It was way back in March, months before Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was unleashed on the public, that Paramount announced a release date of July 1, 2011 for Transformers 3. Just two years to release a new installment in a huge effects-laden franchise.

Bay responded with, “No way. I said I was taking a year off from Transformers. Paramount made a mistake,” saying he agreed to a 2012 release date, not 2011.

Well, the studio got its way as Bay wrote on his website (MichaelBay.com) today, announcing the new film.

Well its official: We have a great Transformers 3 story. The release date is now July 1st 2011. Not 2012.

Today is Day One. This morning started with an ILM meeting for five hours in San Francisco. Currently I’m flying with writer Ehren Kruger to Rhode Island to talk to Hasbro about new characters.

P.S. Megan Fox, welcome back. I promise no alien robots will harm you in any way during the production of this motion picture. Please consult your Physician when working under my direction because some side effects can occur, such as mild dizziness, intense nausea, suicidal tendencies, depression, minor chest hair growth, random internal hemorrhaging and inability to sleep. As some directors may be hazardous to your health, please consult your Doctor to determine if this is right for you.

Pain and Gain is right after shooting of Trans 3.

I can’t imagine Bay is happy about this, given his earlier comments, but I’m sure the powers-that-be had a way of persuading him. At least he promises the film that doesn’t include fighting robots (Pain and Gain) will come “right after.”

I wonder if Megan Fox WANTS to come back (especially after the crew authored “hate letter”). I presume if Parmount could persuade Bay, they could coax Fox, especially with the box office failure of Jennifer’s Body.

For those interested, Michael Bay is offering autographed copies of the Transformers and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Blu-rays signed by himself and Tyrese, with all proceeds going to the Make A Wish Foundation, at his website here.

Michael Bay’s Transformers movies have made Megan Fox a household name.  The films put her in the spotlight and in the minds of countless red blooded teens as well as movie fans and media alike.  However, Megan hadn’t really been making nice over her time with Michael, referring to Bay as “Hitler” recently.  Something that should never come off of one’s lips lightly.  She has routinely commented on how the films require little acting, but rather are simply about running around in skimpy outfits and dodging imaginary robots.  Her loose lips have made her very quotable in the media, but have angered more than a few, including those associated with the filming of the Transformers films.  Source: MichaelBay.com

Three crew members from the set of the movies have recently had enough and they posted a rant about her, which has since been taken down, but luckily, we have the full note here for you.  The letter had originally been posted to Bay’s official website, but Michael took it down and said:

“I don’t condone the crew letter to Megan. And I don’t condone Megan’s outlandish quotes. But her crazy quips are part of her crazy charm. The fact of the matter I still love working with her, and I know we still get along. I even expect more crazy quotes from her on Transformers 3.“

Oh, Michael, when did we arrive at a point in time where he seems to be the level headed one?  Here is the scathing read which includes portions about Megan being  “a thankless, classless, graceless, unfriendly bitch” as well as “dumb as a rock.”  Good times!  Enjoy the letter, I am sure you will have some reactions.

This is an open letter to all Michael Bay fans. We are three crew members that have worked with Michael for the past ten years. Last week we read the terrible article with inflammatory, truly trashing quotes by the Ms. Fox about Michael Bay. This letter is to set a few things straight.

Yes, Megan has great eyes, a tight stomach we spray with glycerin, and an awful silly Marilyn Monroe tattoo plastered on her arm that we cover up to keep the moms happy.

Michael found this shy, inexperienced girl, plucked her out of total obscurity thus giving her the biggest shot of any young actresses’ life. He told everyone around to just trust him on his choice. He granted her the starring role in Transformers, a franchise that forever changed her life; she became one of the most googled and oogled women on earth. She was famous! She was the next Angelina Jolie, hooray! Wait a minute, two of us worked with Angelina – second thought – she’s no Angelina. You see, Angelia is a professional.

We know this quite intimately because we’ve had the tedious experience of working with the dumb-as-a-rock Megan Fox on both Transformers movies. We’ve spent a total of 12 months on set making these two movies.

We are in different departments; we can’t give our names because sadly doing so in Hollywood could lead to being banished from future Paramount work. One of us touches Megan’s panties, the other has the often shitty job of pulling Ms. Sour pants out of her trailer, while another is near the Panaflex camera that helps to memorialize the valley girl on film.

Megan has the press fooled. When we read those magazines we wish we worked with that woman. Megan knows how to work her smile for the press. Those writers should try being on set for two movies, sadly she never smiles. The cast, crew and director make Transformers a really fun and energetic set. We’ve traveled around the world together, so we have never understood why Megan was always such – the grump of the set?

When facing the press, Megan is the queen of talking trailer trash and posing like a porn star. And yes we’ve had the unbearable time of watching her try to act on set, and yes, it’s very cringe-able. So maybe, being a porn star in the future might be a good career option. But make-up beware, she has a paragraph tattooed to her backside (probably due her rotten childhood) easily another 45 minutes in the chair!

So when the three of us caught wind of Ms Fox, pontificating yet again in some publication (like she actually has something interesting to say) blabbing her trash mouth about a director whom we three have grown to really like. She compared working with Michael, to “working with Hitler”. We actually don’t think she knows who Hitler is by the way. But we wondered how she doesn’t realize what a disgusting, fully uneducated comment this was? Well, here let’s get some facts straight.

Say what you want about Michael – yes at times he can be hard, but he’s also fun, and he challenges everyone for a reason – he simply wants people to bring their ‘A’ game. He comes very prepared, knows exactly what he wants, involves the crew and expects everyone to follow through with his or her best, and that includes the actors. He’s one of the hardest working directors out there.

He gets the best from his crews, many of whom have worked with him for 15 years. And yes, he’s loyal, one of the few directors we’ve encountered who lowered his fee by millions to keep Transformers in the United States and California, so he could work with his own crew.

Megan says that Transformers was an unsafe set? Come on Megan, we know it is a bit more strenuous then the playground at the trailer park, but you don’t insult one of the very best stunt and physical effects teams in the business! Not one person got hurt!

And who is the real Megan Fox? She is very different than the academy nominee and winning actors we’ve all worked around. She’s as about ungracious a person as you can ever fathom. She shows little interest in the crew members around her. We work to make her look good in every way, but she’s absolutely never appreciative of anyone’s hard work. Never a thank you. All the crewmembers have stopped saying hi to Ms. Princess because she never says hello back. It gets tiring. Many think she just really hates the process of being an actress.

Megan has been late to the sets many times. She goes through the motions that make her exude this sense of misery. We’ve heard the A.D’s piped over the radio that Megan won’t walk from her trailer until John Turturro walks first! John’s done seventy-five movies and she’s made two!

Never expect Megan to attend any of the 15 or so crew parties like all the other actors have. And then there’s the classless night she blew off The Royal Prince of Jordan who made a special dinner for all the actors. She doesn’t know that one of the grips daughters wanted to visit their daddy’s work to meet Megan, but he wouldn’t let them come because he told them “she is not nice.”

The press certainly doesn’t know her most famous line. On our first day in Egypt, the Egyptian government wouldn’t let us shoot because of a permit problem as the actors got ready in make up at the Four Seasons Hotel. Michael tried to make the best of it; he wanted to take the cast and crew on a private tour of the famous Giza pyramids. God hold us witness, Megan said, “I can’t believe Michael is fucking forcing us to go to the fucking pyramids!” I guess this is the “Hitler guy” she is referring to.

So this is the Megan Fox you don’t get to see. Maybe she will learn, but we figure if she can sling insults, then she can take them too. Megan really is a thankless, classless, graceless, and shall we say unfriendly bitch. It’s sad how fame can twist people, and even sadder that young girls look up to her. If only they knew who they’re really looking up to.

But ‘Fame’ is fleeting. We, being behind the scenes, seen em’ come and go. Hopefully Michael will have Megatron squish her character in the first ten minutes of Transformers 3. We can tell you that will make the crew happy!

I am not foolish enough to think that this doesn’t exist on countless film sets.  There is jealousy and envy everywhere.  That being said, I think that for this letter to make it to any form of print shows just how much contempt there must be f or Fox.  These are the types of things that in old Hollywood you would read about years later in a memoir about a successful film or individual.  I am surprised that something this slanted would be written, so I guess Megan has her detractors.  React.

We reported on a fifth Rambo film, now it seems another action franchise is getting ready for a sequel, as Columbia Pictures is developing a third “Bad Boys” film.  The Hollywood Reporter says the studio has hired Peter Craig to begin work on the script, with the hope that all those involved with the first two films will return for this one.  The only problem will be finding the time and money to get Will Smith (I Am Legend), Michael Bay (Transformers) and Martin Lawrence (Wild Hogs) back together for a third film.

Will Smith and Michael Bay would seem to be the hardest to nail down because of their schedules, and of the three stars, their paychecks will be the biggest. The last film, 2007’s Bad Boys II, grossed $273 million worldwide, so this news is no surprise. Now that Smith is the #1 Box Office star and Bay just did another Transformers, I bet their paychecks alone eat up at least $50 million of the third films budget. I do hope that the next film will be shorter than the last, Bad Boys II suffered from its overly long running time IMO, but it was still an entertaining flick. I personally hope that Michael Bay will shoot another Bad Boys before he does the inevitable Transformers 3.  I feel his more adult movies are better than anything else he does. What do you make of this news? Will you be lining up for another Bad Boys?

Creators of CW’s “Smallville” and the failed “Aquaman” pilot, Al Gough and Miles Millar, are dipping their toes back into film with an adaptation of the forthcoming novel by James Frey and Jobie Hughes, “I Am Number Four.”

The book is about a group of nine aliens who flee to Earth, disguised as teenagers, when their home planet is destroyed.

Michael Bay, hot (box office-wise) and cold (critically), off of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen will produce the film, with the possibility of directing it.

I honestly can’t imagine there’s any chance Bay chooses to direct the film. It doesn’t sound all that “big-budget” to me from the brief plot description. Gough and Millar’s previous big screen outing have been large-scale, however, with Spider-Man 2 and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor on their resumes. I’ve never seen an episode of “Smallville,” but it must be doing something right for lasting almost a decade now. Are there any fans of the show that think they can do this plot proper big-screen justice?

Read our preview of the film here.

Giant transforming robots have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. The “Transformers” animated TV series began when I was but two years old. The animated film, when I was four, elicited tears when I witnessed the death of Optimus Prime. I had so many metallic and plastic vehicle/robot hybrids, I became adept at calling them out even as they remained behind my preschool teacher’s back. I was even apparently known for yelling, “Transformers,” when released for kindergarten recess. My long forgotten childhood came rushing back to me in 2007 with the release of Michael Bay’s live-action Transformers and it was the one film that year I just knew would live up to the hype. Sadly, it turned out only about half-true. Apathetic was more the applicable word than disappointed and my view remained that way regarding the impending release of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. With expectations tempered, could the sequel to my boyhood dreams make up for the first installment?

Ever since Sam Witwicky shoved the all-spark cube into Megatron’s chest, rendering him lifeless and having the U.S. military drop the leader of the Decepticons into the ocean, Optimus Prime and the Autobots have remained alongside the human race as protectors against any future enemy attack. A new national security advisor to the president isn’t the biggest fan of the new militaristic advisors and accuses them of withholding weapons technology secrets and increasing the chances of Decepticon attack merely by their presence. His aim is to rid the Transformers from Earth, if only to maintain his developed ego.

Meanwhile, Sam is now in a committed relationship with Mikaela, but he’s attempting to retain a normal life after discovery of an alien race, by moving on to college. Mikaela can’t afford the college life and thus remains in their hometown working at a motorcycle shop and keeping an eye on her recently-out-of-prison father. Sam discovers a sliver of the all-spark didn’t make it all the way into Megatron’s chest and instead causes some trouble at home. He hands the sliver to Mikaela for safe-keeping, but while at school he suffers a mental breakdown, seeing and drawing foreign symbols as a result of previously touching the all-spark.

Hidden deep inside the ocean alongside Megatron’s remains lies the title character, The Fallen. He’s one of the earliest Transformers, encountering Earth back in 17,000 B.C. Unfortunately for the rest of the world, he’s a Decepticon and ever since being banished to the seas, he’s been awaiting his revenge on the human race. When the Decepticons get word of Sam seeing alien images and still possessing a piece of the all-spark, they make it their mission to hunt him down and strip him of the information trapped inside his mind. Such a result will give The Fallen a chance to rise and Decepticons another chance at taking control of Earth.

Devastator dwarfs the competition.

One of the massive problems I had with Bay’s first venture into the world of Autobots and Decepticons was the cheesy humor. Bumblebee pees on John Turturro, Autobots try to hide in suburbia and Wheelie attempts to inconspicuously shield his face from anybody who might recognize him. It seemed out of place in a giant robot movie and put a damper on all of the “Bayhem” released. Sadly, Revenge of the Fallen is an even worse offender. Dogs hump legs, mothers go on pot benders and two new Autobots make Dopey from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves look like Stephen Hawking. Frankly, it was embarrassing to sit there and watch how these things play out onscreen. The sad thing is that it’s all completely unnecessary, because during tense, action-oriented moments the film sustains itself perfectly well.

While the “humor” weighed this film down more than the original, Bay managed to improve his directorial style this time around. He’s always been known for the ADD-style editing with no shot ever lasting longer than a beat or two, but he didn’t help his cutting technique when the majority of his robotic in-fighting shots were obscured by other pieces of the set. This could very well have been done to make the job easier on special effects house ILM, but it made it difficult for the viewer to follow the action and make out just who was who. Thankfully, the intrusive objects have been removed and the audience now has a better semblance of the action taking place. Although why the choice to make Decepticon leaders Megatron and Starscream both gun-metal gray fighter planes, I’ve no idea.

The film is complete spectacle, only compounded when projected on the IMAX format. Bay shot two action scenes, one in a lush green forest and the other near the pyramids of Egypt with IMAX cameras, and the scenes have a magnificent pop to them. The detail is startling and works as a perfect device for which to display meta-Transformer, Devastator, made up five individual Decepticons. The film works at a massive volume, both visually and aurally, which is perfect for intensity in the action, but only makes the transition to scenes of pure human interaction more jarring.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen delivers in its promise of giant fighting robots, but sadly believes more is needed for which to draw the viewer into the world. The human relationships are canned at best and attempts draw in the child crowd like Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace works just about as well as that film. IMAX is certainly the only format for which to see the film, as the visuals provided are glorious. The film is the latest case in style over substance and its only hope for a redemptive inevitable third outing is to drop the “funny” business and remember the robots are what we’re here for. A boy can still dream, can’t he?

Back when we brought you news of the Christian Bale meltdown months ago, I thought it would be the one time we’d ever link to a TMZ story on the site. Although tempted to bring you the Leighton Meester sex tape news that surfaced last week (joking), the folks at Thirty Mile Zone have provided some more information that might be of interest to film fans.

TMZ got a hold of two e-mails sent from Michael Bay, director of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, to head honchos at Paramount studios. The first, dated May 4, has Bay blasting the company for their marketing efforts and failure to register Transformers as an event film in the pop culture ether. He even goes on to say the President of the company went on Wall Street and name-dropped Star Trek and G.I. Joe as the two blockbusters the studio had in the pipeline this summer.

The second e-mail, dated June 6, must have been a direct result of sending out the initial e-mail as Bay relents and thanks Paramount for “busting (their) butts” to finally get the film out there.

I think both e-mails are interesting reads, just from the perspective of seeing the filmmaking process up close. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. Although I may not like all the movies the guy directs, I do respect Bay.

Here are the e-mails: May 4 and June 6.

When Tranformers was released in 2007, it ended up being the highest grossing blockbuster of the year.  That’s not surprising, as it was based off a very popular toy line and an animated TV show.  Director Michael Bay, like J.J. Abrams of Star Trek, didn’t borrow too heavily from the show and come up with his own vision of Transformers.  He made it appealing to everyone so no one would have to watch the show to understand the movie.  The essence and concept of Transformers was there, but Bay turned it into something completely original.  The movie also turned Shia LaBeouf into a superstar and made Megan Fox a pin-up goddess for essentially every male.  Transformers:  Revenge of the Fallen will be the follow-up to the hugely successful Transformers.

Autobot Olypmics - Floor Exercise

Most of the actors reprise their roles from the first Transformers (one notable exception being Jon Voight as Defense Secretary Keller) and the basis of the sequel follows the events of the first film.  Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf), world savior from the evil Decepticons, is getting ready to attend college under the watchful eye of Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) and the rest of the Autobots. Before leaving, he must say goodbye to his friend/car Bumblebee (Mark Ryan) since incoming freshman are not allowed to drive cars on campus. Naturally, Bumblebee takes it hard and cries windshield wiper fluid.  Another person he must say goodbye to is his girlfriend, Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox), whom can’t afford to go to college with Sam.  She instead takes up work at a motorcycle repair shop. Sam’s parents Ron (Kevin Dunn) and Judy (Julie White), who now know about Bumblebee and the Autobots, drop Sam off at college and plan for a vacation in France. At college, Sam discovers a small piece of the Allspark, which gives the Transformers life.  He soon begins to have visions of symbols and starts to draw them everywhere.  Optimus Prime approaches Sam about his visions and says there may be a new Decepticon threat to Earth.  Since Decepticon Starscream managed to escape in the first movie, he brings back more reinforcements to Earth to revive their leader, Megatron, and find Sam and his Allspark.  Sam seeks the aid of Reggie Simmons (John Turturro), a now off-duty CIA agent who worked on the secret government project that held Megatron captive in the first movie.  Simmons, who is working at his mom’s deli, tells Sam that the images he is seeing are identical to markings found in ancient ruins around the world.  Sam discovers these ancient symbols may reveal the true origins of the Transformers.  He must find the ancient symbols and avoid capture by the Decepticons, who want to extract information from him.

Michael Bay, who directed the first Transformers, will return for this one. Writers Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman have come back to write the script, along with Ehren Kruger (The Ring).  With the same director and writers returning it can be expected this film won’t stray too far from the original’s formula.

This scene guest-directed by M. Night Shyamalan

Since I enjoyed the first Transformers, I’m sure I’ll feel the same about this one.  Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen may be one of the most anticipated movies of the summer and this will undoubtedly score huge at the box office.  Let’s just hope it doesn’t suck like most sequels tend to do.

Transformers:  Revenge of the Fallen opens June 24^th.

UPDATE: The video has been removed from everywhere at Paramount’s request. I guess it WASN’T the first legal footage. We’re still waiting on that.

Michael Bay posted this video on his website (shockingly enough, titled  MichaelBay.com), which contains a 90-second scene from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen as well as some brief clips of other carnage and mayhem (Bayhem?) we can look forward to seeing in the upcoming sequel.

Remember when Bumblebee peed on John Turturro’s character in the first Transformers film? That was Michael Bay’s idea. He thought it would be funny. Those who got the joke will probably be good with this scene. Those who didn’t (aka me) might not be too pleased about what we get to see here. Bumblebee cries. Holy goodness. They’re not human, they’re robots! I’m also pretty sure I spotted a Transformer using the aid of a cane in the subsequent clips. As far as I’m concerned, it’s that type of crap that hampered Transformers the last time. I was hoping it would be avoided this time, but that doesn’t appear to be the case. Ho-hum.

On a positive note, all of the other footage in this video looks promising. So, let’s get excited about that.

We’ll start you off light today with the thought that director Michael Bay is eying a small, Pulp Fiction-like movie to do between Transformers 2 and 3. This sounds inconceivable, but at one point he thought about directing Phone Booth. I wonder how that would’ve looked. I’m guessing it wouldn’t have been solely relegated to the phone booth itself. [MTV Movies Blog]

One of the resident Pixar geniuses, Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo, Wall-E) is set to direct a live-action adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ novel, “Princess of Mars,” as John Carter of Mars. This has been known for some time, but only recently was it announced that writer-extraordinaire, Michael Chabon, will do a rewrite of Stanton’s script. Anything to make it better is a good thing. I have no idea what to expect from Stanton’s foray into live-action, but am intrigued by the talent involved. [Aint It Cool News]

Although no one has been cast yet, we do know that The Green Lantern is slated to shoot in Sydney, Australia, will have a budget of $150 million and will be released in December 2010. Now if they could only find one of those pesky actors. [Latino Review]

A few weeks ago, we found out Bruno had been rated NC-17 by the MPAA. Sacha Baron Cohen and company appealed the decision after making some alterations and it’s now down to R. Oh, well. That’s what DVD’s and Blu-ray’s are for. [Collider]

Many years ago, there was a TV show titled “Father Knows Best.” It’s now being made into a movie. Oh, my. We can only hope it ends up as good as Bewitched or The Honeymooners. [Cinematical]

Sofia Coppola is set to direct her fourth feature film, entitled Somewhere. It’s starring Stephen Dorff and Elle Fanning. Indy music plays on the soundtrack. [Coming Soon]

Is TV’s “Family Guy” coming to the big screen? God, I hope not. Unfortunately, that’s what creator Seth McFarlane says in an interview. He even hints at some live action stuff. Yeah, it’ll probably be in the form of an insert of a 4-minute rock music video from the 80’s. Hilarium. [JoBlo]

Finally, [MTV Movies Blog] sat down with director Eli Roth (who makes the same sh*tty movies over and over again, according to Uwe Boll) and learned he is about to finish his script for a big budget film. The only thing he reveals about it is that it’ll be $80 million and have a monster. The bigger news, as far as I’m concerned, is he says he’s going to shoot a feature length Thanksgiving, immediately after that. He shot the trailer for Thanksgiving and it was attached to Grindhouse. I have to leave you with it: