Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen; R8’s and Can-Ams and Chevy Beats…Oh My!
Posted by Richard Robello on June 9, 2008Back in March I announced that the countdown to the sequel of Transformers, now titled Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen, had begun and would end opening night set to be June 26, 2009. Well now filming is officially underway and Bay and his crew have spent all week shooting at Bethlehem Steel in Pennsylvania. There is a lot to cover, and some good info on new cars to be used in the film, so I will try to keep this as organized as possible. SPOILERS OBVIOUSLY FOLLOW!!!
Let me begin with the title. “Revenge of the Fallen,” as it has been dubbed on the Hasbro site could mean a couple of things. The more obvious being that “Fallen” could be referring to Fallen Decepticons like Megatron and Starscream (speculation that they might appear in a huge “Jail Break” scene) or it could be a reference to the transformer Fallen, one of the original 13 transformers created by Primus.
The other day I blogged about the Hummer HX making an appearance in this movie and now I have learned of many (possibly as many as 20 Transformers according to screenwriter Roberto Orci) of the other car stars. First on the list is this 3-wheeled Can-Am Spider (pictured below) that was seen crossing the border into Pennsylvania earlier this week on a flatbed along with Iron Hide; the Optimus Peterbuilt is said to have arrived on Tuesday.
Photo Credit: King Darkness over at Sideshowcollectors.com
Photo Credit: King Darkness over at Sideshowcollectors.com
Ok back to the Bethlehem shoot. Transformerslive has managed to acquire the call sheet for this particular location. According to the sheet the factory is to be a Shanghai, China steel factory (also confirmed by many local spectators via pictures and video). The scenes revolve around a car chase involving the Autobots, SAS Graham and Capt. Lennox’s Team (played by Matthew Marsden and Josh Duhamel respectively) chasing after an grey and black Audi R8 Decepticon. A casino, Sands Bethworks, on the other side of the steel factory was used for an exterior shot of Bumble Bee and an old Chinese Ice Cream Truck said to split into twin Autobots. But here is the real kicker, the buzz among the crowds of local spectators is that Bumble Bee is to be replaced by a Corvette.
Photo Credit: Squall42080 over at Shootfortheedit.com
Other vehicles on location were three of the 3-wheeled Can-Am Spyders I posted about above, as well as Iron Hide, a white Dodge Charger, a red NSX, the Corvette (Bumblebee), two trikes, three NEST Hummers, a go-kart, ten Shanghai police vehicles, a NEST semi, a Chinese police helicopter, two Blackhawks and at least one Apache. Several of these vehicles are to be new Transformers. The red NSX is said to be Stinger, the go-kart is to be Wheels or Wheelbot, and the three Can-Am Spiders are to come together to form Arcee. According to the call sheets these three women seen in these pics are Arcee’s halogram riders (Arcee Rider #1 - Jessie Graff, Arcee Rider #2 - Melissa Stubbs, Arcee Rider #3 - unknown)
Photo Credit: Facebook
Also on the call sheets is “Constructicon Earth Mover,” which would confirm rumors reported by IESB.net that Devastator will appear in the film.
Fan Art Image courtesy of Rise Studio
When shooting wrapped in Bethlehem, the crew moved on to the Smithsonian Air and Space Mueseum to film another scene this weekend. The cast on set included Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, John Turturro and Ramon Rodriguez. According to more call sheets it appears they are hunting for a Decepticon in the museum after hours. The Decepticon in this scene is Jetfire, a SR-71 Blackbird. Other Transformers on hand are Bumblebee (in Camaro concept form) and a green Chevy Beat Concept car (pictured below behind Bumblebee.
Photo Credit: Topherlyon over at Transformerslive
Photo Credit: Topherlyon over at Transformerslive
There is also mention of “Splinter;” could this be another Transformer or possibly a piece of the All Spark?
In case you got lost along the way here is a brief summary in review:
Official Title: Transformers II: Revenge of the Fallen
Release Date: June 26th, 2009
Production Start Date: June 2nd, 2008
Production Shoot Length: 84 days
Director: Michael Bay
Producers: Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Ian Bryce and others
Executive Producers: Steven Spielberg, Michael Bay and others
Writers: Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Ehren Kruger
Visual Effects Companies: ILM, Digital Domain
Story: Unknown
Artifact: Splinter from All Spark (rumor)
Principle Cast:
Shia LaBeouf - Sam Witwicky
Megan Fox - Mikaela Banes
Josh Duhamel - Captain Lennox
John Turturro - Agent Simmons
Ramon Rodriguez - Leo
Jon Voight - John Keller
Tyrese Gibson - Tech Sergeant Epps
Matthew Marsden - SAS Graham
Isabel Lucas - Alice
Supporting Cast:
Kevin Dunn - Ron Witwicky (return not confirmed)
Julie White - Judy Witwicky (return not confirmed)
Rainn Wilson - College Professor
Nina Dobrev - College Student (rumor)
Aaron Hill - College Student (rumor)
Transformer Voices:
Peter Cullen - Optimus Prime
Mark Ryan - Bumblebee (return not confirmed)
Robert Foxworth - Ratchet (return not confirmed)
Jess Harnell - Ironhide and Barricade
Charles Adler - Starscream
Darius McCrary - Jazz (rumor)
Transformers Cast - Alt Mode:
Autobots
Optimus Prime - Peterbilt 379EX
Bumblebee - 2009 Chevy Camaro
Ratchet - Ratchet H2
Ironhide - 2007 GMC Topkick C4500
Jazz - 2008 Pontiac Solstice (rumor)
Arcee - 3 Can-Am Spyders (alt mode unconfirmed)
The Twins - Ice Cream Truck unknown type (rumor)
Stinger - Acura NXS (alt mode unconfirmed)
Wheels - Toy Size RC Jeep (alt mode unconfirmed)
unknown - 2009 Chevy Beat (rumor)
Decepticons
Starscream - F-22 Raptor
Scorponok - metallic scorpion (return not confirmed)
Barricade - 2008 Ford Saleen S281 Extreme
unknown - Audi R8 (rumor)
Constructicon (Devastator) - Earth Mover unknown type (rumor)
Jetfire - SR-71 Blackbird
Soundwave - unknown (alt mode unconfirmed)
The Fallen - unknown (rumor)
Shooting Locations:
June 2-5 Bethlehem Steel (Bethlehem, PA) as Shanghai, China
June 6-7 Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center (Chantilly, VA) as same
June 9 - ? Philadelphia, PA
June ? - ? PECO Power Plant as ?
June 11? - ? University of Pennsylvania as ?
June ? - ? Eastern State Penitentiary as ?
Washington, DC - dates, locations unknown
Princeton, NJ - dates, locations unknown
SOURCE: SideShowCollectors.com, DonMurphy.net, Hasbro, Seibertron.com, Facebook, Shootfortheedit.com, and Transformerslive.blogspot.com
