Action, Adventure, Science fiction
Synopsis
Humanity's fate rests in the hands of a youth (Shia LaBeouf) when two races of warring robots make Earth their final battleground.
Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Tyrese Gibson, Josh Duhamel, Anthony Anderson, Megan Fox, Rachael Taylor, John Turturro, Jon Voight, Michael O'Neill, Kevin Dunn, Bernie Mac, Samantha Smith, Glenn Morshower, Rizwan Manji, Peter Cullen, Hugo Weaving
Producer(s): DreamWorks SKG, Di Bonaventura Pictures
Crew: Director - Michael Bay, Writer - Roberto Orci, Writer - Robert Kurtzman, Producer - Don Murphy, Producer - Tom DeSanto, Producer - Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Producer - Ian Bryce, Executive Producer - Steven Spielberg, Executive Producer - Michael Bay, Executive Producer - Brian Goldner, Executive Producer - Mark Vahradian, Original Music - Steve Jablonsky, Cinematographer - Mitchell Amundsen, Film Editor - Paul Rubell, Film Editor - Glen Scantlebury, Film Editor - Thomas Muldoon, Production Design - Jeff Mann, Art Director - Sean Haworth, Art Director - Beat Frutiger, Art Director - Kevin Kavanaugh, Costume Designer - Deborah Scott, Casting - Janet Hirshenson, Casting - Jane Jenkins, Casting - Michelle Lewitt
Distributor: DreamWorks SKG
Release Date: 07/03/2007
Running Time: 144 minutes
OFFICIAL SITE
| PG-13 | Parents Strongly Cautioned |
Production Notes:
- Notes provided by Paramount. -
For centuries, two races of robotic aliens -- the
Autobots® and the Decepticons® -- have waged a war, with the
fate of the universe at stake. When the battle comes to
Earth, all that stands between the evil Decepticons® and
ultimate power is a clue held by young Sam Witwicky (Shia
LaBeouf). An average teenager, Sam is consumed with everyday
worries about school, friends, cars and girls. Unaware that
he alone is mankind's last chance for survival, Sam and his
friend Mikaela (Megan Fox) find themselves in a tug of war
between the Autobots® and Decepticons.® With the world
hanging in the balance, Sam comes to realize the true meaning
behind the Witwicky family motto -- "No sacrifice, no
victory!"
DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures Present, in
Association with Hasbro, a di Bonaventura Pictures
Production, a Tom DeSanto/Don Murphy Production of a Michael
Bay Film, "TRANSFORMERS" starring Shia LaBeouf, Tyrese
Gibson, Josh Duhamel, Anthony Anderson, Megan Fox, Rachael
Taylor with John Turturro and Jon Voight. Directed by
Michael Bay from a story by John Rogers and Roberto Orci &
Alex Kurtzman and a screenplay by Roberto Orci & Alex
Kurtzman, the film is based on Hasbro's Transformers(tm) Action
Figures. The producers are Don Murphy, Tom DeSanto, Lorenzo
di Bonaventura and Ian Bryce and the executive producers are
Steven Spielberg, Michael Bay, Brian Goldner and Mark
Vahradian. The director of photography is Mitchell Amundsen.
The production designer is Jeff Mann. The film is edited by
Paul Rubell, A.C.E. and Glen Scantlebury. The costume
designer is Deborah L. Scott. The music is by Steve
Jablonsky. The music supervisor is Dave Jordan. The special
visual effects are by Industrial Light & Magic. This film is
not yet rated.
"TRANSFORMERS": THE HISTORY
"I've been one of the biggest fans of Transformers(tm)
since they first came out," says executive producer Steven
Spielberg. "I'm not talking about buying the toys for my
kids. I'm talking about reading the comic books and buying
the toys for myself. I'd play with them at home with my
kids, but I'm the one who was enthralled with them," he
recalls. "I was a collector and I always thought the Hasbro
toy line would one day `transform' into a big summer movie."
Spielberg was not the only one to think so; several of
the film's producers had the same impulse. While producer
and former studio executive Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Hasbro
COO Brian Goldner were talking about possible movies ideas
for Transformers(tm) and other Hasbro franchises, Tom DeSanto
was approaching Don Murphy to form a partnership in hopes of
making his own Transformers(tm) project. When all was said and
done, the core creative force behind the film is a virtual
who's who of Hollywood producing royalty: Steven Spielberg,
director Michael Bay, di Bonaventura ("Shooter"), DeSanto
(the "X-Men" series), Murphy ("Natural Born Killers") and Ian
Bryce ("Saving Private Ryan").
From the get-go, all of the producers did their homework
and knew that making a Transformers(tm) movie meant honoring a
much beloved franchise backed by a strong base of devotees,
many of whom had lifelong ties to the characters.
"Transformers(tm) has a rich, established history that
inspired all of us," says di Bonaventura. "It's no wonder we
each had the same brainstorm; each of us was attracted to its
mythology.
"The hardest aspect of overcoming people's assumptions
about robots -- even the fans' -- was that until we could show
footage, no one could really understand what this particular
movie is all about," he says. "So we focused on the work at
hand: developing a human story, finding the best cast and
producing the most exciting effects we could. The rest would
take care of itself."
DeSanto swears that he's dreamt of making a movie about
Transformers(tm) since he was a kid, but it didn't occur to his
partner Murphy until years later as he was strolling through
the Comic-Con convention in San Diego. "I was walking around,
looking at a lot of properties and franchises, and all of a
sudden it hit me," Murphy says. "The kids of the `80s have
grown up and now they probably want to see movies based on
all this stuff around me, all their beloved characters and
stories. Oh my God, this makes perfect sense."
Murphy also knew that DeSanto, whom he'd met when the
two worked together on "Apt Pupil," was not only a huge fan
of the toy franchise, he was a walking encyclopedia of comic
book information. DeSanto, who owns over 35,000 comic books,
called Murphy to partner on the project as Murphy had a
previous relationship with Hasbro.
"Transformers(tm) was something I loved and cared about as
a kid," says DeSanto. "It's hard to get these movies made,
so you better love what you do because otherwise you're in
for a few dreary years trying to make the idea a reality."
"When DreamWorks told us that Steven loved the idea, I
couldn't believe it," DeSanto recalls. "As a kid from New
Jersey, to hear that Steven Spielberg liked the same robots,
I just thought, `how did I get here?' The rest is a dream;
it's just been great."
"Hasbro and Paramount were very excited about the
process of putting another successful product into live-
action format," di Bonaventura says, "and of course
Transformers(tm) came up because its one of Hasbro's crown
jewels and a brand Brian believes has great potential.
"Brian is understandably protective of every franchise
at the company," di Bonaventura explains. "For that reason
he wanted to be involved as a producer, an idea I readily
embraced because Brian really knew the brand and has a lot to
offer."
Ultimately DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures
chose to partner on the film. In previous years their
collaborative efforts have yielded such successful films as
"Dreamgirls," "War of the Worlds," "Collateral," and "Saving
Private Ryan."
Screenwriter John Rogers, a comic book writer and
enthusiast, was asked to put together an initial draft of the
script. "The nice folks at DreamWorks know I'm a geek; I
make my living as a professional 12-year-old," jokes Rogers,
"So considering I was assembling and disassembling Optimus
Prime® in their offices, I really had no defense when they
asked me if I was interested. I was very eager; it was a
great opportunity. The only real direction I was given was:
write a human story."
Rogers' initial three plot lines eventually evolved into
the rich, textured story that is "TRANSFORMERS," crafted by
the talented team of Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. Prior
to passing the torch, Rogers spent an inordinate amount of
time monitoring different Transformers(tm) web sites. "When I
moved onto another project, I left Alex and Bob to take the
heat," he jokes. "The fan base is so huge you could devote
an entire section of your life to answering their questions.
These people care. No one knows that more than the writers."
Rogers' favorite Transformer(tm) is Sound Wave "just for
attitude and sheer crankiness," with Optimus Prime® running a
close second "for moral clarity."
A longtime aficionado of science fiction, Spielberg was
recently inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame.
"The reason I love science fiction so much is because it's
the only genre that allows you unlimited access to your
imagination."
For that reason, Spielberg took a special interest in
"TRANSFORMERS" and called director Michael Bay while he was
putting the finishing touches on "The Island," to ask him to
helm the film.
"Michael is the perfect director for "TRANSFORMERS,"
says Spielberg. "He really had a feel for this material; he
had a focused vision for what this franchise could look like
as a movie. Michael had all the freedom he needed to breathe
life into the humans, the Decepticons® and the Autobots®."
Without much thought, Bay initially dismissed
Spielberg's offer, but when he realized that Spielberg was
serious about the project and wanted to act as a hands-on
producer, Bay relented and agreed to take a trip to Rhode
Island to visit Hasbro's home base. After meeting with
Goldner, Bay caught the bug and he swears it took him all of
three seconds to change his mind.
"Walking down the hallway where they created the
Monopoly® game, Mr. Potato Head® and G.I. Joe® -- everything
from my childhood -- I knew this was a company that took their
toys seriously," Bay says. "Meeting with Brian, who's
probably more manic than I am, if that's possible, really
started me thinking. He's wild, he's an absolute zealot
about these action figures and he loves his business; his
enthusiasm was infectious."
Bay along with producers di Bonaventura and Ian Bryce
were put through their paces and attended "Transformers(tm)
School." (DeSanto and Murphy had taken the course on a
previous excursion to Hasbro.)
"That's actually what they call it," Bay explains.
"They take you through the lore and the different
incarnations of the comic books and the toys -- kind of an
overview of Transformers(tm) history -- the brand, and the
characters. The scope of it just blows you away, and the
first thing that struck me was the idea of robots
transforming at 80 miles an hour on a freeway. Right then
and there I was sold on making this idea work."
Bay has been offered many super hero projects over the
years, but has turned them down for the same reason many
aficionados of original fantasy characters dislike their
interpretation on celluloid. So when Spielberg tapped him to
direct an action picture bringing to life a 20-year-old
iconic toy line that had already been immortalized with lunch
boxes, comic books, games and its own cartoon series, Bay
realized he would be confronting an outspoken army of diehard fans who were dedicated to the original action figures.
An admirer of Japanese animé, Bay knew he and his
production designer, Jeff Mann, would do justice to the
Transformers(tm) franchise, but neither of them was prepared for
the onslaught of harsh criticism they would face even before
a single frame of film was shot.
"You have to respect the guys who created these
phenomenal toys," says Bay, "but I was set on taking them
into a real world where they'd have to be more intricate to
fit in. The Generation One robots were very blocky which
would have been like using the unarticulated marshmallow man
from `Ghostbusters.' Our Optimus Prime® has 10,108 parts,
each of which move.
"It was a big leap of faith for me to sign onto a movie
like this," he continues, "because I only wanted to make
something that was as photorealistic as possible. These
robots are the most complex modules ILM has ever made. We
couldn't have accomplished this two years ago. I guess
that's my answer to people who complain that the robots will
look a bit different from the originals. Sometimes it's best
not to answer your critics and just let the work stand for
itself."
"Our goal was always to be true to the original spirit
behind the Transformers(tm)," says di Bonaventura. "You never
want to disappoint the people who really care about the
franchise if only because it translates to a larger audience
and negativity spreads. Besides, we would never want to
alienate our core fan base; it's like alienating your
family."
Actor Shia LaBeouf, who portrays Sam Witwicky, puts it
succinctly. "People love Michael Bay or people hate him.
It's just a fact," he laughs. "He's not Elia Kazan. Even
Mike will tell you that. Of course, my goal is to work with
all types of directors, I want to stretch and make films that
mainstream audiences really appreciate for the visceral
experience.
"Michael is the sickest action director on the planet,"
La Beouf continues. "He's General Patton: hard as hell,
opinionated, but with a great sense of humor, and he's got an
amazing visual sense; he's a genius. I know that I worked
with the best Michael Bay there's been so far."
Jon Voight was familiar with Bay, having previously
worked with him on "Pearl Harbor." He knew well the
director's fast-paced shooting style, his love of action and
his desire for perfection, and similar to Voight's co-stars,
he sees Bay's sense of humor as one of the tools in his
arsenal of filmmaking techniques.
"Michael has a great sense of fun," Voight says, "and
all of his films reflect that no matter how serious the
subject matter. It's also what I like about this film -- we
don't take ourselves too seriously."
"Michael is definitely the fastest director I've worked
with," say actor Tyrese Gibson. "He keeps everybody on edge
so that we stay sharp and on top of our game, and that's
because he's on top of his game. When I watch everything and
everyone he has to deal with on set, it makes me feel that
much more responsible to do my part. Michael keeps me
motivated."
"As my mother would say, Michael's a pip," laughs
Voight. "He's got this tireless energy and he jumps from one
set to another. Sometimes it seems as though he's making it
up on the spot, but he's so familiar with the script that he
has that leeway. You just never know where a scene might go,
so you have to be on your toes and pay attention because all
the pieces have to tie together; it's a challenge. But with
Michael the creative juices are continuously flowing. It's
as though he is meditating in motion."
All of the actors were amazed by the secrecy surrounding
the project. Most of them only received script pages with
their own scenes rather than the entire script.
"This is as tight as it's gotten for me," says Voight.
"I never know what I can say, so I just don't say much," he
laughs. "But when I walked onto some of the sets and saw how
amazing they were, I understood why Michael and Steven wanted
to keep it under wraps."
It became a joke with cast members how many people would
ask them which Transformer(tm) they were playing when friends
and family found out they were starring in the film.
"TRANSFORMERS": The Story
In many ways Sam Witwicky (LaBeouf) is like every
teenage boy. He's interested in girls and cars, and bored
with school. But that's where the similarities end. Smart
and witty, Sam is destined for bigger things than his peers.
When his father agrees to match funds toward his first car,
Sam's excitement quickly turns to disappointment with the
purchase of a beater 1976 Chevy Camaro® that appears to have
a mind of its own. But when the hottest girl in school,
Mikaela (Megan Fox), needs a ride home, Sam can't resist, and
before long the Camaro® steers the two of them together.
The next morning Sam awakens to a distinctive roar and
screeching tires. Someone has stolen his car. In a valiant
effort to pursue the thief, he chases the Camaro® only to
find himself overpowered by a police cruiser that shockingly
transforms into a menacing 20-foot robot. Looming over him,
the robot attempts to interrogate Sam, but before he can
comprehend his terrifying circumstances, Mikaela appears. As
the two run from their mysterious attacker, Sam's Camaro®
flies in to the rescue. Before the dust can settle, sections
of the Camaro® peel back like a banana, grinding, rising
before their very eyes and suddenly changing into another
giant robot.
Saved by the yellow behemoth, Sam and Mikaela attempt to
communicate with their new friend who cannot seem to speak
without the aid of songs playing from his radio. Soon other
vehicles join them, transforming one by one into enormous
mechanical beings who explain that they are Autobots® from
the planet Cybertron on a mission to recover the "Allspark,"
their life source, before their enemies, the evil
Decepticons®, can find it.
Before Sam and Mikaela can implement their plan to help
the Autobots®, they are arrested by a strange and officious
government lackey (John Turturro) and taken to a clandestine
command post.
Half a world away an Army Captain (Josh Duhamel), who is
in charge of a small brigade of Special Forces Rangers, and
the assigned Air Force combat controller, Sergeant Epps
(Tyrese Gibson), find themselves the sole survivors of a
bizarre attack on their base in Qatar. The soldiers soon
discover they are the first present-day humans to come up
against a powerful alien being that can shape-shift into a
giant metallic scorpion but is really a powerful bullet and
bomb-resistant robot.
When Lennox's squad is surreptitiously transferred back
to the U.S., they know they have seen and experienced
something earth shattering. They are part of a select group
that includes the U.S. Secretary of Defense (Jon Voight),
members of a top secret military unit called Sector 7
(Turturro and Michael O'Neill), along with a beautiful
computer analyst (Rachael Taylor) and her associate, a smart
but uptight hacker (Anthony Anderson), plus the most unlikely
pair, a couple of high school kids who have befriended some
of the robots, (LaBeouf and Fox) -- all of whom know about
the aliens that have come to Earth in a desperate search for
the "Allspark."
Together the group strategizes a plan of attack to save
the world from the battling Transformers(tm), but when Sam and
Mikaela realize the government plans to destroy their new
friends the Autobots®, along with the evil Decepticons®, they
devise a plan of their own to save mankind.
When Spielberg first described the story to Bay, it was
simple: It's about a boy and his car that just happens to be
an alien robot. A great hook, to be sure, but generating an
entertaining, engaging story necessitates more than the
kernel of an idea; its success rests in the hands of
talented, ingenious writers.
John Rogers, who has written comic books himself, took a
first crack at the story. In hopes of calming the nerves of
fervent Transformers(tm) fans, he went online to reassure them
that the filmmakers understood the devotion that kept the
franchise alive long enough to be worth making into a movie.
With that sense of respect and dignity, he approached the
story, following DreamWorks' edict to write a human tale.
"I had to start with human characters that could be
expanded into larger roles," Rogers explains, "and at the
same time show the global scale of the story in the three or
four different plot lines that eventually intersect. The
idea was a worldwide conspiracy in the form of an action
movie where all these people's lives come together in the
middle of the movie. So I started with Sam Witwicky and his
love/hate relationship with his beater car; a group of
soldiers who find some weird technology; and some scientists
who are investigating that technology. That was the basic
spine of it."
Next up were writing partners Alex Kurtzman and Roberto
Orci, both of whom are the perfect age to remember playing
with the toys as kids, watching the television series, which
ran from 1984 to 1987, and seeing the animated 1986 movie,
"The Transformers: The Movie" written by Ron Friedman and
directed by Nelson Shin.
Orci likens playing with the toys as "the ultimate peek-
a-boo" game for eight-year-olds. "What is it, a truck?" he
says, "No, it's not a truck. Oh my God, it talks! It's a
robot. It's the ultimate jack-in-the-box with a constant
surprise. And from a more sophisticated approach, you'd
imagine all your toys coming to life. You imagine
befriending all the technology around you. That was a cool
concept in 1984, and it still is now."
Kurtzman agrees. "The idea behind the toy is that
everything around us, our cars, and all technology, are
sentient," he explains. "Every thing has emotions and
feelings but we don't know it because they are in disguise.
This seemed like a good jumping off point for a movie."
"Alex and Roberto are very skilled at drawing strong
characters," says di Bonventura. "Once they came aboard, the
project quickly found its feet."
"The Transformers(tm) may be robots on the outside but they
all have very human souls," says DeSanto. "It's important
not to lose that in the translation. As always it comes down
to the classic good (the Autobots®) versus evil (the
Decepticons®) with the future of humanity at stake."
"The writers really helped narrow the choice of robots,"
says Bay. "At the beginning I had some very elaborate plans
for these newer robots called `Combiners,' but ultimately it
became too cost prohibitive to create them just in terms of
manpower, let alone the technology to make them look real."
"Steven wanted to make it an even five against five,"
Bay continues, "so that's where it took off."
The filmmakers spent time watching the 1980s "The
Transformers" television show as well as the animated movie
until they were very familiar with the first generations of
robots.
"It became obvious that we couldn't make a movie without
Bumblebee(tm), Optimus Prime® and Megatron®," says di
Bonaventura. "After that we took a poll amongst ourselves,
found out who were our favorites and then asked fans who
their favorites were. From there we put a list together that
encompasses most peoples' favorite Transformers(tm). We know
that people are going to feel, `Oh I wish they'd have put in
that one or that other one,' but there were only so many
robots we could deal with in one movie."
Shia LaBeouf is Sam Witwicky -(Username: Ladiesman
217)
When Shia LaBeouf first heard that a movie version of
the beloved Transformers(tm) franchise was on the horizon, he
immediately assumed the worst, but he wasn't as worried as
many who complained vociferously on Internet websites
dedicated to lambasting the filmmakers. He was less
concerned about which robots would be showcased and didn't
care overmuch about the specific vehicles or their paint
jobs; he just hoped the big screen version would not lose the
heart of the comic and the toy line, and wondered how in the
world a live action movie would be able to make those amazing
transformations so feasible in the world of animation.
"My childhood was `Yogi Bear' and the `Transformers'
shows," describes LaBeouf. "I was eight years old and I
would play the tapes over and over again."
His favorite Transformer(tm) was always Bumblebee(tm), with
Decepticon Frenzy(tm) running a close second. When asked about
the controversy over changing one or two of the vehicle
models and updating some of the design aspects of the robots
and their characters, LaBeouf is philosophical. "You have to
keep up with the times, you have to update," he says. "You
can't keep the story in the `80s. It might work for 25
hardcore fans, but for the rest of the world, you can't
portray Megatron® as a handgun. Cinematically speaking, you
need to amplify the danger. Megatron® is now an alien jet
the likes of which you've never seen before."
There's no American mythology," he goes on to explain.
"There's no folklore, and for some, no religion. A lot of
people in my generation didn't even read Catcher in the Rye.
But most of them know about Barbie®, Lego®, Tony Hawk and the
Transformers(tm); it's pop culture. The scary thing about
jumping in to pop culture is you don't want to sell out. But
once I met with Mike, I saw that we weren't going to make a
film about some guy in tights and a cape. It was more a
movie about the fact that we, as humans, don't know
everything; the idea that machines can, in a certain respect,
overpower humans."
During production, LaBeouf became close to veteran actor
Jon Voight who gave him a book abut the theater. "In Greek,
the word `theater' means `the seeing place,'" LaBeouf
explains. "People used to come to the theater to see
something they weren't experiencing in life; to see
exaggerations on social situations, on mechanical
possibilities, on the human condition. But every
exaggeration begins in truth, which is what Michael and I
talked about."
When the two first sat down together, they discussed Sam
Witwicky's coming-of age-story and the dilemmas he must face
when finding himself at the center of a war of two worlds.
"It was never a discussion of technology," says LaBeouf, "or
`Let's talk about the robots.' The first thing we talked
about was how to make Sam's story real. How do we make the
characters honest? How do we make the relationships work so
that the audience can follow the story? Because if you don't
give a crap about the characters, even the animated ones,
you're not going to watch the movie."
"Sam is just a normal kid," says Bay. I didn't want him
to be the stud or the geek, just a normal Joe. He's the type
of guy who finds his edge through humor. He's a little
awkward, but you immediately like him.
"And like every guy, he's consumed with getting his
first car," says Bay. "When I was growing up I had to save
for my car fund and when I built it up enough my Dad was
going to match it, just like Sam. I got a VW Scirocco and I
had it painted at this place called Keystone Body Shop in
Santa Monica, which coincidentally is the same building, the
exact space in fact, where the edit bays in my office now
sit. How bizarre is that? I remember walking in with my
$900. Picking up that car was the most important moment,
just like picking out the car for Sam.
"At the car dealership he gravitates to the Camaro®," he
continues, "because it's got the slick wheels and a racing
stripe and it looks semi cool, but we do give a wink to the
VW when Bernie Mac tries to sell him the bug. But you know
immediately there's a connection between Sam and that
Camaro®."
"Sam becomes a messenger for the robots," LaBeouf says.
"He referees the entire situation between the Autobots® and
the Decepticons®. He's the human anchor for the movie so
that you can have this outlandish plot of two kids in high
school with no special skills, no cape, no big gun, who get
the upper hand over evil robots, the government, hackers,
everyone.
"Robots aside, Sam is very sheltered," says LaBeouf, "he
hasn't seen much of the world, so he's searching for an
adventure. Of course, in his mind adventure comes in the
form of a girl named Mikaela, but he finds out soon enough
that his adventure is more than finding a girlfriend. When
he's first approached by Optimus®, it's not something he's
ready for, but through the course of the film he becomes a
man. Sam starts as a kid with no responsibilities and big
dreams, but his focus changes. His friendship with this girl
grows from a shallow infatuation to a very intimate
relationship and he finds a best friend and a guardian in
these robots."
Di Bonaventura who knew LaBeouf from working with him on
"Constantine," believes the actor's likeability quotient is
enormous and allows audiences to root for him which is
essential to the story's progression.
"There's no question that having grown up in the movie
business Shia has learned how to make a character his own,"
he says, "how to interpret the character's choices and how to
create the character's inner world. For his age, Shia is
beyond sophisticated."
"Shia's quite a sensation," Voight agrees. "He's the
real thing."
Megan Fox is Mikaela Banes
Constantly teased about her last name and the style with
which she wears the mantle, Megan Fox is undeniably an all-
around good sport. In her first leading role in a major
motion picture, Fox was thrust into the limelight of a big
action movie helmed by none other than the wildest action
director ever, Michael Bay.
"Given that Michael's name was attached to the script
and that it was planned as a summer release, I knew the movie
was going to be huge," she says, "I just had no idea how much
of a part I was going to play in relation to the whole thing
or what I was in for," she says with a wink.
Bay, along with his Platinum Dunes producing partners
Andrew Form and Brad Fuller, had originally auditioned Megan
Fox for their remake of "The Amityville Horror" (directed by
Andrew Douglas). When she returned to Bay's offices two
years later to audition for the role of Mikaela, he saw
something beyond her obvious beauty that complemented the
character.
"Even though Megan's relatively new to movies, she's
incredibly poised and confident, and it's not phony," says
Bay. "I also liked that no one really knew about her, which
can be scary when you think about giving such a big part to
someone untested, but the pairing with Shia really worked.
They had a great energy."
"Michael Bay is kind of infamous," laughs Fox. "But the
more you are around him, the more obvious it becomes that he
has this off-beat sense of humor. If he yells, it's more
about entertaining himself and ribbing you. He's not a scary
guy, he's funny."
"Michael's a frat boy," says her co-star LaBeouf, "and
if you're going to have a relationship with Mike, you cannot
be the sentimental actor. You cannot be fearful. You have
to hold your own and be tough if you're going to play with
that crowd. Michael needs people who can deal with that, who
can hang in there and keep going, and Megan figured it out."
"Michael's a phenomenal director," she says. "Audiences
are coming to this movie to see robots, explosions, and jets
and helicopters screaming overhead -- they want to see action.
Shia and I were just along for the ride," she laughs.
As Mikaela, 20-year-old Fox plays the hottest girl in
high school who is not engrossed in the usual girlie
interests and pursuits. Instead, she is a thinker who, like
Sam, is looking for the next adventure life has to offer.
"She's from the wrong side of the tracks," Fox explains.
"She's had a difficult family life and it's made her tough.
But she's a sweet girl and when Sam is ridiculed by her
boyfriend she sticks up for him and breaks up with her
boyfriend over the incident; it's all very melodramati
