Transformers 4 Crosses $300M in China, Near $1 Billion

While Transformers: Age of Extinction continues to do only so-so in the States, its international box office remain strong as the film becomes the first film (domestic or foreign) to cross the $300 million mark in China with a current total of $301 million. At the end of this weekend the movie's estimated total is $236.3M in States and $730M international for a total of $966.3M. It should cross the threshold by the end of the week and probably match Dark of the Moon's $1.12 billion total. As for this weekend's stats, it was $4.6 in the US, and $37.5M overseas.

SDCC 2014: IDW Announces Angry Birds Transformers and Combiner Wars Comics

Yesterday was the Hasbro panel and today was IDW's to talk about their upcoming plans. Most of the Transformers comic side info was already covered at Botcon so the to new things is a Combiner Wars comic and Angry Birds Transformers comic (press release below), timed to coincide with the release of related toys. Combiners have been used for frequently in the main Transformers comics so I assume those will be incontinuity also. Full details of other IDW info form the panel is here. You can read an interview with John Barber about the Angry Birds TF comic here.

SDCC 2014: Hasbro Teases Robots in Disguise Cartoon, New Combiner Toys

Thursday was the official start of the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con. The yearly convention is nowadays used as a big old smorgasbord of movie and TV news but the comic book and toy side still gets a little of the spotlight. Hasbro was on hand and held their panel that picked up where Botcon 2014 left off. At the panel they introduced two new Generations combiners, teased the new Transformers: Robots in Disguise cartoon series along with a few toys and spoke about a few other things. Summary and links to the galleries are below along with the teaser video for the cartoon. All slides from the panel are here.

Wulong Karst Formally Sues Over Transformers 4

According to Deadline, Paramount Pictures, M1905 (their Chinese partner) and the producers of Transformers: Age of Extinction have a new (if minor) headache to deal with. After threatening to do it earlier this month, I guess discussions did not work out. The Wulong Karst Tourism Company, the location for the Dinobots introduction, have sued them in Chongqing No. 3 Intermediate People's Court for 4M yaun for losses while the park was closed for filming, 12M yaun for profit losses due to the breach and promises how would be depicted in the movie and refund of their 4.8M yaun to be in the movie. The total of 12.8M yaun works out to around $3.4 million depending time of day. The lawsuit comes down to the movie not being nearly overt enough in advertising the park, even though apparently it was good enough as it has enjoyed an increase in visitors. That total is chump change to Paramount as Transformers 4 is poised to cross $1 billion (or 6.2B yuan) and likely they will attempt to quietly settle the lawsuit.

IDW and Hasbro Introduces The Transformers Humble Bundle for Charity

With the start of the San Diego Comic-Con, IDW and Hasbro has started "The Humble Transformers Bundle" for a great potential deal for Transformers digital comic book deal where proceeds will go to Hasbro's Children's Fund. It lets you choose your own price but if pay at least $15 you get the best deal with the full bundle of 12 trade paper backs or over 100 comics if choose to pay at least $15 for the bundle. This includes 48 issues of Marvel's Transformers comics, all 21 issues of the All Hail Megatron, Autocracy, Spotlight volume 1 and first two volume each of the current series Robots in Disguise and More Than Meets the Eye. These are not tied into Comixology or other online retails.

I recommend creating a Humble Bundle account first, then log in before donating. That way your purchase is tied into your account to re-download if need to in the future. I donated $30, after that I received an email that directed me to the site to download the books in my preferred format. If interested in the .cbz format of the books, the readers I use is ComicGlass for iPad/iPhone, Cover for Windows 8 and Perfect Viewer for Android. If go with epub format, Play Books from Google will probably more that meet your needs in most cases and includes syncing across devices. Below is the video about the promotion. Click here to order your bundle for yourself or a friend.

Transformers 4 Crosses $800 Million in Worldwide Box Office

While the stateside box office take of Transformers: Age of Extinction remains below expectations, the international take is likely far exceeding those same expectations as the movie ends the weekend $886 million worldwide total based on early estimates. In the states the movie made only $10 million (for $227M total) while its international gross was $81.2 million (for $659M total), boosted by premieres in various markets now that the World Cup is over. In Brazil it had a $16.5M opening, one of the largest ever in the country while in Germany it opened $11.2M, highest opening of the year in that country. In China, it continues to well taking in $9.6 million ($285.7M total). The film should easily pass $1 billion probably by end of next week, give or take a few days.

IDW October 2014 Transformers Comics

IDW Publishing has released their publishing plans for October 2014. Not anything major this month with four floppies and the Windblade trade coming out. For the full details of IDW's other books including GI Joe, Star Trek, and more click here.

Transformers: Age of Extinction Top Movie of 2014

The box office totals are in for the third weekend since Transformers: Age of Extinction's release. The movie is the top movie of all time in China and now it records itself as being the top movie of 2014 with a worldwide gross of $752.3 million with still a dozen or so major markets about to get the movie now that the World Cup is over. The previous record holder, X-Men: Days of Future Past was at $731.4M.

In the States, Transformers 4 continues to loose steam with a weekend total of $16.3 million for a 56% drop from the previous weekends for a US total of $208.8 million that is expected to top out around $255M. Worldwide, the movie remains very strong with a $102M take for a total of $543.5M. Of that $102 take, $20.4 million is from its opening weekend in the UK and $16.2 from opening in Mexico. The movie did drop in China by 52% but still easily outpacing the US with a $25 million weekend for a $262.6 million. While the United States isn't going to provide the expected boost to the $1 billion goal, the huge international success of the movie along with upcoming release dates to go in Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Japan indicates that the movie will reach the goal and just might surpass Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

Transformers: Age of Extinction Concept Art from Josh Nizzi

More concept art from Transformers: Age of Extinction has been posted. The latest comes from Concept Artist Josh Nizzi (frankly one of their best in my opinion) that provides his take on the Dinobots, some of the unseen Knights mentioned in the film, Optimus Prime, weapons and shields and a bunch more. That includes another look at the "Creator" hand in a striking image that reminds me a lot of what DC Comics uses when talking about its own origin of the universe. The full gallery of images can be found at Josh Nizzi's website or mirrored here.

Autobots vs Decepticons Transformers Trilogy Super Cut

Below is a 20 minute super cut that takes all the action scenes of the Autobots and the Decepticons fighting (so not just on screen but engaged in combat) from the first three Transformers films. The order of the scenes and how they are segmented almost comes across as completely random. For example the forest fight sequence from Revenge of the Fallen gets split into about 6 pieces, segmented out kind of evenly through the 20 minutes but are not in the fight sequence order.

Transformers 4 Tops Slow Weekend

I was expecting Transformers: Age of Extinction's weekend box office to drop 50% but apparently I underestimated just how much the "more of the same" reviews (including mine) and the holiday weekend (down 43% compared to last year) would hurt the film as it dropped a whopping 65%. The current estimates indicate a $36.4 million weekend in the US ($174.7M US total) with $95.8 million in international sales (($400.9M total) for a $132.2 million weekend. The estimated 12 day worldwide box office total sits at $575.6 million. A number that any movie and those associated with it should be proud of except that they have the unusual definition of success being measured as a final take of at least $1 billion worldwide.

Steve Jablonsky Video Interview, Full Score Available Now

The full score for Transformers: Age of Extinction The Score album is available now on iTunes, Amazon and probably your other favorite digital download retailers. There is also a separate release that has 4 tracks the main score release does not have (Amazon, iTunes). Below is the full track list for both. In addition, below is a video interview with movie composer Steve Jablonsky as he discusses his motivation behind the music. Thanks to Feris O. for the link.


Transformers: AOE Score
1) Decision
2) Best Thing That Ever Happened
3) I'm an Autobot
4) Optimus Is Alive
5) Cemetery Wind
6) His Name Is Shane and He Drives
7) Hacking the Drone
8) Transformium
9) Galvatron Is Online
10) Your Creators Want You Back
11) The Final Knight
12) Punch Hold Slide Repeat
13) The Presence of Megatron
14) Galvatron Is Active
15) Have Faith Prime
16) Hong Kong Chase
17) The Legend Exists
18) Dinobot Charge
19) That’s a Big Magnet
20) Drive Backwards
21) Honor to the End
22) Leave Planet Earth Alone
23) The Knight Ship

Transformers: AOE Score EP
1) Hunted
2) Tessa
3) Autobots Reunite
4) Lockdown

Happy 4th: Two Stop Motion Transformers Related Fan Videos

Going into the States Fourth of July weekend, here are two well done stop motion videos as a fun way to kick things off. The first is Devastator vs Optimus Prime using 3rd party MakeToys Giant and Reveal the Shield Optimus Prime with MakeToys' Battle Tanker Upgrade kit. The result is very well done and must have been a pain in the rear to create. The second video is a drag race between Transformers Prime Optimus, Back to the Future DeLorean and Batman Begins Batmobile with a "guest" appearance. Things don't go well for Optimus but still an entertaining vid.

What Is Bayhem?

While those that love Michael Bay will probably not like the below video as it is critical of him, those that like to study filming technique will find it interesting. It demonstrates why Michael Bay may be a good story telling, he is the best in the business in creating an epic feel to any scene through the use of motion both from the camera, the actors, and the background both in big obvious ways and the smaller stuff you probably never specifically noticed but was still essential to making a moment work. Thanks to Mark for the link.

Reminder: Transformers 30th Anniversary Marathon on The Hub

For those that have The Hub network as part of their cable package, tomorrow kicks off the Transformers 30th Anniversary Marathon. The breakdown of schedule is from 11am to 4pm ET will be Transformers: Rescue Bots, from 4pm to 6pm ET will be 1986's Transformers: The Movie (required viewing for anyone trying to get all the G1 references) and then from 6pm to 7:30pm ET will be Transformers Prime: Predacons Rising movie. Press release here, promotional video below.

China Box Office Surpasses US for Transformers 4, Opens In India

It seems the cooperation deal with China is paying off for Paramount as the five day box office totals for Transformers: Age of Extinction in the country has surpassed the United States. As of Tuesday the film was at $134.5 million in China vs. $121 in the United States. This disparity is unlikely to last as I believe that foreign films in China can only stay in theaters for two or so weeks but it is still an impressive start that will only encourage more deals from the Hollywood studios. The expectation is Transformers 4 will become China's top grossing movie of all time, surpassing Avatar's $217.7 million (probably by end of weekend at current pace).

"The cooperation between CMMG and Paramount on TF4 is significant," Zhang Gen Ming, CEO and founder of CMMG, said in a statement. It marks CMMG’s first collaboration with a U.S. studio, Paramount Pictures.

Another Chinese Partner Claims Contract Breach Over Transformers 4

Once again Paramount might get sued from one of their Chinese partners for not representing their product sufficiently. The first time was from Beijing Pangu Investment who felt their hotel's logos and names were not shown enough and tried to recoup the cost of their deal to essentially get free perpetual advertisement from the film. It seems Wulong Karst National Park liked the idea as they are now claiming breach of contract for the same reasons. They claim the park's location was not displayed and the film edited events in such a way to make it seem like it was a neighbor to Kong Kong and not its actual 700 miles away.

Transformers 4 Wal-Mart Exclusives Revealed

While the movie is not quite yet in its second week of release, we already know some of the Blu-ray retailer exclusives (Amazon, Target & Best Buy) now we can add Wal-Mart's to the list. They will have two exclusives, one is the Bumblebee Mask Packaging ($24.96) or get the Limited Edition Blu-ray Giftset ($34.99) that will include three figurines of Bumblebee, Optimus Prime, and Stinger with a TF4 logo magnet. The site lists a 12/31/14 release date but ignore it as that is a placeholder value until Paramount reveals the official details which likely will be at least a month or so away as they understandably like to wait until the movie has run its course in theaters.

My Transformers: Age of Extinction Review

I was hoping the critics would be proved wrong when I saw Transformers: Age of Extinction this weekend in IMAX 3D. In a bunch of different ways they collectively essentially said that Transformers 4 was the same as the three previous movies – all visual effects with no story and no characterization that was nearly an hour too long. Sadly I have to agree. While the movie looked great on an IMAX screen, frankly I wish I had just stayed home and used the ticket money to rent the movie in a few months or watch it as a cheaper matinee. Actually, in a weird way this movie is almost the worst of the four because it achieved something that only Revenge of the Fallen came close to – it actually bored me.

Transformers 4 in China Featurette

Below is a very short featurette that focuses on filming Transformers: Age of Extinction in China. Thanks to Feris O. for the link.

Transformers: Age of Extinction FAQ

io9.com has posted another one of their amusing and very sarcastic "FAQ" that breaks down all the story and characters problems with a movie, this time with a focus on Transformers: Age of Extinction. the FAQ focuses on the story, not the special effects resulting in highlighting that once you ignore the eye candy, Bayformers 4 falls apart. SPOILER WARNING as it pretty much covers all the movies story beats. If you have seen the movie (or don't mind spoilers), be sure to check out the AOE FAQ here. Then come back here and let us know if agree or not.

Transformers 4 Big Red Commercial

Here is the new Transformers 4 commercial for the Big Red drinks. Compared to all the other tie-in stuff, it is definitely a unique approach as it kind of celebrates geekdom. Have to admit was kind of digging that Autobot ring. Thanks to Feris O. for the link.

New Transformers 4 "Transformers Are Dangerous" Video

It is kind of shame that Transformers 4 didn't do a better job with the whole "Transformers Are Dangerous" marketing campaign as the idea on its own could have been very interesting to explore since the movie didn't. Any case below is the latest.

The Sound of Transformers: Age of Extinction

From Soundworks Collection, below is a vid that gets into how the sounds were created for Transformers: Age of Extinction that often came from unexpected places. For example the sound of rusted Optimus Prime truck actually came from a monster truck while Lockdown had a deliberate homage to Darth Vader. Apparently there was moments of sound used from the classic Generation One cartoon (I think they were referring to the phone ring tone).