Serenity to appear. . . on Cybertron?!? by Cybersnark

OTHER SCIENCE FICTION SERIES

Serenity to appear. . . on Cybertron?!?

POSTED BY: CYBERSNARK
UPDATED: Monday, April 18, 2005 04:26
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VIEWED: 3550
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Thursday, February 24, 2005 3:58 PM

I just heard second-hand (but from a source that I have no real reason to distrust on this) that an article in the latest Wizard Comics magazine reports that Zoic will be handling the effects in the upcoming live-action Transformers movie. (Which, given the fame of Firefly and Galactica, virtually ensures some kind of cameo/in-joke.)

For those of you not keeping track of TransFan developments, here's what I know:

"Confirmed:"
-Tom DeSanto (X-Men) is the producer and the man who got the ball rolling.
-Don Murphy (League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) is also producing.
-Steven Spielberg is on-board as EP (

)
-The movie is G1 (i.e., Transformers of the 80s; no Beasts [as awesome as a Beast Wars movie would be, IMHO, this ain't it], no Minicons, no wierd plot-macguffiny energon).
-Optimus Prime is in his G1 semi-truck body.
-Megatron will not be a gun.
-The core cast of Transformers will be kept small (both to allow more character focus and to keep CGI costs managable).

Rumours with >50% chance of accuracy:
-There will be no size-changing (Soundwave and his peeps will not turn into a tape deck and cassettes). (This one came from DeSanto himself.)
-Original series voice actors Frank Welker (Megatron, Soundwave) and Peter Cullen (Optimus Prime, Ironhide) are "almost certainly" aboard. (This one comes from Murphy.)
-Megatron will be a tank or artillery piece.
-Famous Transformer comics writer Simon Furman will be a consultant.
-No Dinobots. (DeSanto again.)
-Despite the absence of the Dinobots, Grimlock will likely be present (he's Furman's favourite character).
-There will likely be a trilogy, or at least a sequel (Grimlock's appearance might be moved to "Episode II," to focus the first one on Optimus & Megatron).

More news as it develops.

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We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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Thursday, February 24, 2005 4:02 PM

THEGREYJEDI

If this is true...

SCORE!

------------------------------------------------------------
Chief Engineer - USS SereniTREE.
http://www.jed-soft.com Gamer Rigs, Budget Prices
http://tomeofgrey.blogspot.com
Real Fans Wait - 09/30/05

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Friday, February 25, 2005 5:49 AM

CYBERSNARK

New information (actually, old information that I forgot in my first pass):

-The first drafts of the script have been turned in by (apparently longtime TransFan) John Rogers ("Catwoman," "The Core").
-Rogers has moved off to another project (nothing terminal, he just ended up double-booking himself), and has been replaced by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman ("Alias," "Xena," and several upcoming movies).
-No director has yet been hired (this is related to the Peter Cullen and Frank Welker rumour; it's the director who will have final say, but Cullen & Welker are both willing [even eager] to do the job).
-The release date has been pushed back to Fall '06 (it was supposed to be Summer).

Rumour:
-The old-school ratcheting transformation sound effect will be present (so says Rogers).

All the behind the scenes news seems positive; everyone involved is a fan of the franchise in some form or another (yes, even Spielberg "knows the mythology").

I've also mixed up Murphy and DeSanto; a couple of those rumours I attributed to DeSanto actually come from Murphy. I'm editing my earlier post to correct.

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We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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Friday, February 25, 2005 6:14 AM

TOMANTA

Quote:
Originally posted by Cybersnark:

-The first drafts of the script have been turned in by (apparently longtime TransFan) John Rogers ("Catwoman," "The Core").

This is not good news. This is not good news at all... [Especially Catwoman. No respect to any of the mythology...]

But first draft doesn't mean much. Someone better can do the rewrites.

"Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government."

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Saturday, February 26, 2005 8:25 AM

CYBERSNARK

Well, apparently Catwoman had EPs, studio suits, and Halle Barry pulling the strings. Plus they apparently wanted to avoid any potential Batman crossover. But yeah, it sucked.

Which of course doesn't say anything about this script. Compare John Logan's scripts for Gladiator (brief cutscenes to stitch the gore sequences together into something resembling a plot) and Star Trek Nemesis (insightful, deep, and intricate character drama).

That said, it is kinda reassuring that they're giving TV talent a chance to break into movies (the duo has done three movie scripts, but they're all in production, nothing released yet).

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We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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Sunday, February 27, 2005 10:50 PM

SOUPCATCHER

Apparently, Spielberg is going to announce the director in the next week or so. (the very last question in the interview - link to article from hsbr genome page).
http://www.darkhorizons.com/news05/warworlds.php

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Monday, March 7, 2005 1:17 AM

OPTIMUS1998

Quote:
Originally posted by TheGreyJedi:
If this is true...

SCORE!

Oh it's true allright! read largeish write up about it in the latest issue of Toyfare ( toy mag put out by wizard)

and i'm just extatic at the possibilities!!

...May have been the losing side, Still not convinced it was the wrong one.

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Monday, March 7, 2005 1:38 AM

NERVOUSPETE

Actually, I very much enjoyed 'The Core'. It was silly, true, but it had a surprising ammount of character and some quite witty dialogue.

And it had me considerably more thrilled than any other disaster movie I can remember. I thought it was a taut piece with a cunning McGuffin.

But I suspect that Spielberg's 'War of the Worlds' will become my all time fave disaster movie when it comes out.

Catwoman, of course, is completely terrible.

Hurrah/Bah response from me, then.

Pete

"If you can keep your head whilst others... eurgh! Ack! I've spilt my ink! Ugh! Ink on my trousers! Agh! Ink on my shirt! My only hope! The window! Aieeeeee!" (Falls to death)
- Jonathan Nash

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Tuesday, March 8, 2005 4:49 AM

CYBERSNARK

Another point on Rogers' resumé: he's the guy who created (well, did the TV treatment, AFAIK it was Chan's idea) The Jackie Chan Adventures. Y'know, that animated show that Adam Baldwin is on?

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We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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Tuesday, March 8, 2005 5:30 AM

TOMANTA

Quote:
Originally posted by Cybersnark:
Another point on Rogers' resumé: he's the guy who created (well, did the TV treatment, AFAIK it was Chan's idea) The Jackie Chan Adventures. Y'know, that animated show that Adam Baldwin is on?

I didn't know Adam was on that show. I might have to actually watch it if I catch it on again.

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"Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government."

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Wednesday, March 9, 2005 5:45 AM

CYBERSNARK

According to IMBD (which it only now occurred to me to check), he plays. . . Finn?!? WTF!?!

?
O_o

Scrawny, even-voiced, stuck-in-the-seventies Finn is Jayne?!?

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We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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Wednesday, March 16, 2005 6:36 AM

CYBERSNARK

Minor update: an extremely thin article on Yahoo.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=598&e=9&u=/nm/20050315
/film_nm/film_transformers_dc

Nothing really new (or enlightening). Just a list of Kurtzman and Orci's (unreleased, unless I blacked out for a month or so) movies.

Meanwhile, TransformersCon 2005 happens in a few weeks, so there may be more news then.

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We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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Monday, March 21, 2005 9:04 AM

CYBERSNARK

And again something belated; a look at the film by Battlestar Galactica concept artist Eric Chu that (apparently) got DeSanto's attention:

http://www.galactica.tv/transformers/
(Low res is 38 megs, high res is 78.)

I was kinda hoping that DeSanto would turn out to be a closet Firefly/Galactica fan, but not yet, anyway.

(And no, I don't think that's the Optimus model they'll be using, since the PTBs confirmed that Prime will be as G1-like as possible.)

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We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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Wednesday, April 6, 2005 4:38 AM

CYBERSNARK

And another update that nobody'll read:

We have a director, as noted on Sci-Fi Wire:

Quote:
Michael Bay will direct The Transformers for DreamWorks and Paramount, with Steven Spielberg executive producing, Variety reported. The news confirmed rumors about the movie, which is scheduled for a Thanksgiving 2006 release. Shooting will begin in the fall, the trade paper reported.

This could go either way: Bay has a reputation as a big "popcorn movie" name, but that might be what Transformers merits. Time will tell.

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We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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Wednesday, April 6, 2005 9:36 AM

NAKEDANDARTICULATE

im here for ya buddy....i will now read this thread instead...sorry. ROLL OUT!

"Hamsters is nice."

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Wednesday, April 6, 2005 10:06 PM

EMPRESSPIRK

I read

. It's great someone reports the Transformers related news here since I don't go actively looking for them myself. Thanks.

Apparently Bay has made the Transformers stock soar on HSX. It was $53 yesterday and now $64. I'm making nice profit at least for now.

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Monday, April 18, 2005 4:26 AM

CYBERSNARK

A recent Q&A on Don Murphy's site ( http://makeashorterlink.com/?D285128EA) revealed some interesting, ominous, and confusing data. Too much to summarize here, but the salient points:

Dreamworks (the production company) is being problematical. They want to "reinvent" things (which is almost always a bad sign) to make a "better" movie (and we all know how that kinda thing can turn out). Apparently at this point it's a race for the Loyalists (Murphy, DeSanto, Spielberg) to convince Bay (who is still in talks, it turns out) to let them do it their way, and keep the fannish things sacrosanct. It's not that there's any hostility, it's just indifference to the fandom.

DeSanto and the writers want big name stars, and Dreamworks and Hasbro don't care, so no resolution yet on Cullen & Welker.

It also looks like Zoic is in danger of getting frozen out; Bay wants to hire ILM. Not sure what this means, since there seems to be some precedent of personnel-shuffling between FX houses --might be some Zoic people are getting into it even if Zoic itself is not. Any Zoic employees surfing the boards feel able to comment?

Nobody knows what's up with Soundwave. Murphy doesn't want size-changing, but Hasbro is insisting that Soundwave be "in musical form" (I've got a theory. . .

) and be able to launch Ravage (the panther cassette).

Bumblebee (everybody's favourite yellow VW bug) is another point of confusion. Hasbro has recently filed to reclaim the trademark (they lost the rights to his name years ago), but Murphy reports that Bumblebee likely won't be in the movie, 'cause the writers are worried about the new Herbie movie. That's right, friggin' LIndsey Lohan and Herbie are slaggin' up our Transformers movie!

It looks like they're now at the point of too many cooks gettin' into the broth. There were 29 people in the meeting, which is far more than is normal (10 of them were from Hasbro, who have proven that they wouldn't know a good story if it came up and performed a colourful metaphor [witness Armada and Energon]). Murphy assures us that nothing is final at this point, and that there's nothing in particular to worry about. He also warns/assures that any and all of this news might change within the next month, week, day, or even hour. He seemed to stress August as a time when changes could occur, reminding us of the "it's not officially decided until it's on screen (and sometimes not even then" philosophy of movie making.

"Official" ETA at this point:
Final ten TFs chosen- 3 weeks
Colors/Models of those ten finalized JULY 1
Prep begin Sept 1
Shoot begin Dec 1

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We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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