The much anticipated sequel Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen has been completed and its release date has been announced to be on June 26th, 2009. Michael Bay, the director of this classic franchise movie, is known for releasing his high budget blockbuster films in the summer, when the money comes rolling in. IGN took this excellent photo of the release date event where the first trailer was featured – and you can even watch an exlusive clip of Bumblebee in the upcoming flim.
However, lead actor Shia LaBeouf, who plays protagonist Sam Witwicky, severely injured his hand in a car accident this summer. His injury had to be written into the script so the production could keep going, which was done by having his character injured in the movie’s storyline as well. Thankfully, the film production wasn’t halted – it only needed to be reworked because of Shia’s hand injury. He is now preparing for his second surgery, which is needed to fully repair his thumb.
The 22 year old actor has been playing iconic roles consistently well and he has a good sense of knowing what scripts will make it big in the box office. However, It is no laughing matter because the damage has been observed to be large enough to hurt Shia’s rising career. It caused him to drop out of his acting role in Dark Fields, a thriller adaptation of a 2002 novel written by Alan Glynn, which is set to be released in 2010. Medical technology is very advanced so it is likely LeBeouf will make a full recovery. It may keep him from acting temporarily but he has a high profile movie coming out in theaters next summer – Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen. The film will not only attract the hardcore fans of the Transformers series but also people who grew up during the 1980s and new fans that saw it for the first time on the big screen last year.
The Transformers franchise remains one of the greatest cartoon series of the last twenty years and has maintained a large fanbase with its two movies – the animated Transformers the Movie in 1986 and Michael Bay’s adaption of the story in live-action in 2007. The movie will once again present Shia LeBeouf and actress Megan Fox in a high-octane sci-fi action adventure revolving around protecting the universe from the Decepticons, which is now led by Starscream. The US Military has also stolen Megatron’s corpse – the previous leader, and accidentally bring him back to life with a spark.
Optimus Prime, the commander of the Autobots and a legendary name in American pop culture, will also be returning with his team of giant armed cybernetic robotic organisms. Fan favorites such as Jazz, Ratchet, Ironhide, and other new characters will be make appearances. The main focus of the storyline will be Megatron’s desire for revenge against the Autobots as well as the escalating rivalry with Starscream. As many remember from the animated film, Megatron was defeated by Optimus Prime, released into space by Starscream (who wanted to take advantage of the leader’s injured state), and was transformed by Unicron, the massive planet-eating Transformer. He was literally upgraded into an even more powerful version of his former self.
He called himself Galvatron and the first thing he did with his new abilities and upgrades was destroying Starscream during his own inauguration event as a king and crushing the toppling crown underneath his foot as it fell from underneath Starscream’s vaporized body. It was a memorable moment in cinema history, to say the least.
Now with the possible directions the Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen storyline going, there is much excitement for the coming summer holidays. Shia LeBeouf’s hand accident is a tragedy but he will most definitely recover. His real life counterpart (even if it was an injury) did make its way into a movie that will be among the box office hits, after all.
So for those of us that know what really happened during the production of the movie, there is indeed more than meets the eye.
