Transformers 3 release date set
According to Deadline Hollywood, Michael Bay officially signed on to Transformers 3 today, and confirmed the film’s release date of July 1, 2011. 
Michael Bay even got in a small dig at one of his stars, Megan Fox, in his announcement on his site about the film.
“Megan Fox, welcome back,” Bay wrote. “I promise no alien robots will harm you in any way during the production of this motion picture.”
Click past the cut for some recent pictures of Megan Fox promoting her recent film, “Jennifer’s Body.”
- Matt Price
Transformers 2 has $112m weekend; $201m so far
According to the AP, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen will crack $200 million in ticket sales in just 5 days. Paramount reports Transformers 2 with an estimated $112 million weekend, and $201.2 million since the Wednesday opening.
The film shows itself to be virtually critic-proof, as the huge opening is despite a 20 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Transformers 3 is already set for a July 1, 2011 opening, according to Variety, though it’s not yet clear whether director Michael Bay will return.
- Matt Price
Transformers 2 has 2nd-best midnight opening ever
According to Variety, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen pulled in $16 million in midnight screenings, making it the best-ever Wednesday a.m. opening, and second-best midnight ever behind Dark Knight’s $18.5 million. It passed Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix’s $12 million from 2007.
However, the bright light of day hasn’t helped the critical response any, as the film sits now at 21 percent positive on Rotten Tomatoes. Will Transformers 2 continue to break records? Or will word-of-mouth stall the film’s momentum? We’ll see in the coming days.
- Matt Price
Transformers 2 roundup: BAM reviews, Twinprov raps, tickets sell
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen hits theaters today, and while tickets continue to be hot items, reviews aren’t quite as positive.
NewsOK’s own BAM shares her opinion on the film:
Unfortunately, the slogan “more than meets the eye” does not apply to the slam-bang action sequel “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.”
Instead, director Michael Bay staunchly adheres to the credo “more is better,” making the follow-up to his 2007 blockbuster bigger, dumber and louder.
See the full review here. BAM also brought in local comedy duo Twinprov to provide another summer blockbuster rap, this time, the Transformers rap. Check it out below:
However, tickets continue to sell heavily for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, even as critical response is at best mixed. Fandango reported selling 8 Transformers tickets per second during peak periods. More than 2,000 midnight and late night/early morning showings sold out, also according to Fandango. As of 6 a.m., Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen represented 94 percent of ticket sales on Fandango.
Movietickets.com reported similar information, with more than 94 percent of ticket sales at the site tracking to “Transformers 2.”
The film passed “Pirates of the Caribbean 2,” “Quantum of Solace,” “Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring” and “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” on MovieTickets.com’s all-time pre-sellers last night.
- Matt Price
Sellouts continue as Transformers 2 release nears
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen has moved to No. 20 on MovieTickets.com’s list of Top 25 pre-sellers of all time, passing “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” and “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” among others.
MovieTickets.com reports more than 1,000 sellouts as of 6 p.m. Eastern, including 600 midnight screenings. The movie currently accounts for 93 percent of tickets sold at MovieTickets.com.
On the other hand, a few reviews have started coming in, including from Roger Ebert, who, to put it mildly, didn’t like the movie. The film is tracking at 28 percent at Rotten Tomatoes. Most print reviews are embargoed until tomorrow, so that will affect the number. The question is, in what direction? Check out NewsOK.com and The Oklahoman tomorrow for our own review of the film.
- Matt Price
Fandango reports more than 500 Transformers 2 sellouts
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is the biggest pre-sales title of the year, according to Fandango.com. The film represents 93 percent of Fandango.com’s daily ticket sales as of noon Pacific time today.
More than 500 shows have sold out from coast to coast, according to the site. In addition, Transformers 2 is selling twice as many tickets as Iron Man sold on Fandango at the same point in that film’s sales cycle.
Look for NewsOK.com’s review of “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” tomorrow.
- Matt Price
Transformers 2 breaks into top 25 on Movietickets.com list
According to Movietickets.com, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen has sold out 600 performances nationwide, and accounts for 93 percent of ticket sales at the site. The movie has moved into 25th place in MovieTickets.com’s list of the Top-25 Pre-sellers of All-Time. In doing so, it bumped the 2007 “Transformers” from the list.
“So much for being robots in disguise,” said Joel Cohen, executive vice president and general manager for MovieTickets.com in a release. “‘Transformers 2′ is sure to be one of our highest grossing and most visible openers in 2009.”
See below for Movietickets.com’s Top 25. Given the number of “Harry Potter” films on that list, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the top 25 shaken up again in the coming weeks, as “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” nears.
MovieTickets.com’s Top 25 Pre-Sellers of All-Time (includes IMAX)
1. Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
3. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
4. The Dark Knight
5. Twilight
6. Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Disney Digital 3-D
7. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
8. The Matrix Reloaded
9. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
10. Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones
11. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
12. Sex and the City
13. Spider-Man 3
14. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
15. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
16. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
17. The Passion of the Christ
18. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
19. High School Musical 3: Senior Year
20. Dreamgirls
21. Quantum of Solace
22. The Departed
23. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
24. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
25. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” already selling out
Hundreds of tomorrow night’s midnight show times for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen have sold out, and the film makes up 76 percent today’s ticket sales at Fandango.com, according to information from the company.
Tulsa is among cities with sellouts; also included are New York, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Albuquerque, Denver, Houston, Nashville, Orlando, Colorado Springs, Fresno and Buford, Georgia. Some theaters are adding 4 a.m. screenings to handle demand.
The film is selling twice as many tickets at Fandango as the first “Transformers” at this point in the sales cycle.
And Megan Fox and Shia LaBeouf, while popular, don’t appear to be the only draws. A poll at Fandango of more than 2,000 moviegoers planning to see “Transformers 2″ indicates a majority of them would see “Transformers 3″ without LaBeouf or Fox.
· 92% of respondents said that Megan Fox’s political statements do not affect their interest in the movie.
· 84% of respondents said they would still be in interested in seeing Transformers 3, even if Megan Fox did not appear in the third movie.
· 69% said they would still be interested in seeing Transformers 3, even if Shia LaBeouf did not appear in the third movie.
Could ‘Transformers 2′ be summer’s biggest opening?
At this point in the sales cycle, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” is outpacing “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” “Up,” “Star Trek,” “Night at the Museum 2″ and “Angels and Demons” in pre-sales at MovieTickets.com.
As of 12 p.m. ET today, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” accounts for 83 percent of ticket sales at MovieTickets.com.
Most of the fans aching to see “Transformers 2″ were influenced by the first film, according to a Movietickets.com poll, reproduced below.
WEEKLY MOVIETICKETS.COM POLL
What has most influenced your desire to see “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”?
72% – Transformers (2007)
16% – The original television series
12% – The trailer
Total Votes on MovieTickets.com: 4,242
Video game art director of Transformers Revenge of the Fallen was longtime fan
Like many Oklahoma boys growing up in the 1980s, Justin Thomas played with Transformers, the action-figure robots that change into trucks, jets and other vehicles. Now 34, he is turning his boyhood fantasy into the art direction for the “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” video game.
After graduating from Edmond Memorial High School in 1993, Thomas attended the Art Institute of Dallas, focusing on computer graphics. Upon graduation, he found work in the video game industry, eventually working on the “Medal of Honor” and “Call of Duty” World War II franchises.
“I’ve been doing World War II games for longer than the U.S. was involved in the war, so I’ve got quite a bit of World War II knowledge rolling around up there,” Thomas said. “It was an absolutely incredible time. Some really great and heroic stories.”
Now living in Los Angeles, Thomas is the art director of “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” based on the Michael Bay movie set for Friday release. The “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” video game will be released Tuesday. Thomas said several people working on the game were fans of the property and wanted to do it justice.
“The first and foremost thing that we concentrated on was getting the transformations right; really getting 
the feel of being one of those bots, one of those Transformers, this giant robot just kind of rumbling through the city,” he said. “The transformations are very fluid. … There’s lots of really quick activity. It’s almost like a parkour with these giant robots.”
Thomas visited the set of “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” and pitched ideas to Hasbro for updating classic characters for the game.
“Who knows how much money my parents sunk into buying toys from them when I was a kid,” he said. “So, it’s kind of amazing. It feels like everything’s come full circle.”
By Matthew Price
From Monday’s The Oklahoman
