Age of Extinction Transformers REBOOT

[Kurt Wagner]

Lets discuss reboot possibilities:

Which director?

Which actors?

What story?

 

[Kurt Wagner]

I would love to see the story set entirely on Cybertron until the end when the autobots and decepticons escape and crash land on Earth. The autobot ship lands in a volcano and it ends on the decepticons heading towards Earth. It'd be based on the More Than Meets The Eye episodes in the cartoons.

 

[Ultra Lantern]

Maybe Shia Labeouf could be the director.

 

[Chris B]

Neil Blomkamp is my first choice for a director.

The story would still be set on Earth, but I'd jump right into the action with details like how and why they came to Earth left to flashback and exposition.

I'd also keep the current design aesthetic while also focusing on making the characters look a lot more recognizable.

I'd keep Optimus as a long noise truck, but with his traditional colors. I'd also keep Bumblebee as a sports car of some sort, I'm thinking maybe a Dodge Challenger. Plus, I'd lose the mute angle. I like Megatron retaining his Cybertronian alt. mode, so I'm thinking an alien tank. I'd make Starscream an F-35 as it has still has the coolness of an F-22, but is smaller and would allow for a more humanoid proportioned robot mode.

Also, I'd keep Peter Cullen around as Optimus. I'd also bring back Frank Welker for Megatron doing his updated take on the voice.

 

[Jochimus]

Realistically, I don't see a reboot happening, even without Bay and LaBeouf. Not with the money these movies have made thus far.

That said, for a TF reboot I'd just use the idea I had posted earlier for TF4, since I intended it to serve as both a loose sequel AND/OR a soft reboot anyway.

 

[Kurt Wagner]

Sony Pictures rebooted the Spider-Man franchise despite the tons of money it made worldwide... including SM3 which made more than the first two Spidey films. It's not uncommon anymore to reboot a franchise. Wait 10 years and you'll see another Harry Potter film or at least a 2D-to-3D post conversion rerelease of the earlier films in the series.

 

[Jochimus]

Sony Pictures rebooted the Spider-Man franchise despite the tons of money it made worldwide... including SM3 which made more than the first two Spidey films. It's not uncommon anymore to reboot a franchise. Wait 10 years and you'll see another Harry Potter film or at least a 2D-to-3D post conversion rerelease of the earlier films in the series.

Reboots generally happen when the creative direction of the franchise goes sour or otherwise takes a pretty damn noticeable turn for the worse or at least more ludicrous - which is what happened to Spider-Man, and Superman, and James Bond, and Star Trek, and Batman. So Transformers could easily have been rebooted after the SECOND film (which I admit is only a little less absurd than the ones that opt to reboot after just one) - and it didn't happen. And that to me indicates that the studio likely doesn't perceive the franchise to be broken - especially with DOTM making a bigger haul than ROTF - and therefore wouldn't necessarily need fixing.

B'sides, even minus Bay, it's not like it'd be the first time a studio has changed directors in a franchise but kept the existing series of films and narrative going.

That's why I leaned toward a loose sequel/soft reboot concept - because inasmuch as I would love to see whoever directs the next TF film extricate some of extra stoopid out of the franchise, I'm not holding my breath waiting for that to happen when all that stoopid has been making the studio a ****load of cash. At least with the idea I devised, they could go in a new direction for the benefit of new viewers and still hint back to things that happened in the previous films so that the previous films' fans aren't left totally in the cold - the studio's gonna want all that hard-earned dough to keep waving in the critics' faces.

 

[Kurt Wagner]

True, but what's most likely to happen is that they'll start developing the 4th film, with a more serious director and have creative differences and then the film with get put on hold until they decide to reboot... or Bay will do a 4th and it'll be more of the same crap... another toy commercial and THEN we'll get a reboot. Either way, the reboot is inevitable and not more than 1 film away.

 

[Ken-Kaniff]

Lets discuss reboot possibilities:

Which director?

Which actors?

What story?

Bay can remain, but he has to make it even better than TFIII and even less cheesy stuff/

Actors? I really don't care that much, I heard some rumours that Statham is considered and that would be b@d@$$! I'd love that.

Story? Idk, bring some baddie again, maybe Thunderwing.. it might feel kinda empty now that Megs & Starscream are both dead.

 

[Thundercrack85]

Here's a crazy thought, have the protagonist, be an actual Transformer. There can be human characters, but they should be secondary.

Having a human villain is something to consider.

Perhaps have the human governments try to hunt down Autobots. Would give them more reason to disguise themselves.

 

[SigourneyBeaver]

Absolutely no need for a reboot when the last movie made more money than the previous one. And the previous more than the one before that.

 

[Godzilla2000]

I think we should wait ten years before any franchise is rebooted.

 

[Ultra Lantern]

I think we should wait ten years before any franchise is rebooted.

I can agree with you on that.

 

[Nevincer]

I think they should wait 70 years before they reboot or create another of these movies. No disrespect to fans of other transformers media (like the cartoon), but Michael Bay has made it so that I'd rather never be forced to see them on film again in my lifetime.

 

[DorkyFresh]

I say let the franchise cool down...wait 5 to 7 years, get it started again with Bay as a producer and someone else who is better at developing characters at the helm (or at least writing).


Personally, I'd place the premise about a century into the future with a humanity that is on an obvious downward spiral due to both it's own actions and a major climate change. Most of the Autobots left Earth after a 50 year period of no Cybertronian conflict in an attempt to repopulate on their own. Bumblebee and a handful stay on Earth while Prime and many humans are across the galaxy overseeing the forming of Terratron, an Earth like planet, being terraformed with the main purpose of harmonizing and balancing technology and nature. Cue Galvatron who has been sitting and waiting (ala the Sith from Phantom Menace) for the prime (no pun intended) opportunity to strike Earth. Bumblebee is able to get a brief message out to Terratron before he is captured, the rest of the Autobots tortured then murdered only a few of them being able to escape by fleeing and heading towards a remote base between Earth and Terratron.

Later it would be revealed that Galvatron and company were sent to overthrow the Autobots and take over Earth by Unicron with the promise that once he devours Earth's life he will have enough energy to help the Decepticons take over not only the midway base but also Terratron, which is not yet developed enough for Unicron to be interested in. He also threatens the Decepticons that if they don't carry out his commands they will spend an eternity in agony and torment.





Anyway, I'd like to see the first movie hit a standstill with the Decepticons taking Earth and a handful trying to overthrow the midway base (most of them staying behind to hold down the fort) but Prime arrives just in time to drive the Decepticons back to Earth. The second movie would open with Unicron arriving in our solar system and forcing ALL of the Decepticons back towards the midway base as he devours Earth. The Decepticons would continue to do battle with the Autobots on the midway base and would ultimately kill Prime and overthrowing the midway base. The finale being a single fleeing ship of Autobots barely surviving a surprise attack from Decepticon forces and arriving on Terratron carrying Prime's body.

The 3rd, final movie of course being the Decepticons' attempt at taking over Terretron with the help of Unicron. I haven't thought exactly how they'd defeat Unicron but I know I'd love to see Optimus reborn (ala Galvatron) and be called Maximus Prime. I also know I'd like to see Hot Rod as one of the fleeing Autobots who witnesses the whole trilogy unfold from Earth, to midway base, to Terratron...but I wouldn't want to see him become Rodimus.





*whew* I ended up putting a lot more thought into this than I intended...hehe


edit: In my ideal world, this is also a soft reboot...using the events from Bay's TF movies as a vague history but with new voice actors (props to Peter Cullen but he's become stale as Prime, imo) and new designs for the Transformers, especially the Decepticons (make them less monster/animal-like but still menacing and intimidating).

 

[munchie64]

Great ideas DorkyFish.

My idea for a reboot, called The Transformers:
The first film would be similar to the first Bay one. The Autobots and Decepticons would have torn Cybertorn apart from decades of war, and would have moved the battle to other planets to collect energon from the cores of the worlds. The war has spread great destruction across the galaxy and both sides have become totally war dependent.

Bumblebee (who we follow at the start of the film), Kup and Thunderclash go to earth for routine energon collection but they are shot down by Decepticons and only Bumblebee survives. Bumblebee discovers that earth contains the Matrix of Leadership and sends a signal out to more Autobots, but only the closest ones can hear. The Decepticons of course do the same thing.

The movie would include humans but it would be a kid, about 12, who's a genius and not normal Hollywood annoying. The kid would discover Bumblebee on a field trip to a museum that would contain the Matrix. He would get mixed up in everything after Bumblebee saves him. The other Autobots and Decepticons would arrive and there would be a few action scenes. The government would try to question the kid but he would escape and follow the Autobots.

The Autobots would be Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Ultra Magnus, Sideswipe and Ironhide. The Decepticons would be Megatron, Starscream, Demolisher, Soundwave, Shockwave, Frenzy and Vortex.

When the Autobots are camping out, they are attacked by the Decepticons and the government. Bumblebee and the kid escape with the Matrix, Ironhide is captured by the Decepticons and the rest are taken in by the government. Ironhide is killed in Decepticon interrogation and the Decepticons attack a city in order to draw out Bumblebee.

The government release the Autobots to help in the fight and all goes well until Megatron nearly kills Optimus. Bumblebee tries to help, but is taken down by Megatron, who has the Matrix around his neck, being unable to open it. Bumblebee however can and becomes all powerful, defeating Megatron and saving Optimus. However, Optimus knows that the power is too much for Bumblebee and that a single being shouldn't have such strength. Optimus appeals to Bumblebee, who releases the power to every autobot across the universe. Megatron attacks the weakened Bumblebee and is killed by Optimus.
The only Decepticons to survive are Starscream and Shockwave so they run away. The Autobots are stranded on earth, but put out a signal for more to come and protect the planet.

Bumblebee would be the main focus of the film and be similar to Hot Rod from the animated movie. He would change from an uncertain young boy to a brave hero. Having godlike powers at the end corrupts him at the end but he learns to dispel them for the greater good. He would be a bit like Luke Skywalker. Optimus would be Obi-Wan in that respect. How the war tears apart the worlds it goes to would also be brought up, and Optimus would eventually realize that protecting earth is just as important as fighting in the war that corrupted his people. Taking the energon from a planet has the potential to destroy the world and this would be a conflict between the kid and the Autobots.

That being said the film would be WAY more child friendly then the Bay ones, and the Kid character would introduce the audience into the world. There would be sci-fi aspects, like the Transformers traveling in space ships and battling across worlds. Every Autobot would have space for at least a little development, and the Decepticons would all have character traits. Both of those things would be true to the original series.

I have ideas about sequels, but I've already written enough. t:

 

[elgaz]

If I was rebooting Transformers, I'd go for the original G1 intro. Have a team of Autobots (led by Optimus Prime) leaving Cybertron in the Ark to look for energon/resources, only for them to be attacked by a Decepticon ship.

The Decepticons board the Ark and the ensuing struggle causes the ship to veer wildly off course.

At a climatic point during the battle, some form of EMP device is activated which causes ALL the Transformers on board (and the ship's control systems) to deactivate. Unguided, the ship crashes into an uninhabited planet .................................. Earth. There, it lies buried (perhaps in a Volcano/Mountain, like the original story) for millions of years before some natural event triggers the ship's backup systems and brings everyone back online.

I always felt this introduction to the Transformers was more epic than Bay's later version, and it's perfect for an opening to the film before the credits come on screen. Or even better, in the form of a short prologue (a 6-min trailer perhaps) like Nolan has done with The Dark Knight and the Dark Knight Rises.

Having them reach Earth millions of years ago also greatly increases the potential for the Dinobots to be included in an acceptably realistic way.

I should add also that I'd remove much of the camp humour that Bay has added to his films, and go for a serious and more darker tone. This is a war lasting millions of years between 2 very different and opposed factions, it shouldn't be funny.

I'd also tone down the aesthetic style of the robots themselves. Bay's Transformers were very complex in terms of style, but also very insect-like at times with hooks, claws, sharp extremities, etc. In comparison, the original G1 style robots were very simplistic and blocky. Ideally, I'd like the robots in a reboot to exist (aesthetically) somewhere between those two extremes.

 

[OP84CC82]

Maybe Shia Labeouf could be the director.

Not saying that it's a bad idea, but why?

 

[OP84CC82]

Great ideas DorkyFish.

My idea for a reboot, called The Transformers:
The first film would be similar to the first Bay one. The Autobots and Decepticons would have torn Cybertorn apart from decades of war, and would have moved the battle to other planets to collect energon from the cores of the worlds. The war has spread great destruction across the galaxy and both sides have become totally war dependent.

Bumblebee (who we follow at the start of the film), Kup and Thunderclash go to earth for routine energon collection but they are shot down by Decepticons and only Bumblebee survives. Bumblebee discovers that earth contains the Matrix of Leadership and sends a signal out to more Autobots, but only the closest ones can hear. The Decepticons of course do the same thing.

The movie would include humans but it would be a kid, about 12, who's a genius and not normal Hollywood annoying. The kid would discover Bumblebee on a field trip to a museum that would contain the Matrix. He would get mixed up in everything after Bumblebee saves him. The other Autobots and Decepticons would arrive and there would be a few action scenes. The government would try to question the kid but he would escape and follow the Autobots.

The Autobots would be Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Ultra Magnus, Sideswipe and Ironhide. The Decepticons would be Megatron, Starscream, Demolisher, Soundwave, Shockwave, Frenzy and Vortex.

When the Autobots are camping out, they are attacked by the Decepticons and the government. Bumblebee and the kid escape with the Matrix, Ironhide is captured by the Decepticons and the rest are taken in by the government. Ironhide is killed in Decepticon interrogation and the Decepticons attack a city in order to draw out Bumblebee.

The government release the Autobots to help in the fight and all goes well until Megatron nearly kills Optimus. Bumblebee tries to help, but is taken down by Megatron, who has the Matrix around his neck, being unable to open it. Bumblebee however can and becomes all powerful, defeating Megatron and saving Optimus. However, Optimus knows that the power is too much for Bumblebee and that a single being shouldn't have such strength. Optimus appeals to Bumblebee, who releases the power to every autobot across the universe. Megatron attacks the weakened Bumblebee and is killed by Optimus.
The only Decepticons to survive are Starscream and Shockwave so they run away. The Autobots are stranded on earth, but put out a signal for more to come and protect the planet.

Bumblebee would be the main focus of the film and be similar to Hot Rod from the animated movie. He would change from an uncertain young boy to a brave hero. Having godlike powers at the end corrupts him at the end but he learns to dispel them for the greater good. He would be a bit like Luke Skywalker. Optimus would be Obi-Wan in that respect. How the war tears apart the worlds it goes to would also be brought up, and Optimus would eventually realize that protecting earth is just as important as fighting in the war that corrupted his people. Taking the energon from a planet has the potential to destroy the world and this would be a conflict between the kid and the Autobots.

That being said the film would be WAY more child friendly then the Bay ones, and the Kid character would introduce the audience into the world. There would be sci-fi aspects, like the Transformers traveling in space ships and battling across worlds. Every Autobot would have space for at least a little development, and the Decepticons would all have character traits. Both of those things would be true to the original series.

I have ideas about sequels, but I've already written enough. t:

Child friendly? !@#$ NO! We don't need kids in a Transformers movie unless they are REALLY in the background. And why would it need to be child-friendly anyway?

 

[munchie64]

Child friendly? !@#$ NO! We don't need kids in a Transformers movie unless they are REALLY in the background. And why would it need to be child-friendly anyway?

Because it's a ****ing toy franchise. Even so, why would having it be child friendly affect the quality of a film?

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

Alot of of franchises have toys...Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Avatar but it doesn't mean they're made exclusively for kids.

Those movies have very dark elements with enough innocence and imagination to also appeal to kids.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

I think a Transformers reboot should be cyber-punk space opera...Basically Star Wars/Animatrix/Neon Genesis mixed in one.

With someone like Alfonso Cuaron or Brad Bird as the director.

 

[munchie64]

Yeah. That's what child friendly is. It can really be anything so long as it too grotesque and has the adventure and imagination that appeals to kids.

 

[OP84CC82]

Because it's a ****ing toy franchise. Even so, why would having it be child friendly affect the quality of a film?

Was G.I. Joe child friendly? Were there kids in G.I. Joe?

 

[gkokujin]

Because it's a ****ing toy franchise. Even so, why would having it be child friendly affect the quality of a film?

here we go with this bull **** line of thinking again...