Transformers Thread

Transformers (2007)

>Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura was originally developing a “G.I. Joe” movie, which was scrapped after the American invasion on Iraq. Hasbro then recommended “Transformers” instead.

>Michael Bay initially declined to direct the movie, but was ultimately persuaded by producer Steven Spielberg.

>Early drafts featured only Sam Witwicky and Mikaela Banes. Bay added Captain William Lennox and his team to broaden the movie’s audience and secure funding from the U.S. military.

>Early drafts featured Autobots Hot Rod, Wheeljack and Prowl. Bay liked the concept of a Decepticon police cruiser so much that he made Prowl into Barricade.

>Early drafts featured Decepticons Shockwave, Laserbeak, Skywarp, Blitzwing, Onslaught, Octane and Rumble.

>Later drafts featured Autobot Arcee, who was scrapped due to her diminutive size.

>Later drafts featured Decepticon Soundwave, who would transform into a helicopter, and his minion Ravage. Hasbro demanded that Soundwave’s alt-form be music-related, so the helicopter became Blackout and Ravage was replaced by Scorponok. A boombox Decepticon was included, but deemed inappropriate for Soundwave and reworked into Frenzy, while Soundwave was scrapped.

>In early drafts, the Transformers didn’t speak per studio demands, but writers Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman persuaded them otherwise.

>Liam Neeson was approached to voice Optimus Prime before the studio decided to bring back the character’s original voice actor, Peter Cullen.

>Ewan McGregor was approached to voice Bumblebee before Mark Ryan was cast.

>Amanda Seyfried and Emma Stone auditioned for Mikaela before Megan Fox was cast.

>Bay was initially against casting Shia LaBeouf, believing him to be too old and too confident to play an awkward teenager.

>John Turturro claims to have modeled agent Seymour Simmons’ mannerisms on Bay. Bay disputes that, others do not.

Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014).

>Michael Bay initially declined to return. Stephen Sommers, Roland Emmerich, Jon Turteltaub, Louis Leterrier, David Yates and Joe Johnston were approached to replace him before Bonaventura convinced Bay to return.

>Bonaventura merged two separate pitches, one centered on Galvatron leading an uprising of man-made Transformers and one centered on Lockdown hunting down Optimus Prime on behalf of the Creators, to produce the final script.

>In early drafts, Lockdown was assisted by “Widowmaker”, a psychotic female Cybertronian bounty hunter, but the character was scrapped in further revisions.

>In early drafts, archaeologist Darcy Tyrell had a larger role, including a romantic subplot with Cade Yeager, which was scrapped in further revisions.

>Jason Statham and Dwayne Johnson was approached for Cade Yeager before Mark Wahlberg was cast. The character would originally only be featured in one movie and sacrifice himself in the end, but further rewrites expanded his role and changed his fate.

>Margaret Qualley, Gabriella Wilde and Isabelle Cornish auditioned for Tessa Yeager before Nicola Peltz was cast. The character would originally be the franchise’s new co-lead, but further rewrites reduced her role.

>Brenton Thwaites, Hunter Parrish, Landon Liboiron and Luke Grimes auditioned for Shane Dyson before Jack Reynor was cast. The character would originally be the franchise’s new co-lead, but further rewrites reduced his role.

Transformers: The Last Knight (2017)

>Michael Bay initially declined to return, but was ultimately persuaded to do so one last time.

>A Writer’s Room overseen by Bay and the producers was created to create an elaborate “Transformers” cinematic universe and map out future sequels and spin-offs of the franchise.

>Bonaventura once again merged two separate pitches, one about a corrupted Optimus Prime returning to Earth amistd all-out war between humans and Transformers, and one about the secret connection between the Transformers and Arthurian lore, to produce the final script.

>Jean Dujardin was approached to voice Hot Rod before Omar Sy was cast.

>Stephen Merchant was approached to voice Cogman before Jim Carter was cast.

>Stanley Tucci was approached to return as Joshua Joyce, but the character was removed in further rewrites. Bay then offered him the role of the wizard Merlin.

>Tyrese Gibson was approached to return as Sergeant Robert Epps, but was forced to decline due to scheduling conflicts. He’s reportedly already in talks for TRANSFORMERS 6 and TRANSFORMERS 7.