Puneet Varma (Editor)

Transformers: The Last Knight

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Directed by
  
Michael Bay

Based on
  
Transformers by Hasbro

Produced by
  
Don Murphy Tom DeSanto Lorenzo di Bonaventura Ian Bryce

Screenplay by
  
Art Marcum Matt Holloway Ken Nolan

Story by
  
Akiva Goldsman Art Marcum Matt Holloway Ken Nolan

Starring
  
Mark Wahlberg Stanley Tucci Isabela Moner Josh Duhamel Tyrese Gibson John Turturro Laura Haddock Anthony Hopkins Santiago Cabrera Liam Garrigan Jerrod Carmichael Mitch Pileggi

Transformers: The Last Knight (also known as Transformers 5) is an upcoming 2017 American science fiction action film based on the toy line created by Hasbro. It will be the fifth installment of the live-action Transformers film series, and a direct sequel to 2014's Transformers: Age of Extinction. The film is being directed by Michael Bay, with Mark Wahlberg and Stanley Tucci reprising their roles from Age of Extinction alongside Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, and John Turturro from the first three movies. This film marks the final picture in the franchise directed by Bay.

Contents

The film is scheduled to be released on June 23, 2017 by Paramount Pictures in 2D, 3D, and IMAX 3D.

Synopsis

In the absence of Optimus Prime, a battle for survival has commenced between the human race and the Transformers. Cade Yeager forms an alliance with Bumblebee, an English lord, and an Oxford professor to learn why the Transformers keep coming back to Earth.

Humans

  • Mark Wahlberg as Cade Yeager, a single father and struggling inventor who helped the Autobots during the events of Age of Extinction.
  • Stanley Tucci as Joshua Joyce, the former head of K.S.I., who created a series of human-made Transformers during the events of Age of Extinction.
  • Isabela Moner as Izabella, a street-smart tomboy who was orphaned during the Chicago War in Dark of the Moon with Sqweeks as her only friend until meeting Cade.
  • Josh Duhamel as William Lennox, a N.E.S.T. soldier who partnered with the Autobots prior to the events of Age of Extinction.
  • Tyrese Gibson as Robert Epps, a former N.E.S.T. soldier who partnered with the Autobots prior to the events of Age of Extinction.
  • John Turturro as Seymour Simmons, a former government agent turned successful writer who allied with the Autobots prior to the events of Age of Extinction.
  • Laura Haddock as Vivian Wembley, a professor at the University of Oxford who teams with Yeager.
  • Anthony Hopkins as Sir Edmund Burton, an astronomer and historian who knows about the history of the Transformers on Earth.
  • Santiago Cabrera as a mercenary who leads the T.R.F. (Transformers Reaction Force), an organization reformed from the disbanded organization Cemetery Wind, whose purpose is to wipe out all Transformers on Earth, regardless of faction.
  • Liam Garrigan as King Arthur
  • Jerrod Carmichael
  • Mitch Pileggi

    • Autobots

  • Peter Cullen voices Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots, who transforms into a blue and red 2012 Western Star 5700 XE with flame decals, and is searching for the truth about his Creators.
  • Bumblebee, a young Autobot scout who transforms into a custom-built yellow and black 2016 Chevrolet Camaro.
  • John Goodman voices Hound, an Autobot commando and field medic who transforms into a Mercedes Unimog military tactical ambulance .
  • Drift, an Autobot tactician and a former Decepticon who transforms into a black and red 2017 Mercedes-AMG GT R.
  • John DiMaggio voices Crosshairs, an Autobot paratrooper and sniper who transforms into a green and black 2016 Chevrolet Corvette C7 Stingray equipped with a custom split-spoiler.
  • Hot Rod, a brash and arrogant Autobot who transforms into a Citroën DS and switches it for a gunmetal gray and orange 2017 Lamborghini Centenario LP770-4. He is brother-in-arms with Bumblebee and speaks in a French accent.
  • Cogman, a polite sociopathic Headmaster who transforms into a silver 2017 Aston Martin DB11.
  • Canopy, an Autobot refugee who camouflages into a shielding pile of rubble.
  • Sqweeks, a small-sized Autobot and Izabella's closest friend, who transforms into a turquoise Vespa and only says "Chihuahua" due to some prior damage.
  • Grimlock, the leader of the Dinobots who transforms into a mechanical, horned, fire-breathing Tyrannosaurus.

    • Decepticons

  • Megatron, the revived leader of the Decepticons who possessed a human-made K.S.I. drone in Age of Extinction and transforms into a silver Cybertronian jet.
  • Barricade, a Decepticon scout who survived the Chicago War in Dark of the Moon and got an upgrade into new alt-mode of a 2016 Ford Mustang police car.
  • Onslaught, a Decepticon tactician who transforms into a green Western Star 4900SF tow truck.
  • Hooligan, a Decepticon who transforms into a rusty Volkswagen Type 2.
  • Mohawk, a Decepticon who transforms into a Confederate Motorcycle.

    • Others

  • Knights of Cybertron
  • Dragonstorm, a Cybertronian knight who transforms into a mechanical three-headed dragon.
  • Steelbane, a Cybertronian knight who transforms into a mechanical wyvern.
  • Mini-Dinobots, baby Dinobots that are smaller versions of Grimlock, Slug and Strafe.
  • A Mark IV tank who has "robot dementia".
  • A cloaked Mercedes-Benz dump truck.
  • A red McLaren 570S.
  • A silver LeEco LeSEE Pro Concept.
  • An Amphion-class submarine.

    • Mark Ryan will return to voice for The Last Knight.

    Development

    In March 2015, Deadline.com reported that Paramount Pictures was in talks with Oscar winner Akiva Goldsman (A Beautiful Mind) to pitch new ideas for the Transformers franchise's future installments. The studio intends to do what James Cameron and 20th Century Fox have been doing to spawn three new Avatar sequels, and what Disney is doing to revive Star Wars with sequels and spin-offs. Paramount wants to have their own cinematic universe for Transformers similar to Marvel's/Disney's Marvel Cinematic Universe (one of Paramount's previous film series) and Warner Bros.' DC Extended Universe. Goldsman will be the head of the future projects and will work with franchise director Michael Bay, executive producer Steven Spielberg, and producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura to organize a "writer's room" that will incubate ideas for potential Transformers sequels, prequels and spin-offs. The writer's room members include: Christina Hodson, Lindsey Beer, Andrew Barrer, and Gabriel Ferrari, (Ant-Man), Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead), Art Marcum & Matt Holloway, Zak Penn (Pacific Rim: Uprising), Jeff Pinkner (The Amazing Spider-Man 2), Ken Nolan, and Geneva Robertson-Dworet. Kirkman left the room after just after one day to undergo throat surgery. In July 2015, Akiva Goldsman & Jeff Pinkner were announced as the film's screenwriters. However, on November 20, due to Goldsman's commitments creating a writer's room for G.I. Joe and Micronauts properties, Paramount began to negotiate with Art Marcum and Matt Holloway (Iron Man), as well as Ken Nolan (Black Hawk Down), to write the film. Writers Lindsey Beer and Geneva Robertson-Dworet were also brought aboard for writing duties.

    After Transformers: Age of Extinction, Bay had decided not to direct any future Transformers films. But in early January 2016, in an interview with Rolling Stone, he confirmed that he would return to direct the fifth film, and that it would be his last Transformers film. Paramount Pictures will spend $80 million on production in Michigan in return for $21 million in state incentives under agreements entered into before the state legislature eliminated the film office incentive program in July 2015. In April 2016, Paramount hired cinematographer Jonathan Sela. On May 17, Bay revealed the official title of the film to be The Last Knight on his Instagram account, along with a production video showing a close-up of what is presumably Optimus Prime's face with purple eyes instead of blue, and his face mostly discolored. The official Twitter account shows a 19-second short video in morse code that translates to "I'm coming for you May 31". On May 31, it was revealed that Megatron will be returning for the sequel.

    Casting

    In December 2014, Mark Wahlberg confirmed that he would return for the sequel. In February 2016, there were casting calls for new lead and supporting roles in Los Angeles and London, as well Peter Cullen returning to voice Optimus Prime. Approximately 850 cast and crew will be hired, 450 of whom will be Michigan residents equating to 228 full-time positions. Additionally, 700 extras will be hired from among Detroit residents as part of Paramount's incentive deal with the state. On April 13, TheWrap reported that Isabela Moner was in talks to star as Izabella. The site also reports that Bay is eyeing Jean Dujardin, Stephen Merchant, and Jerrod Carmichael for supporting roles. On May 17, 2016, it was confirmed that Josh Duhamel would reprise his role in the film and Jerrod Carmichael was cast. In June 2016, Anthony Hopkins, Mitch Pileggi, Santiago Cabrera, and Laura Haddock joined the cast; and Tyrese Gibson confirmed that he will be returning as Robert Epps. In August 2016, Liam Garrigan was confirmed to reprise his role as King Arthur, a different version from the television series Once Upon a Time. On September 4, 2016, Stanley Tucci confirmed his return. On October 14, 2016, Bay announced that John Turturro would be reprising his role as Seymour Simmons from the first three films, as well as John Goodman, who will return to voice Hound.

    Filming

    Principal photography began on May 25, 2016, in Havana, Cuba, with a few scenes shot by a "small team". Filming continued on June 6, 2016, in Phoenix, Arizona, and on June 19, 2016, in Detroit, Michigan under the working title E75, with additional filming took place in Chicago, Illinois. In Detroit, filming took place in the Michigan Motion Pictures Studio, Packard Plant, Michigan Central Station, Cafe D'Mongo's Speakeasy, and MGM Grand Detroit. Production moved to Europe on August 21, and filming commenced on August 22 in Scotland, Wales, North Yorkshire Newcastle upon Tyne and Northumberland. Filming took place in London and Stonehenge in England, Ireland, Preikestolen, Trolltunga and Atlanterhavsveien in Norway between August and October.

    In early September 2016, filming took place in Alnwick Castle in Alnwick Northumberland in England including car chase scenes. Production continued at St Aidan's Church, Seahouses where Walhberg spent an hour inside the church and reportedly donated £200. Rev Father Des McGiven said: "I didnt even know he was in church until he left, one of my parishoners Danielle Love recognised him and explained who he was, its great that we had him in for the service and appreciate his generosity towards our church." Car chases were also filmed at the monument area of Newcastle upon Tyne, where Josh Duhamel was filming while Wahlberg and Sir Anthony Hopkins continued at Alnwick, Seahouses and the Bamburgh Region of Northumberland. In late September 2016 filming was spotted in Gosport, Hampshire at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum. On October 5, 2016 filming was spotted at St Bartholomew-the-Great, London. London filming wrapped on October 27, 2016. Principal photography wrapped on December 4, 2016.

    Effects

    As with previous Transformers installments, Industrial Light & Magic will serve as the main visual effects company for Transformers: The Last Knight. In early 2016, the company showed Bay an underwater rendering of a crash-landed alien spaceship and a new dump-truck Transformer with a cloak.

    Music

    On September 27, it was confirmed that Steve Jablonsky will return to write the score, having composed the music of the first four films.

    Release

    Transformers: The Last Knight is scheduled to be released on June 23, 2017. The teaser trailer of the film was released on December 5, 2016 and was attached to Rogue One.

    Marketing

    The first teaser trailer on Monday, December 5, during ESPN's Monday Night Football was shortly released online thereafter. With 24 hours of its release, the trailer garnered a record breaking 93.6 million views from various social media platforms, such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram, making it the third highest-viewed trailer of 2016, falling behind Disney's Beauty and the Beast remake (127.6 million views) and Universal's Fifty Shades Darker (114 million views in 24 hours), but surpassing Marvel Studios' Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 trailer, which scored 81 million views in its first 24 hours online. Following the trailer's release, the film trended on all major social media sites, including YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit. It was Weibo's No. 1 trending topic in China, where the preview was viewed 16 million times its first day of release. TV spots for the filmed started airing ahead of the Super Bowl spot on February 3, 2017. An extended trailer aired during Super Bowl LI on February 5, 2017.

    Nazi iconography controversy

    On September 21, 2016, shooting for a particular scene took place in Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, Oxfordshire in England, home of World War II British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill. However, the mansion was dressed as a swastika-draped headquarters for Adolf Hitler for filming. This evoked both anger and criticism for being "symbolically disrespectful to Churchill" according to Colonel Richard Kemp who said Churchill "will be turning in his grave," while Tony Hayes of the UK Veterans Association claimed that surviving World War II ex-servicemen and women would be "appalled." The Sun published numerous pictures from the set. War veterans further attacked filmmakers for turning the historic palace into a headquarters for Hitler. Besides the swastika flags, The Sun reported the set featured actors in Nazi troop costumes and German tanks. Churchill was buried less than a mile away at St Martin's Church, Bladon.

    Distributor Paramount Pictures and UK-based High Command Productions, which handled the productions of the palace, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but Bay addressed the controversy two days later on Friday while speaking to the BBC defending the act, "People have not been fortunate enough to read the script and they don't know that Churchill in this movie is a big hero, he would be smiling." Bay added: "When you see the movie you'll understand. I for one, probably more than any director in the world, have shot more veterans and more active military men and women in my movies. You can actually look it up. I would do nothing to disrespect veterans." Nicholas Soames, grandson of Churchill, defended the film-makers by describing the fallout as "a completely manufactured row" and "absolutely the most dismal, idiotic story I've ever read". He replied to Colonel Kemps' comment quoted by The Sun by saying, "They do as all newspapers do. They go until they can find some wretched veteran who is prepared to say, "Winston would be turning into his grave." They’ve no idea what my grandfather would have thought!."

    Filmmakers spent a reported £10,000 ($13,000) per day for the fortnight shooting. The house, which is open to the public, is owned by a distant relative of Winston Churchill, Jamie Spencer-Churchill, 12th Duke of Marlborough.

    Sequel and spin-off

    A Bumblebee spin-off and a sequel, Transformers 6, are set to be released on June 8, 2018, and June 28, 2019, respectively.

    References

    Transformers: The Last Knight Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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