Last night director Michael Bay appeared on Starz’s In The House. In the program he addressed a few things. The first was the decision regarding fast tracking Transformers 3 for a 2011 release and putting his small film Pain & Gain on hold:

“The true story is we went to Vegas to celebrate ['Revenge of the Fallen'] crossing the $400 million mark domestic. I said I’m excited to do my small little movie. They said, well we’re here to talk about that. I’ve become friends with these guys that run Paramount and they [told me,] ‘We’re going to get fired if we don’t have a 2011 franchise,’ so I’m like you can’t let these guys down. “The economy’s been so rough, it’s kind of important. When you say yes to movie like this you automatically give 3000 people jobs. 1000 for the toys. 2000 for the filmmaking. I’m going to put [the small film] on hold and do it right after ['Transformers 3'].”

This sounds sincere to me and hopefully puts an end to the constant bickering that Bay decided to do TF3 first for the money. We also reported yesterday that Bay announced that two of Transformers 3’s action scenes will be in Chicago and Moscow. He gave a bit more updates on the show in regards to the story:

“You can’t just rehash the old,” he explained. “We’re adding a lot of new elements. We’re adding new characters. We’re adding a lot of twists.”

He sounds very confident, but unlike the last time we heard this song and dance from Bay, he actually has the time to devote to these “twists” and “new characters.” The final (and perhaps most important) update from Bay was in regards to the constant debate over whether or not the film will be in 3D:

“It’s a process we’re testing with some ‘Transformers’ scenes,” he said. “How successful it is with my movie in terms of a lot of real stuff coming out of the frame, real dirt, real complicated little particles coming towards the lens, because hopefully that process will work. I’ve seen some tests that look great on other movies. I just want to see how it looks on my footage.”

Bay is probably the biggest name in Hollywood right now that has been 100% against using 3D in films. Bay has constantly referred to himself as an “old school film maker.” I will let you interpret that how you wish (I personally agree with that) but, I think a 3D environment is too jarring for the types of films Bay makes. The way Bay moves his camera, or rather the speed at which he moves the camera, is too fast for anyone watching in 3D to comprehend. Though I was not one of the people who had a problem with the action in Revenge of The Fallen, I can only imagine that 3D would only make things worse. We sit 3 months away from the start of production so hopefully we will have a final answer between now and then.

Should Transformers 3 be shot in 3D? Do you think Bay will pull of a story with a lot of twists this time around?

At the tail end of his talk with Australian newspaper The Age, character actor Hugo Weaving was asked about the depth of his involvement in the Transformers series, voicing uber-robot villain Megatron in both films.

Here’s what he had to say:

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A message was posted today on Michael Bay’s official website regarding Transformers 3. It reads as follows:

Our Stimulus Package

12/16/2009 07:06 AM

Nelson here…

We are looking for the best pre-viz animators to help build the team for Transformers 3. Maya expertise is a must.

Please email your resume in Word or PDF format along with the URL of your reel to the webmaster.

This is a first for me. I have seen many advertisements for casting for a movie like this, but never for crew members. Is Michael Bay scraping the bottom of the barrel for crew? Probably not, but this says something for the direction they might be heading in for Transformers 3. Low budget… probably not. Small time actors… definitely not. But looking to new sources for ideas for the next film… sounds like a good bet to me.

Would you want to be a part of the crew for Transformers 3?

USA Today recently spoke with director Michael Bay at the Victoria’s Secret Show and asked him about the rumor that Megan Fox is going to be killed off in Transformers 3. Bay said he “loves her” and stated: Read the full story

After months of speculation as to what Michael Bay’s next project was going to be, he has announced via his official message board that his next project is in fact Transformers 3:

Well its official: We have a great Transformers 3 story. The release date is now July 1st 2011. Not 2012.

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The following was released on Michael Bay’s official website:

Nelson here…

I spoke to Michael today and he had a little update on his future projects:

• He will be meeting later this week with Steven Spielberg, and Ehren Kruger to discuss ideas for Transformers 3. By the end of the week he should have an idea if Transformers 3 will hit your local cineplex in the summer of 2011 or 2012.
• In the meantime “Pain & Gain” is looking very possible as is…
• …Bad Boys 3. Either film coming to a theater near you before or after Transformers

This is huge news for all Michael Bay fans (like myself). It looks like Bay is still on for Transformers 3 after all and Pain & Gain will also be happening which is great news. The best part however is the Bad Boys 3 update. I would really love Pain & Gain before Transformers 3 since that one shouldn’t take that much time to produce. Then Transformers 3 and top it off with the completion of the Bad Boys saga.

Which film are you most looking forward to?

A letter written by 3 Michael Bay crew members (this is confirmed since the letter was originally posted on Bay’s official site before the webmaster took it down) in response to all of Megan Fox’s recent comments has been released online and it states the following:

This is an open letter to all Michael Bay fans. We are three crew members that have worked with Michael for the past ten years. Last week we read the terrible article with inflammatory, truly trashing quotes by the Ms. Fox about Michael Bay. This letter is to set a few things straight.

Yes, Megan has great eyes, a tight stomach we spray with glycerin, and an awful silly Marilyn Monroe tattoo plastered on her arm that we cover up to keep the moms happy.

Michael found this shy, inexperienced girl, plucked her out of total obscurity thus giving her the biggest shot of any young actresses’ life. He told everyone around to just trust him on his choice. He granted her the starring role in Transformers, a franchise that forever changed her life; she became one of the most googled and oogled women on earth. She was famous! She was the next Angelina Jolie, hooray! Wait a minute, two of us worked with Angelina – second thought – she’s no Angelina. You see, Angelia is a professional.

We know this quite intimately because we’ve had the tedious experience of working with the dumb-as-a-rock Megan Fox on both Transformers movies. We’ve spent a total of 12 months on set making these two movies.

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According to THR Columbia Pictures has hired Peter Craig to pen a script for a new addition to the Bad Boys films. Columbia hopes to reunite producer Jerry Bruckheimer with director Michael Bay and stars Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. Reportedly, all key players have expressed interest as long as a story can be hammered out. However, the cost of all the players is still a worry.

I am so happy to hear this news. I have been waiting for a third installment ever since Bad Boys II which many claim is just a fun movie to watch. Bad Boys 1 helped establish Michael Bay as a feature film director and this would put him right back with Jerry Bruckheimer whom he hasn’t worked with since Bad Boys II. I do wonder how this film will coincide with Bay’s other projects currently at hand (Transformers 3 [which he hasn't been confirmed yet for] and I Am Number 4). Not to mention Smith’s upcoming films Time Share and the I Am Legend prequel. Also, Big Mama’s House 3 and Wild Hogs 2 for Lawrence.

Do you want a Bad Boys III?

It’s no surprise after the box office success of the Transformers series that Hasbro would be itching to bring it’s other big toy line to the big screen. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra has arrived. While it isn’t great it does have the element of surprise and fun that the first Transformers film was successful at. This is the first time we get to see these toys on the big screen and Sommers packs enough action in that we are able to have a fun time with the film.

Stephen Sommers, who hasn’t made anything worthwhile since The Mummy, brings his stylistic campiness to the film and it works in his favor. The story revolves around key Joe characters Duke (Channing Tatum) and his partner Ripcord (Marlon Wayans) protecting a very dangerous weapon created by an evil mastermind and it just screams campiness. It is easy to deal with though because partnered with the campiness we get a few well-done action sequences.

Even during the moments when the film goes into unnecessary back story for some of the characters it is still a bit of a rush. Unfortunately, you can spot every plot twist coming a mile away – understandable but still unacceptable. It is nice that the trailer didn’t give away as much as I thought it did though. The story is about as deep as you would expect from a G.I. Joe movie and Sommers.

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G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is the standard formula summer action movie. It is mindless, cheesy, and yet still remains fun. While most expected a disaster, this is far from it. This is a film that does replace character development with nonstop action, but it still works. It is filled with a few impressive action sequences and also a few notable characters. While this won’t go down as a highlight of the summer, it is far from being the worst movie of the summer.

The story revolves around soldiers Duke (Channing Tatum) and Ripcord (Marlon Wayans) who must guard a case that contains nanomites, a very dangerous weapon that was developed by an evil weapons manufacturing company named M.A.R.S. Dealer. James McCullen (Christopher Eccleston) is the head of this organization and he has plans to sabotage this mission so the weapons would appear to be stolen. Leading this attack is the Baronness (Sienna Miller), who is also Duke’s former girlfriend. After the attack Duke and Ripcord are saved by a secret military team thats run by General Hawk (Dennis Quaid). After this rescue Hawk enlists them to be apart of team G.I. Joe which includes Scarlett (Rachel Nichols), Snake Eyes (Ray Park), Heavy Duty (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), and Breaker (Saïd Taghmaoui). Once all of them team up they must stop Destro before he causes destruction all across the world!

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