This is from Movie writer Roberto Orci, who recently took time to give an overview of proceedings on donmurphy.net (and it’s actually him this time! Don confirmed it.)

We’re still having a great time and learning a lot reading everything on this message board. Let us answer a couple of things

1.) In regards to our interview discussing Transformers as a toy line, you should know we made that statement surrounded by cynical reporters. We meant that it would be easy for a screenwriter to come in and think, “I don’t have to do a hell of a lot because it’s just a toy line, and I can just make a giant commercial, with giant robots fighting, instead of having to come up with a good story.” We were merely expressing our intention not to fall into the trap of thinking we could be lazy just because the toy line is so successful.

Alex and I were both fans when we were kids, we both saw the movie back in the day, although I’ll admit the toys my parents gave me were GOBOTS and VOLTRON!

2.) On mass shifting No matter where you fall in this debate, you should at least take heart in the fact that we have all been debating the issue as diligently and seriously as the supreme court weighing constitutional law. No matter how it turns out in the end, both sides will hopefully see that the decision was not taken lightly, and that our choices were not arbitrary and were made in service of a cool story. We are still reviewing arguments on both sides, and we may even have a solution that satisfies both sides. You will be the ultimate judges.

3.) We’ve chatted with Don about the voice casting, and you can rest assured we’re still writing it with the original voices in mind.

4.) We were surprised by the reaction against Arcee. I myself never had a bias against her, figuring if the Autobots are all male, it would be logical that there would have to be a female. However, given the strong reactions we’ve read, the matter is again under “judicial review.”

Thanks again for all the input. Don’t worry about insulting us. We know it’s all in the service of the finished product.

Michael Bay talks (unwillingly) about Transformers, and confirms that shooting begins in December.

Ain’t it cool news reports that Tom DeSanto has been bigging up the live action Transformers movie in an interview in Dreamwatch magazine. Check out the article here.

Some of the things Tom said

“There’s no better mythology to bring to the big screen than Transformers.
Transformers has got great characters and created an iconic world, and the
mythology still resonates with people 20 years after it was launched. Even
though they’re robots the characters have a lot of personality and a lot of
heart and people still care about them. That’s a great thing.”

“The plan with the movie is that it will combine live action with CGI.
I think it’s going to be something the audience has never seen before. In
all the years of movie-making, I don’t think the image of a truck transforming
into a 20-foot tall robot has ever been captured on screen. I also want to
make a film that’s a homage to 1980s movies and gets back to the sense of
wonder that Hollywood has lost over the years. It will have those Spielberg-ian
moments where you have the push-in on the wide-eyed kid and you feel like
you’re 10 years old even if you’re 35. That’s the energy I want to go for.”

“Just like with X-Men I want to get to the core of what makes Transformers
great. We’re going to get back to the heart of what Transformers is and distill
that into a movie.”

IESB.net have interviewed Lorenzo di Bonaventura from comic-con about the Transformers movie and the Cullen announcement. It’s good to see one of the producers talking to the press.