Transformers: Dark of the Moon

• 1. Development And Production History

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  Paramount Pictures announced a third Transformers film on the 16th of March 2009. Director Michael Bay initially thought the release date of the 1st of July 2011 was premature. He told producers he needed a year off from fighting robots. Screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman declined to return for this installment. Ehren Kruger became the sole screenwriter for Dark of the Moon. Kruger held frequent meetings with Industrial Light & Magic visual effects producers. They suggested plot points such as scenes in Chernobyl. Writer Jenni Konner joined to flesh out female characters and add humor. The script was completed by the 19th of March 2010. Filming began on the 18th of May 2010. Locations included Chicago, Florida, Moscow, and Washington D.C. Principal photography concluded on the 9th of November 2010. The production cost reached $195 million. An additional $30 million covered 3D filming technology. Early screenings took place on the 28th of June 2011. The worldwide release followed one day later on the 29th of June 2011.

• 2. Casting Choices And Controversies

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  Megan Fox originally attached to the film did not reprise her role. Executive producer Steven Spielberg reportedly chose not to renew her contract after she compared Bay to Adolf Hitler. Representatives for Fox claimed it was her decision to leave. Bay stated he knew that Megan loved getting a response. He apologized for making her work twelve hours. Rosie Huntington-Whiteley replaced Fox as Sam's new girlfriend. Patrick Dempsey played Dylan Gould, Carly's employer. John Malkovich portrayed Bruce Brazos, a loudmouth boss at Accuretta Systems. Ken Jeong appeared as Jerry Wang, an eccentric co-worker. Veteran voice actor Corey Burton declined the role of Shockwave due to his schedule. Frank Welker ultimately voiced the character. Leonard Nimoy returned as Sentinel Prime. This marked his first time voicing Galvatron in the animated film series. Shia LaBeouf expressed missing Megan Fox but welcomed the change. He believed the new cast kept the magic of the first film. The production faced accidents during filming. An extra named Gabriela Cedillo suffered brain damage from a steel cable snap on the 2nd of September 2010. Her family filed a lawsuit citing seven counts of negligence. Paramount admitted responsibility and covered medical costs. An $18 million settlement reached in May 2012 resolved the dispute.

• 3. Plot Summary And Narrative Arc

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  The Ark spacecraft escapes Cybertron carrying technology capable of ending the war between Autobots and Decepticons. It crash-lands on the dark side of Earth's Moon in 1962. NASA detects the crash and President John F. Kennedy authorizes a mission to put a man on the Moon. In 1969, Apollo 11 crew secretly inspects the Ark before returning to Earth. During a mission to Chernobyl in 1986, Autobots are attacked by Decepticon scientist Shockwave and his giant worm Driller. Optimus Prime discovers a fuel cell from the Ark. The team travels to the Moon and finds Sentinel Prime comatose alongside five Pillars. These pillars create Space Bridges to teleport matter. On Earth, Sam Witwicky lives with girlfriend Carly Spencer but cannot work with the Autobots. Co-worker Jerry Wang gives him information about the Ark before being assassinated by Laserbeak. Sam contacts Seymour Simmons to investigate murders linked to lunar missions. They locate two surviving cosmonauts who show photos of hundreds of Pillars on the Moon. Sentinel betrays the Autobots after Optimus revives him using the Matrix of Leadership. He kills Ironhide and makes a deal with Megatron. Sentinel uses the Pillars to transport Decepticons from the Moon to Earth. Dylan Gould captures Carly with help from Soundwave disguised as her car. Starscream destroys their ship during exile. Decepticons invade Chicago while placing Pillars globally to begin transporting Cybertron. Sam teams up with Robert Epps to save Carly and arrest Dylan. Que is executed during the battle. Bumblebee kills Soundwave while Optimus fights Sentinel. Wheelie and Brains sabotage the mothership. Carly convinces Megatron he will be replaced by Sentinel. Sam knocks Dylan into a Pillar which electrocutes him. Bumblebee destroys the Control Pillar causing Cybertron to implode. Megatron incapacitates Sentinel then offers a truce. Optimus refuses and kills Megatron by tearing off his head. He executes Sentinel for betrayal. The Autobots remain on Earth as their hopeful home.

• 4. Visual Effects And Technical Execution

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  Industrial Light & Magic served as the main CGI visual effects company for Dark of the Moon. They worked on pre-visualization for six months before principal photography started. This resulted in 20 minutes worth of footage. Digital Domain rendered 350 CGI shots including Laserbeak, Brains, Wheelie, and protoforms concealed on the Moon. ILM's visual effects supervisor Scott Farrar said effects had to be designed for 3D. The entire render farm was used on the last weekend of work. This provided over 200,000 hours of rendering power daily. That equated to 22.8 years of rendering time in a single day. The Driller required up to 122 hours per frame to fully render. It comprised over 70,000 parts compared to Optimus Prime's 10,000 parts. A sequence showing the Driller destroying a skyscraper took 288 hours per frame. ILM relied on its internal physics simulation engine to depict building destruction. Four employees traveled to Chicago to photograph buildings from top to bottom at six different times. They created digital models of the city for certain scenes. Sentinel Prime featured a face more human-like than other robots. Effects were based on Sean Connery then altered after Leonard Nimoy was cast. Every robot took approximately 30 weeks to build visually. The fight between Sentinel Prime, Optimus Prime, and Megatron moved from water to a bridge due to budget cuts. A digital double of Shia LaBeouf combined with high speed footage timed slow-motion sequences. ILM made 600 3D shots while Digital Domain handled under 200. Legend3D completed 78 minutes of work on non-visual effects and visual effects shots.

• 5. Box Office Performance And Records

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  Transformers: Dark of the Moon grossed $1.124 billion worldwide. It became the fifth highest-grossing film in history at that time. The film earned $352.3 million in North America and $771.4 million elsewhere. On the 3rd of August 2011, it crossed the $1 billion mark. This made it the second Paramount film to achieve this milestone alongside Titanic. Its worldwide opening weekend totaled $382.4 million. That stands as the fourth-largest ever and largest for Paramount. An IMAX worldwide opening-weekend record set at $23.1 million. The film reached $400 million in six days and $700 million in sixteen days. In China, its highest-grossing market after North America, it opened with $15.9 million. A single day brought in $17.4 million before being overtaken by Journey to the West. The opening weekend including previews hit $46.8 million. South Korea followed with $69.1 million while Japan contributed $54.2 million. The foreign launch was 57% ahead of Revenge of the Fallen. Don Harris noted if they had debuted later in Japan and China, records might have been broken. The film topped box office outside North America for two consecutive weekends. It retained first place on its second weekend dropping 52% to $47.1 million. Closing on the 13th of October 2011, it remained the second-highest-grossing film of 2011.

• 6. Critical Reception And Accolades

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  Rotten Tomatoes gave the film an approval rating based on reviews from critics. Metacritic assigned a score of 42 out of 100 indicating mixed or average reviews. Roger Ebert awarded one star criticizing visuals, plot, characters, and dialogue. Richard Roeper gave a D stating rarely has a movie had less soul. A.O. Scott wrote he could not decide if the movie was spectacularly dumb or brutally brilliant. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave zero stars calling actors duller than before. Tirdad Derakhshani claimed LaBeouf played Witwicky as having attention deficit disorder. James Berardinelli said LaBeouf sunk to greater levels of incompetence. Jason Solomons criticized Huntington-Whiteley's accent rendering her unintelligible. Lou Lumenick compared her unfavorably to Megan Fox. Huntington-Whiteley received a Golden Raspberry Award nomination for Worst Supporting Actress but lost to David Spade. Steve Prokopy found the film better than previous entries. Jim Vejvoda of IGN scored seven out of ten calling it best in franchise. Many reviews praised special effects and aggressive use of 3D. Kofi Outlaw declared Bay created the best 3D experience since Avatar. Neil Schneider noted the mix of native stereoscopic 3D camera capturing and conversion. The film won Academy Awards nominations for Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Visual Effects. It also received Razzie Award nominations including Worst Picture and Worst Director.