MTV.com has updated with a brief interview with Transformers 4 star Mark Wahlberg, in the runup to Sunday’s MTV Movie Awards. There are some great quotes from the article – including Mark Wahlberg apparently pushing for Michael Bay to stick with the Transformers franchise to make more movies past Transformers 4 (you’ll recall that Michael Bay has stated previously during the making of Revenge of the Fallen and Dark of the Moon that he has variously wanted to “take a break from the franchise for a bit” or “next one is my last one” much as he has been saying here, so really, who knows if Mark Wahlberg is giving Mr Bay the push he needs to stay on for Transformers 5 and beyond?)
Other great quotes include the story of Mark Wahlberg being cast for Transformers 4 (Mark evidently jumped at the chance without even knowing what his role would be) and in a heartwarming twist the reaction of Mark Wahlberg’s children to the news (‘Yeah, shut up daddy. You’re lying. You don’t make movies that we want to see!’; direct quote!)
GAUGE
bay can do whatever he wants.
it won't make me like Transformers as a brand or franchise any less.
It's not like I'm being forced to watch the movies or buy it's products.
General Magnus
I find more surprising when people act all righteous and accuse Hasbro of only wanting to make a profit. I mean FFS, we all buy toys made in chinese factories where people receive a shitty salary and no one gets self righteous about that.
Nope it´s all the ebil´s movie´s faults.
03Mach1
How about that graph from Toyfair that showed a huge spike in toy sales during the movie years? You think Hasbro ignores that too and just lumps it all into sales? Of course not. They know each and every dollar each individual brand contributes to their bottom line.
General Magnus
A company works for that. Regardless of what one thinks.
Hot Shot.
I agree. To shoot down a common misconception before it gets mentioned, the money doesn't go back into the brand. Hasbro might take a few more risks with the franchise, but the profit they made off the movies is just that: Profit.
As for how the movies are going to look in a few years? Well, I've already seen them skewered on late-night TV for being the dumb movies they are. I think they have metaphorical Gold Plastic Syndrome. It looked pretty the first time, but it began crumbling a few years later and people started figuring out why.
Afterburner
Really? How very short-sighted that thinking is. It is good for Hasbro's investors in the short-term, but it doesn't necessarily mean much beyond that. The "good" it does for the brand will remain to be judged for years to come.
Ash from Carolina
I agree the new GI Joe live action movie really felt a lot more like the GI Joe I know instead of just using a few names and making it all up as they go along. Cobra Commander had a cool Cobra Commander look this time, Firefly might have changed colors on his costume but it had that Firefly look, even no lips on Snake Eyes this time.
Sure Lady Jaye might have longer hair, but hey as long as she was kicking butt like I'd expect the character to do I can deal with changes, updates, and tweaks. A nice mix of hey I know this stuff with oh cool something new.
Keldroc
The latest GI Joe movie, for instance, which is still not what I'd call "good" exactly, but it felt more true to the material than any of Bay's Transformers movies.
I am okay with the original Bay TF film and despise the two sequels, but if they continue to make a billion dollars at the box office while Bay directs them, more power to him. It's nothing but good for Hasbro, the brand, and Hasbro's perception of the brand for the foreseeable future.
Would I prefer movies that aren't insulting, soulless disasters aside from their effects? Absolutely. But I'll take movies I hate that are super-profitable for the brand over movies I love tanking and damaging the brand. Is the latter a foregone conclusion? No, but I don't think we're going to get the chance to find out one way or the other any time soon.
Prime Jetscream
I don't think ruining the effect of The Hobbit's troll scene is respectful of the book.
Ash from Carolina
I don't think you even need a book that has been fleshed out since World War II to end up with something that translates well from books to movies. While the Harry Potter movies deviate a little from the books it's all pretty much the same with the books providing the road map for the film. Many other adaptations that people could list if they wanted to.
Although I don't think you need clear cut source material to end up with something that people feel is loyal to source material. Between all the different takes Marvel has done on the Avengers in the comic books and all the different ideas on the characters from the various cartoons you end up with loads of contradictory source material for all the characters. Yet people still feel like it was the Hulk in the Avengers even if it's not the exact same Hulk we've seen other places in long strange history of the character.
Yea Transformers history is a mess even if Hasbro thinks they can make it fit into some mega continuity, but I've seen films that felt more faithful made out of bigger messes than Transformers.
Starfire22
I stupidly sided with someone about something without looking at the original post. (Don't like to backtrack, so I just assumed things.)
Basically, forget what I said.
Gingerchris
Nah. If the director and writers have done their job well enough then the audience has already bought into these characters as robots and they'll be able to carry that into being able to relate to them talking in alt mode just as seriously.
I'm sure there'll be some people here that will groan and shout 'cheesy!' at the mention of it as an example, but the talking car thing has been perfectly acceptably done many times before in live action in Knight Rider and been taken seriously with KITT as an actual character the audience cares about and gets invested in the developing relationship and friendship between him and Michael Knight. Certainly I buy into that speech-developed relationship more than the one between Sam and the radioplay Bumblebee.
Also real-world cars do talk via satnav and security alarm alerts and some human drivers now have voice-activated systems in their cars, so a person talking to their car and it answering back with a real voice isn't even out of the realms of actual reality now. Obviously that isn't a sentient alien robot in disguise interacting there, but it's a stepping stone to people seeing a talking car in a movie and not immediately thinking 'Disney'. Although if we are going to consider live-action cars acting on their own in a Disney movie then there's always Herbie to consider, which Bumblebee has already somewhat aped in the BayFormers films with his antics.
If Michael Bay is the only director that can properly 'do' Transformers movies as so many people often claim, then surely he should be able to make a Transformer talking in alt mode work in live-action since it's been a staple of Transformers media right from the very start. If Knight Rider can do it over and over then surely the almighty Bay can too?
pitt55
I still dont see any joke or humor anywhere.
The movies, as currently produced, are seen by the poster as the aborted attempts at having movies produced by folks who understand the concept/franchise. It's clear to me.
What's the problem?
Starfire22
Yes but how long untill the general public (fandom aside) gets sick of them?
RatTrap1985
I don't like the movies, but they have definitely re-energized transformers. I hope they make a few more movies, honestly.
Starfire22
Some people have a sick sense of humor I guess. That or he meant something else. (Can't tell what people really mean through text)
And yes I do know what it means.
03Mach1
Peter Jackson was adapting an already established, period & location specific set of novels that has been fleshed out over the last century. Bay was taking an 80s toy commercial that has reinvented itself almost 10 times in the last 30 years and brought it into the current timeline. Hardly an apples to apples comparison.
And even though I know where this leads, according to boxofficemojo.com, ROTF had higher worldwide gross ticket sales than ROTK. So who did more with the source material?
siccoyote
Problem is you can say that bay etc like making these movies. problem is they have 0 interest in the transformers as a brand, or at least outside of what they think it should be in their tiny niche of it.
If you want to compare things: Peter Jackson & Lord of the Rings vs Michael Bay & Transformers.
Peter Jackson spent many years campaigning and trying to convince film companies to let him make movies of the trilogy. He was obviously a huge fan of the original source material and any changes he made when he made the final film were sensitive to the original fans as he was one.
Michael Bay was hired to do a film about a subject he knew nothing about and had zero interest in, until he realised he could probably get a load of free cars. And a huge paycheck.
Also Shia Wasn't interested in it a t all, because he was too late to really be a transformers child when they first came out. And now they have another actor who was 'just' too old to be a transformers child.
If they had picked anyone who was around 30-35 now they would probably be a transformers child and be more invested.
cappeca
Yeah, lets cut any possible characterization out of the movies so it won't look like a kiddie toon. Because toilet jokes are VERY adult, in a movie about a toy line.
pitt55
Bigger roles, bigger cars, bigger houses, bigger bank acounts….
And he probably had Fox wash his car to be sure she could perform basic functions!! You'd be surprised.