Transformers

Long after our corpses have turned to dust, they will still be making Transformers movies. The cities will fall and the tides will rise to the soundtrack of wisecracking robots turning into cars. These things will outlive humanity and will ultimately be the number one choice of entertainment for the sentient A.I. that will supplant us. Transformers 57 will be the most popular film in the underground bunkers that will house the future citizenry of Earth. In other news, two new writers have joined the “writer‘s room” that has been tasked with plotting future movies, one of which may be an animated prequel set entirely on Cybertron. Oh, joy. Oh, bliss.

A couple of months ago, we learned that Paramount, along with producers Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg, hired Akiva Goldsman to head up a new Transformers brain trust, giving Goldsman creative control over the future of the franchise. Goldsman has just put together the writer’s room for the upcoming sequels and spinoffs, and it’s…interesting.

Did you know that Doctor Doom is not a real doctor? Or that Marvel gave Optimus Prime his name? Or that Captain America drew Captain America? Or that Marvel created a character to slaughter Doctor Who's Daleks? We've uncovered some of the strangest and most wonderful facts from more than fifty years of Marvel Comics history to provide you with tidbits to amuse, educate, and inform --- including weird-but-true facts about Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man, the X-Men, Doctor Strange, and the big guy himself, Groot.

The other day, DC and Warner Bros. announced plans for the female-only DC Superhero Girls multimedia project, targeted specifically at young girls with the aim to promote the idea that superheroes and action figures aren’t just for boys…because they aren’t. Now Hasbro is jumping on the bandwagon, with a plan to unveil a new, female-only line of Transformers. Roll out the lady-bots!

Last month, we reported on Paramount’s plans to continue their Transformers franchise, following Michael Bay’s decision to exit the director’s chair to focus on non-robot projects (we’ll see). According to reports, the studio plans on not only releasing another sequel, but expanding the universe with spinoffs, hiring Akiva Goldsman to oversee a creative team of writers. Hasbro has now confirmed those plans, along with the intention to release a new Transformers movie in 2017.

Since Michael Bay decided to make Transformers: Age of Extinction his last directorial outing with the franchise, it’s been unclear just where the series is heading. We’d heard talk of Mark Wahlberg returning to continue the storyline that began with last summer’s film, but little else since then. Taking a cue from Disney’s Star Wars plans (along with every other major studio’s “expanded universe” attempts), Paramount has hired Akiva Goldsman to create a “writers room” and brainstorm new sequel and spinoff ideas.

We currently live in a world where society has stopped blinking incredulously at the mere idea of major film franchises based on the dumb toys you used to play with back in the ‘80s. So, it’s not too surprising that Hasbro is apparently examining the possibility of a big screen ‘GoBots’ revival.

There’s not a lot the ‘Transformers’ movies and ‘The Big Lebowski’ have in common. Yet, buried within ‘Age of Extinction’ is a very Dude-like easter egg for those who are paying attention. Did you miss it? Don't worry, we've got that, and a lot more for you, in the latest installment of You Think You Know Movies. Roll out!

You'll be hard-pressed to find many people who actually liked 'Transformers: Age of Extinction.' But unlike the previous three movies in this franchise, the box office actually reflected that. With the film currently struggling to hit $250 million at the domestic box office (despite doing great numbers overseas), it isn't that surprising that director Michael Bay is jumping ship on 'Transformers 5'.

If something seems strangely familiar about the new 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' reboot opening Friday, that’s not too surprising, since Jonathan Liebesman’s film is little more than a thinly veiled remake of the 'Transformers' movies. Sure, the nominal source material for this latest ninja-turtles adventure is Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird’s 1980s comic books, as well as the cartoon series and three live-action films from the early ‘90s, all of which led to a merchandising bonanza built around the characters’ good-natured valor, love of pizza, and fondness for exclamations like “gnarly!”, “radical!” and “cowabunga!” Yet a closer inspection of Liebesman’s adaptation reveals that, far more than those predecessors, the real inspiration for this wannabe-blockbuster is its producer Michael Bay’s four robot-centric extravaganzas. As proof, here’s a rundown of the many clues that 'TMNT' is nothing but 'Transformers' in a half shell.