Digital Domain's CGI Work For ROTF

The first article from Gizmodo covers how Alice (Isabel Lucas) was transformed into a dangerous robot by the company. The process involved "advanced particle simulation to tear 10,000 pieces of skin away" that Bay found lacking so 40 frames were added of a close-up with 50 pieces being removed that was done by and by five guys over three months for those two seconds of action. The full details with pictures is here.

The second article from CGSociety also covers the Alice sequence but also touches on four others that Digital Domain worked on - the kitchen bots (8 in total), Wheelie, Soundwave and Reed Man. The total shots were about 130. Reed Man is razor thin robot that forms from the combined nano-bugs that Ravage spit out in the movie. The article covers some of the technical hurdles necessary to create the scenes and Bay's creative input on putting the scenes together. The full two page article is here.

Revenge Crosses $600 Million Mark

After 13 days of release, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen crossed the $600 million threshold in worldwide sales of $607,683,781. Monday sales took the movie over the top with $6.4M from the US and $9.9M ($299.8M total) from international sales ($307.9M total). For comparison it appears it took an estimated 40 days for the first Transformers movie to reach that mark. The first movies worldwide total was $708.2M ($319.2M US, $389.0 International). It appears that at this rate the movie might cross that value by the end of weekend.

Box Office Totals (in millions)

Date US Intl Worldwide

6/19-6/23 $0.0 $24.1 $24.1
6/24-6/28 $200.2 $166.2 $366.4
6/29-7/02 $50.9 $52.7 $103.6
7/03-7/05 $42.3 $55.0 $97.3
7/06 $6.4 $9.9 $16.3
Totals $299.8 $307.9 $607.7
*estimate of sales

Optimus Prime Present The Top Ten List

Last night Optimus Prime (CGI version) with Peter Cullen doing the voice appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman to read "Top Ten Things That Sound Cool When Spoken By a Giant Robot." Cullen does the best he can with weak material but the CGI wasn't bad for something put together for a comedy segment.

Optimus Prime Replica For Sale

A 1997 Peterbilt 379 Extended Hood replica of Optimus Prime is for sale on eBay. As I write this the bid is already up to $20,300. Click here for the full gallery of pictures which shows its exterior and interior paint jobs.

Transformers : ROTF Special Edition Album Cancelled

If you have been holding out on buying Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen The Album because of Amazon's Special Edition listing, you no longer need to wait as it has been cancelled according to an email TFormers received from the company. Considering no details were ever released about the edition I can't say I am surprised.

Transformers 2 #1 Second Weekend In Row

All week long since Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs came out last Wednesday the two movies have been battling it out at the domestic box office trading number one spots pretty much every other day of the week. The weekend ended with an estimated $42.5 tie between the two movies, the last time this occurred was 11 years ago between The Man in the Iron Mask versus Titanic.

Now the final numbers are in an Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen can claim itself as the number 1 movie for the second weekend in a row with a $42.3 million take to Ice Age 3's $41.7 million. The victory could either be credited to the additional 233 theatres TF2 is in or $4.6 million from IMAX sales. Take your pick. This increases TF2 domestic total to $293.4 million. The international take has not been reported and remains at the estimated $55 million for a total of $298 million bringing the worldwide total to $591.4.

Overall, Revenge took a 61.2% nosedive from last weekend’s near record breaking high so the longevity of this film is still too tough to call as next weekend will provide some usable numbers but the following week Harry Potter 6 lands and all films are going to be shoved to the side in favor of that blockbuster.

Box Office Totals (in millions)

Date US Intl Worldwide

6/19-6/23 $0.0 $24.1 $24.1
6/24-6/28 $200.2 $166.2 $366.4
6/29-7/02 $50.9 $52.7 $103.6
7/03-7/05 $42.3 $55.0* $97.3
Totals $293.4 $298.0 $591.4
*estimate of sales

Two Arcee Bikes From ROTF

RetroSBK, the creators of the Arcee bikes used in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, has posted a few images (below) of the bikes. In a seperate post they provide some additional information about the base models of the bikes before they added they worked their magic. (via Seibertron)

I wanted to take a minute to end the speculation about what really makes up Arcee…

No buell… never was. Quite frankly, I never thought of Arcee as overweight and under powered! Svlete and sexy or muscular and ready to rock, but not loud and slow!

The Pink bike is a Ducati 848, The Blue is a Suzki B-king. The purple is another bike, but she gets.. well see the movie, and you know what happens…

Escalating Visual Effects For Transformers 2

A new article from VFX World talks about how Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen raised the bar in visual effects for movies. The challenge for Industrial Light & Magic was creating the more complicated effects of 46 robots rather than the first movie's 16 while making them bigger, more complicated and at the scale IMAX requires all in the about the same amount of time it took to do the first film. Below are the highlights from the three page article that is worth the read as its amazing the details that have to be considered when creating a CGI sequence. Thanks to a site fan for the link.

- 46 robots in sequel, 14 robots in first
- ILM had about same amount of time to do the increased demands of the second movie as did for the first.
- Takes around 12 weeks to build the model and then another 12-15 weeks to do the rigging and painting for each robot in the computer.
- ILM created 60 builds for ROTF, Digital Domain also designed a few including Alice.
- Disc storage went from 20TB for first film to 150TB.
- Crew size maxxed out to 350 to reach deadline.
- Devastator, if in the real world, would be 150 feet high and Jetfire would be 50 feet tall.
- "both Michael Bay and Scott Farrar wanted to introduce the fact that these characters are alive. Drooling and spitting and bleeding and breathing. Rather than mechanical beasts standing around."
- "[Jetfire] has a sneer at one point, so we had to redesign the face and the eye area so he could wince," Farrar explains.
- "We utilized a lot of martial arts influences and spent about two months doing previs for forest fight sequence and did a full three-minute animatic (in Maya) before the plates were shot for that sequence. "
- "It took 72 hours per frame to render Devastator. We tried a little bit of everything for the forest fight. It's still an action sequence but the hard part was shooting thematically. We know the IMAX people tell you to slow the camera down and lock it off. Well, that's not how Michael shoots. We have pause moments, where you see the characters slow down, but then we have high speed and go back and forth that way."
- "People in computer graphics don't want to reduce motion blur, but the problem with the robots is that they have so many little pieces that they become artifacts with so many sharp things moving through the frame. I found it's better to reduce motion blur in certain moments, like when Bumblebee comes close or Starscream has moments in the forest fight and Optimus and Megatron, where we reduce motion blur to half, a third and an eighth."
- ...the breaking apart of a pyramid top was eight times bigger than the previous ILM rigid simulation record. It only required four or five shots but that took seven months just to create the simulation of the blocks tumbling and being torn apart by Devastator.

Alternity Megatron And Prime Video Review

In an attempt to cover more about Transformers then just the movie here are two more reviews from Peaugh for two Alternity line toys. This line is essentially replaces the Binal-Tech from a few years ago. However, like Binal-Tech (but not Alternators) these have some die-cast parts that makes for a heavy toy despite its Deluxe class size, they also seem to cost around $50(USD) and up from toy sites that I used in the past like BigBadToyStore.com, TFSource.com, and Digital Toys.

The first review is for the upcoming release of Alternity Megatron and the second is for Optimus Prime. I have the Optimus Prime toy and while expensive found it to very cool and looking forward to getting Megatron.

Transformers 2 " Most Movie Mistakes Of 2009 "

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was recently crowned the top movie of the year worldwide and in the US but it also has a more notorious "award" according to MovieMistakes.com. Currently it is considered the most error prone movie of the year with more than 40 mistakes. Some of them seem to be nitpicks but the second closest movie is Angels & Demons with 19 mistakes so even if half of them removed Transformers 2 will retain the title of most movie mistakes (so far) for 2009. To read the full list, click here (via Seibertron)

The Doctor And Superion Video Review

Peaugh has posted two more video reviews of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen toys. The first one is Scout class Scalpel, aka The Doctor that turns from microscope to spider-thing. The other is Superion which is the Transformers: Energon toy with a new paint job and packaging. There is a reason the classic combiners remain a favorite for many as Hasbro has not quite figured out how to re-crack that nut as their combiner attempts have been weak.

Transformers ROTF Officially Top Movie Of Year

Wth the Sunday estimates indicating a horse race for weekend box office king with Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the estimates are enough to officially crown the movie "Number One Movie in the World" 2009 due to its domestic and worldwide totals, as the official website is happy to brag about (thanks NHLfan).

However, the Sunday night "we are number 1" from the studios will have to wait as the estimates continue to indicate a too close to call race for US weekend box office king with both three-day totals at an estimated $42.5 million. Currently Ice Age is estimated to take in $14.3 million to Transformers 2 $14 million, causing the tie. For the five-day opening (Wednesday to Sunday), Ice Age will probably claim the win with an estimated $67.5M to TF2's $64.9M and with international total of $148M has a five day worldwide total of $215 million, the most for a cartoon so plenty to crow about for the studio.

Internationally for Transformers 2 took it an estimated $55 million. The net result is Transformers 2 will probably cross the $600 million threshold tomorrow with a US total of around $292.8M, overseas total of 298.0M, for a worldwide total of $590.8 million. Hopefully the actuals tomorrow will solidify these numbers.

Box Office Totals (in millions)

Date US Intl Worldwide

6/19-6/23 $0.0 $24.1 $24.1
6/24 $62.2 $60.0 $120.7
6/25 $29.1 $20.0 $48.6
6/26 $36.7
6/27 $40.2
6/28 $32.0 $86.2**
6/29 $14.8 $14.1 $28.9
6/30 $13.5 $16.8 $30.3
7/01 $11.0 $14.2 $25.2
7/02 $11.5* $7.6* $25.5
7/03 $17.8*
7/04 $10.0*
7/05 $14.0* $55.0*,**
Totals $292.8 $298.0 $590.8
*estimate of sales, **no day to day breakdown available

Transformers 2 VS Ice Age 3 Race Continues

The weekend estimates are in (yep they do that even with another full day to go) and it appears to be a pretty good weekend for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen but is expected to take an estimated 60% drop compared to last weekend. It could just be a blip because of the holiday weekend but not something Paramount wants to see occur every weekend. The drop is in part because its first weekend numbers were simply unsustainable, partly due to new competition in the form of Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs and Public Enemies (which did fine but non-started compared to TF2's numbers) and probably because word of mouth wasn't as strong as hoped.

Transformers 2 was already the top grossing movie worldwide but as of Friday July 3rd, it passed Up as the top grossing movie of the year in the US by taking in an estimated domestic gross $17.8 million for a US total of $268.7 million compared to Up's domestic gross of $261.0 million. Up's total took 36 days to achieve, Transformers 2 took only 10 days.

In addition it just eeked out a win for Friday versus Ice Age 3 with $17.8M to $17.0M. So far Transformers has been number one two out of the first three days of Ice Age's release.

As for Saturday and Sunday, both are expected to make an estimated $43 million for the three day weekend but exactly which will be crowned #1 at the box office is too close to call. Saturday numbers put Ice Age 3 back on top with an estimated take of $11.0 million to $10.0 million (for a 2-2 tie).As for Sunday, Transformers 2 is estimated at $15.2M to Ice Age's 3 $15.0 million but the day has barely started so consider those numbers just placeholders until more solid numbers come in by the late afternoon. I was unable to find any numbers for the international box office so that remains blank on the chart below.

Box Office Totals (in millions)

Date US Intl Worldwide

6/19-6/23 $0.0 $24.1 $24.1
6/24 $62.2 $60.0 $120.7
6/25 $29.1 $20.0 $48.6
6/26 $36.7
6/27 $40.2
6/28 $32.0 $86.2**
6/29 $14.8 $14.1 $28.9
6/30 $13.5 $16.8 $30.3
7/01 $11.0 $14.2 $25.2
7/02 $11.5* $14.0* $25.5
7/03 $17.8* $17.8
7/04 $10.0* $10.0
7/05 $15.2* $15.2
Totals $293.9 $249.4 $543.3
*estimate of sales, **no day to day breakdown available

Transformers 2 Blu-ray/DVD Release On October 24th?

Blu-ray.com has a listing for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen that seems to indicate an October 24th release date for the Blu-ray and DVD disc release of the movie. This has not been officially confirmed by Paramount but the first movie was released on October 16th, 2007 so there is precedent for the quick turnaround.

Transformers Nintendo DC Lite Case

Turns out there is a Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Bumblebee Nintendo DS Lite Armor case with stylus as found on Engadget (which has a contest for it) and thought it was goofy enough to post about. There is also a Megatron version. The cases look kind of cool but isn't the whole point of the Nintendo DS its portability and doesn't a rather large case with huge stylus defeat that purpose?

Bay VS Fox? No

For some reason a Wall Street Article from two weeks ago is gaining traction on various gossip sites about a supposed feud between Megan Fox and Michael Bay.

All that occured is Megan Fox told Entertainment Weekly:

I mean, I can't s--- on this movie because it did give me a career and open all these doors for me. But I don't want to blow smoke up people's a--. People are well aware that this is not a movie about acting."

Here is Bay's response (and my comments at the time):

It’s interesting that you want to focus on acting. Megan Fox, one of the leads in “Transformers” has criticized your films for being special-effects-driven and not offering so many acting opportunities. Do you agree? Well, that’s Megan Fox for you. She says some very ridiculous things because she’s 23 years old and she still has a lot of growing to do. You roll your eyes when you see statements like that and think, “Okay Megan, you can do whatever you want. I got it.” But I 100% disagree with her. Nick Cage wasn’t a big actor when I cast him, nor was Ben Affleck before I put him in “Armageddon.” Shia LaBeouf wasn’t a big movie star before he did “Transformers”—and then he exploded. Not to mention Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, from “Bad Boys.” Nobody in the world knew about Megan Fox until I found her and put her in “Transformers.” I like to think that I’ve had some luck in building actors’ careers with my films.(Bay didn't actually counter Fox's comments. He has an eye for talent and definitly builds careers but his movies are not studies in acting. - TFLive)

That is the extent of the feud. What do you expect Bay to say "Yeah she is right, my films require no acting skill whatsoever." Closer to the truth but part of his job is to sell himself and his films and that wouldn't help.

Supreme Devastator Video Review

Below is three part video review of Supreme class Devastator from the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen toy line done by frenzyrumble.com. This is the $100 version that goes from 6 construction vehicles to combined mode with no individual robot mode. Overall the combined mode looks good and the individual vehicles are fine but it just isn't doing it for me.

Transformers: ROTF Top Grossing Movie Worldwide

As of Wednesday, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen surpassed Angels & Demons as the top grossing movie of 2009 worldwide with a total worldwide total of $474.8 million to Angels $461.6 million. It still remains behind Up ($256.5M) and Star Trek ($256.5M) for the top rank domestically with a total of $239.4 million. Wednesday also marked the first time since its release that Transformers 2 was not ranked number 1. It took in a US box office of $11 million to Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs' first day gross of $13.8 million. This is an 82% drop in sales from last Wednesday but then anything close to that first day total of $62 million is unrealistic expectation.

International sales added an additional $14.2 million to the coffers. In general, it seems for a movie to reach monster status, it has to be equally popular internationally as it is in the states and in this case the breakdown stands at 50.4% of the total worldwide gross comes from the states and 49.6% everywhere else. That basically means for every dollar spent in the states, a dollar is being spent elsewhere. The net result is a doubling of expected profits since overseas sales is never a given but necessary if a film is to reach the $500M or more club that studios love to achieve. July the 4th is expected to cause the box office to take a hit but clearly overseas sales will mitigate the loss of momentum.

Box Office Totals (in millions)

Date US Intl Worldwide
6/19- 6/23 $0.0 $24.1
6/24 $62.2 $60.0 $120.7
6/25 $29.1 $20.0 $48.6
6/26 $36.7
6/27 $40.2
6/28 $32.0 $86.2**
6/29 $14.8 $14.1 $28.9
6/30 $13.5 $16.8 $30.3
7/01 $11.0 $14.2 $25.2
Totals $239.4 $235.4 $474.8
*estimate of sales, **no day to day breakdown available

Atlus Airmen In Transformers 2

Air Education and Training Command website writes about several airmen based at Altus Air Force Base in Oklahoma, USA that provided consulting services and flew aircraft for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Below is a portion of the article but the entire thing plus more pictures can be found here. Link found by Voiceroy.

Capt. Judd Baker, 58th Airlift Squadron, was one of the C-17 Globemaster III aircraft commanders during filming at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., and Holloman Air Force Base, N.M. Captain Baker said, a mission that started as ordinary quickly grew into something much greater.

Aircraft and Airmen from the 97th Air Mobility Wing appear prominently in the combat scenes of the film. Even when the aircraft and the aircrews are not on screen, the experience and expertise of Altus Airmen guided the action. Every time they would have something going on with the C-17s, it was, 'Would this be real? Would this be how you would do it? Is this how you say that or was this what you call that?,'" Captain Baker said. "And whatever we said, it was, 'Yep, change that in the script. That's what we'll say.'"

Staff Sgt. Christopher Worthy, 58th AS loadmaster, said the experience of being on a Hollywood set was far different from his usual duty day. "It's something I never thought I would get to do," he said. "Here, we fly the line, train the guys so they can go out and do the real world missions -- it's a unique experience to get the call and go do something other than train."

Perhaps the most excited viewers were the children who saw their dads on the big screen with some very big counterparts. When asked about his children's reaction, Captain Baker smiled. "They said, 'Hey, daddy was in a movie and got to meet Optimus Prime,'... I think that's fun," he said.

Ramon Rodriguez Profile

Hero Complex profiles Ramon Rodriguez who co-starred in Transformers 2 as Leo Ponce de Leon Spitz and in The Taking of Pelham 123. The article suggests that Michael Bay likes Sam's sidekick enough that he could have a larger role in Transformers 3 (but if he did I can't find that information in any of the quoted comments from Bay).

The actor started with a sports-management degree from New York University which led to working for the PR department of the NY Knicks were he won a Nike basketball competition (by biting a pen while the ball spun on the tip), and joined the Nike freestyle team for a tour of Asia and Europe. This led to acting with by guesting for two episodes on Rescue Me, followed by the Wire, then a role in Bella and finally being cast in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

"I've worked with big stars, people like Will Smith, Sean Connery and Bruce Willis, but casting is a weird thing, it takes you places you don’t expect," Bay said. "We went looking for a sidekick in this movie, Shia’s sidekick, and we find this new kid who really pops on screen. I think he’s going to have a real bright career. It’s great to work with big stars, but it’s always fun to discover people."

"He’s got a street edge and a realness to him," said the director, whose past films include "The Rock" and "Bad Boys.” "He’s a New York kid with a street feel to him. He adapted to the actors very well, which isn’t always easy in a big movie, a sequel, where a lot of the cast chemistry has been set already. He’s funny, charming, comes off cool and accessible.”