of Optimus Prime. Ehren Kruger, who collaborated in the writing of the second film, was again involved in the writing. Despite having initially been confirmed for the film, and with the film already into principal photography, it was announced that Megan Fox would not be reprising her role from the previous two films. With Fox's character Mikaela being dropped, Sam was assigned a new love interest, who will be played by English model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. Also, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, having written the first two films, did not return for the third installment in the series, which Orci had earlier somewhat anticipated, fearing the duo would "risk getting stale. Bay has stated this would be his last installment in the series.
Cast and characters
Humans
Shia LaBeouf plays Sam Witwicky. The leading human character who is friends with the Autobots. Given a grappling gun glove to help fight.
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley plays Carly, Sam's new love interest from the original 1984 animated series. Huntington-Whiteley had worked with director Michael Bay before in various Victoria's Secret commercials. Previously Bay had narrowed it to three final candidates: model Brooklyn Decker, actress Sarah Wright, and Huntington-Whiteley being the front-runner, even though she had zero acting experience.
Josh Duhamel plays Major William Lennox. The leader of NEST, an international taskforce battling Decepticons with the Autobots.
Tyrese Gibson plays Chief Robert Epps. A combat controller and a member of NEST.
John Turturro plays Agent Seymour Simmons. A former agent of the terminated Sector 7 unit.
Patrick Dempsey plays Dylan, Carly's boss, who is a race-car driver with a huge collection of cars. Dempsey described his role as "darker" than others and "significant to the plot".Initially cast to play Mikaela's boss, Dempsey's role was reassigned when Mikaela was written out of the film.
Kevin Dunn and Julie White play Ron and Judy Witwicky, Sam's parents.
Glenn Morshower plays General Morshower, a NEST member who communicates with the squad in the Pentagon.
Lester Speight plays Hardcore Eddie, a new NEST Member. He is an experienced soldier who has fought in war along with Epps' father many years ago.
Alan Tudyk plays Dutch, Agent Simmons' assistant.
John Malkovich plays Bruce, Sam's first boss.
Frances McDormand plays Charlotte Mearing, Director of National Intelligence.
Cory Tucker plays Buzz Aldrin
Don Jeanes plays Neil Armstrong
According to representatives for Paramount, Megan Fox's absence from the film was due to Bay ultimately choosing not to renew her role, although representatives for the actress said that it was her decision to leave the film franchise. With Fox not reprising her role, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley was chosen to play Sam's new love interest. Ken Jeong will have an undisclosed role in the film, and Kym Whitley has declared being involved in the shoots. A casting call for extras for the film has been said to call for actors to play Iranian military men for scenes to be filmed in Los Angeles, and reportedly the Ukrainian army will be involved as well. Glee's Iqbal Theba confirmed on Twitter that he will have a cameo appearance as the secretary-general of the United Nations.
Autobots
Peter Cullen voices Optimus Prime, the Autobot leader. While he retains his vehicle mode of a blue Peterbilt 379 truck with red flame decals, he has been added a trailer similar to his Generation 1 counterpart, and has been redesigned to look more heroic. Optimus can combine with his trailer and gain a third transformation mode.
Leonard Nimoy voices Sentinel Prime, Optimus Prime's predecessor who turns into a Rosenbauer Panther Airport crash tender fire truck. Sentinel Prime is seen as the Autobot in stasis on the Ark in the teaser trailer. Nimoy provided the voice for Galvatron in The Transformers: The Movie and had been considered for voicing The Fallen in Revenge of the Fallen.
Bumblebee, Sam's guardian that turns into a fifth-generation Chevrolet Camaro. Bumblebee has also gone through some changes, his vehicle mode featuring a new body kit and paint job, and designers modifying him to look more mature.
Ironhide, the Autobot weapons specialist who transforms into a GMC Topkick.
Ratchet, the Autobot medic who transforms into a search and rescue Hummer H2. Ratchet also had some changes done to his vehicle form, as he has been painted green and white.
Sideswipe, the Autobot whose vehicle mode is a silver Chevrolet Corvette Centennial, now upgraded into a convertible.
Mirage, an Autobot who will debut as a red Ferrari 458 Italia.
James Avery will provide the voice of Silverbolt.
The Wreckers, an Autobot sub-team that transform into heavily armed NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chevrolet Impala stock cars equipped with machine guns. They function as a Commando Unit. Bill Fagerbakke will voice one of them. The Wreckers are:
Leadfoot, a Juan Pablo Montoya #42 Target car.
Roadbuster, a Dale Earnhardt, Jr. #88 AMP Energy/National Guard car.
Topspin, a Jimmie Johnson #48 Lowe's/Kobalt car.
Wheelie, a former Decepticon returns from his debut in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.
Brains, a small and intelligent Autobot who built Sam's grappling gun glove.
A blue Mercedes-Benz W212 will debut as an Autobot inventor, whose design resembles Albert Einstein.
Despite Michael Bay's initial denial of their return, the Twins, Skids and Mudflap, were once intended to appear in the film, restyled to both transform into black Chevrolet Sparks with green and orange stripes respectively. Scenes were even shot for them, and their toys were released in the official toy line, but they have allegedly been dropped from the film's final cut.
Plot
The Autobots learn of a Cybertronian spacecraft on the Moon and must race against the Decepticons to find it and learn its secrets, which could turn the tide in the Transformers' final battle.
Production
As a preemptive measure, Michael Lucchi and Paramount announced a July 1, 2011 release date in IMAX 3-D for a third Transformers film before completion of Revenge of the Fallen. Director Michael Bay responded, "I said I was taking off a year from Transformers. Paramount made a mistake in dating Transformers 3—they asked me on the phone—I said yes to July 1—but for 2012—whoops! Not 2011! That would mean I would have to start prep in September. No way. My brain needs a break from fighting robots.
On October 1, 2009, Bay revealed that Transformers: Dark of the Moon had already gone into pre-production, and its planned release was back to its originally intended date of July 1, 2011 rather than 2012. Filming started in May 2010, with shooting locations including Chicago, Florida, and Moscow. Due to the revived interest in 3-D technology brought in by the success of Avatar,talks between Paramount, Industrial Light & Magic and Bay had considered the possibility of the next Transformers film to be filmed in 3-D. Testing has been performed in bringing the technology into Bay's work. Michael Bay was reluctant to film with 3-D cameras since in test he'd found them to be too cumbersome for his filming style, but he didn't want to implement the technology in post production either since he was not pleased with the results.
Accidents
Filming was temporarily delayed on September 2, 2010 in Hammond, Indiana, when an extra was seriously injured during a stunt. The accident happened when a steel cable snapped from a car being towed, owing to a failed weld, hitting the extra's car and damaging her skull. The extra, identified as Gabriella Cedillo, had to undergo brain surgery. The injury has left her permanently brain-damaged, paralyzed on her left side and her left eye stitched shut. As a result, Paramount took responsibility for the accident and covered all medical costs incurred by Cedillo. In spite of this, on October 5, Cedillo's family filed a lawsuit, which cites seven counts of negligence against Paramount, D.W. Studios and several other defendants (not including Bay), with total damages sought in excess of US$350,000.
Release and marketing
Transformers: Dark of the Moon is set to be released on July 1, 2011 in 3D. Originally set to be released in both conventional and IMAX theaters, it was announced in November 2010 that no IMAX 3D shots were made for the film. It was later announced in January 2011 that the film will indeed release in IMAX 3D. A two-minute teaser trailer was announced on November 27,[98] and was posted to the web on December 9, 2010. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin discover the Ark on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission in the trailer. A thirty-second television advertisement for the film aired during Super Bowl XLV on FOX on February 6, 2011. The first full theatrical trailer was released on April 28, 2011. A 3D trailer is expected to be released on May 20, 2011 with the release of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides 3D, which should complete the promotional campaign for Dark of the Moon.
Soundtrack
On April 13, 2011 Mike Shinoda announced on his blog that Linkin Park's song "Iridescent" will be the new single for the film, continuing the streak of the band's songs as the theme songs of the film series. The single follows "What I've Done" being used in the first film, and "New Divide" for the second. The music video for Iridescent will be directed by Joe Hahn.
Home media
During Hasbro Investor Day, it was announced that the DVD and Blu-ray Disc will be released in the fourth quarter of 2011.
Video game
Activision is set to develop a video game for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii and Nintendo 3DS. The trailer for the Dark of the Moon video game was released in February 2011. The game will be developed by High Moon Studios, who previously developed Transformers: War for Cybertron. It has also been announced that the game will also feature "Stealth Force." Autobots Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Ironhide, Ratchet, Sideswipe, Warpath, Stratosphere, Breakaway and Mirage have been confirmed to be in the game while Deceptecons Megatron, Soundwave, Laserbeak, Starscream, Mixmaster and Shockwave have been confirmed to be in the game as well.
Shia LaBeouf, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson and John Turturro are set to reprise their starring roles, with Peter Cullen returning as the voice of Optimus Prime. Ehren Kruger, who collaborated in the writing of the second film, was again involved in the writing. Despite having initially been confirmed for the film, and with the film already into principal photography, it was announced that Megan Fox would not be reprising her role from the previous two films. With Fox's character Mikaela being dropped, Sam was assigned a new love interest, who will be played by English model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. Also, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, having written the first two films, did not return for the third installment in the series, which Orci had earlier somewhat anticipated, fearing the duo would "risk getting stale. Bay has stated this would be his last installment in the series.
Cast and characters
Humans
Shia LaBeouf plays Sam Witwicky. The leading human character who is friends with the Autobots. Given a grappling gun glove to help fight.
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley plays Carly, Sam's new love interest from the original 1984 animated series. Huntington-Whiteley had worked with director Michael Bay before in various Victoria's Secret commercials. Previously Bay had narrowed it to three final candidates: model Brooklyn Decker, actress Sarah Wright, and Huntington-Whiteley being the front-runner, even though she had zero acting experience.
Josh Duhamel plays Major William Lennox. The leader of NEST, an international taskforce battling Decepticons with the Autobots.
Tyrese Gibson plays Chief Robert Epps. A combat controller and a member of NEST.
John Turturro plays Agent Seymour Simmons. A former agent of the terminated Sector 7 unit.
Patrick Dempsey plays Dylan, Carly's boss, who is a race-car driver with a huge collection of cars. Dempsey described his role as "darker" than others and "significant to the plot".Initially cast to play Mikaela's boss, Dempsey's role was reassigned when Mikaela was written out of the film.
Kevin Dunn and Julie White play Ron and Judy Witwicky, Sam's parents.
Glenn Morshower plays General Morshower, a NEST member who communicates with the squad in the Pentagon.
Lester Speight plays Hardcore Eddie, a new NEST Member. He is an experienced soldier who has fought in war along with Epps' father many years ago.
Alan Tudyk plays Dutch, Agent Simmons' assistant.
John Malkovich plays Bruce, Sam's first boss.
Frances McDormand plays Charlotte Mearing, Director of National Intelligence.
Cory Tucker plays Buzz Aldrin
Don Jeanes plays Neil Armstrong
According to representatives for Paramount, Megan Fox's absence from the film was due to Bay ultimately choosing not to renew her role, although representatives for the actress said that it was her decision to leave the film franchise. With Fox not reprising her role, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley was chosen to play Sam's new love interest. Ken Jeong will have an undisclosed role in the film, and Kym Whitley has declared being involved in the shoots. A casting call for extras for the film has been said to call for actors to play Iranian military men for scenes to be filmed in Los Angeles, and reportedly the Ukrainian army will be involved as well. Glee's Iqbal Theba confirmed on Twitter that he will have a cameo appearance as the secretary-general of the United Nations.
Autobots
Peter Cullen voices Optimus Prime, the Autobot leader. While he retains his vehicle mode of a blue Peterbilt 379 truck with red flame decals, he has been added a trailer similar to his Generation 1 counterpart, and has been redesigned to look more heroic. Optimus can combine with his trailer and gain a third transformation mode.
Leonard Nimoy voices Sentinel Prime, Optimus Prime's predecessor who turns into a Rosenbauer Panther Airport crash tender fire truck. Sentinel Prime is seen as the Autobot in stasis on the Ark in the teaser trailer. Nimoy provided the voice for Galvatron in The Transformers: The Movie and had been considered for voicing The Fallen in Revenge of the Fallen.
Bumblebee, Sam's guardian that turns into a fifth-generation Chevrolet Camaro. Bumblebee has also gone through some changes, his vehicle mode featuring a new body kit and paint job, and designers modifying him to look more mature.
Ironhide, the Autobot weapons specialist who transforms into a GMC Topkick.
Ratchet, the Autobot medic who transforms into a search and rescue Hummer H2. Ratchet also had some changes done to his vehicle form, as he has been painted green and white.
Sideswipe, the Autobot whose vehicle mode is a silver Chevrolet Corvette Centennial, now upgraded into a convertible.
Mirage, an Autobot who will debut as a red Ferrari 458 Italia.
James Avery will provide the voice of Silverbolt.
The Wreckers, an Autobot sub-team that transform into heavily armed NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chevrolet Impala stock cars equipped with machine guns. They function as a Commando Unit. Bill Fagerbakke will voice one of them. The Wreckers are:
Leadfoot, a Juan Pablo Montoya #42 Target car.
Roadbuster, a Dale Earnhardt, Jr. #88 AMP Energy/National Guard car.
Topspin, a Jimmie Johnson #48 Lowe's/Kobalt car.
Wheelie, a former Decepticon returns from his debut in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.
Brains, a small and intelligent Autobot who built Sam's grappling gun glove.
A blue Mercedes-Benz W212 will debut as an Autobot inventor, whose design resembles Albert Einstein.
Despite Michael Bay's initial denial of their return, the Twins, Skids and Mudflap, were once intended to appear in the film, restyled to both transform into black Chevrolet Sparks with green and orange stripes respectively. Scenes were even shot for them, and their toys were released in the official toy line, but they have allegedly been dropped from the film's final cut.
Plot
The Autobots learn of a Cybertronian spacecraft on the Moon and must race against the Decepticons to find it and learn its secrets, which could turn the tide in the Transformers' final battle.
Production
As a preemptive measure, Michael Lucchi and Paramount announced a July 1, 2011 release date in IMAX 3-D for a third Transformers film before completion of Revenge of the Fallen. Director Michael Bay responded, "I said I was taking off a year from Transformers. Paramount made a mistake in dating Transformers 3—they asked me on the phone—I said yes to July 1—but for 2012—whoops! Not 2011! That would mean I would have to start prep in September. No way. My brain needs a break from fighting robots.
On October 1, 2009, Bay revealed that Transformers: Dark of the Moon had already gone into pre-production, and its planned release was back to its originally intended date of July 1, 2011 rather than 2012. Filming started in May 2010, with shooting locations including Chicago, Florida, and Moscow. Due to the revived interest in 3-D technology brought in by the success of Avatar,talks between Paramount, Industrial Light & Magic and Bay had considered the possibility of the next Transformers film to be filmed in 3-D. Testing has been performed in bringing the technology into Bay's work. Michael Bay was reluctant to film with 3-D cameras since in test he'd found them to be too cumbersome for his filming style, but he didn't want to implement the technology in post production either since he was not pleased with the results.
Accidents
Filming was temporarily delayed on September 2, 2010 in Hammond, Indiana, when an extra was seriously injured during a stunt. The accident happened when a steel cable snapped from a car being towed, owing to a failed weld, hitting the extra's car and damaging her skull. The extra, identified as Gabriella Cedillo, had to undergo brain surgery. The injury has left her permanently brain-damaged, paralyzed on her left side and her left eye stitched shut. As a result, Paramount took responsibility for the accident and covered all medical costs incurred by Cedillo. In spite of this, on October 5, Cedillo's family filed a lawsuit, which cites seven counts of negligence against Paramount, D.W. Studios and several other defendants (not including Bay), with total damages sought in excess of US$350,000.
Release and marketing
Transformers: Dark of the Moon is set to be released on July 1, 2011 in 3D. Originally set to be released in both conventional and IMAX theaters, it was announced in November 2010 that no IMAX 3D shots were made for the film. It was later announced in January 2011 that the film will indeed release in IMAX 3D. A two-minute teaser trailer was announced on November 27,[98] and was posted to the web on December 9, 2010. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin discover the Ark on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission in the trailer. A thirty-second television advertisement for the film aired during Super Bowl XLV on FOX on February 6, 2011. The first full theatrical trailer was released on April 28, 2011. A 3D trailer is expected to be released on May 20, 2011 with the release of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides 3D, which should complete the promotional campaign for Dark of the Moon.
Soundtrack
On April 13, 2011 Mike Shinoda announced on his blog that Linkin Park's song "Iridescent" will be the new single for the film, continuing the streak of the band's songs as the theme songs of the film series. The single follows "What I've Done" being used in the first film, and "New Divide" for the second. The music video for Iridescent will be directed by Joe Hahn.
Home media
During Hasbro Investor Day, it was announced that the DVD and Blu-ray Disc will be released in the fourth quarter of 2011.
Video game
Activision is set to develop a video game for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii and Nintendo 3DS. The trailer for the Dark of the Moon video game was released in February 2011. The game will be developed by High Moon Studios, who previously developed Transformers: War for Cybertron. It has also been announced that the game will also feature "Stealth Force." Autobots Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Ironhide, Ratchet, Sideswipe, Warpath, Stratosphere, Breakaway and Mirage have been confirmed to be in the game while Deceptecons Megatron, Soundwave, Laserbeak, Starscream, Mixmaster and Shockwave have been confirmed to be in the game as well.
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