The Energon Pub

Salazaar wrote:I also find it disappointing that whenever the film is plugged on a television show, it's referred to as "based on a toy." Why can' they address it's based on a successfull TV show that's lasted since the mid-80's? I hope Mr. Orci can answer this one.

Because the show has changed over the years and Cartoon Network made sure that Energon and Cybertron were not successful.

Hotrod wrote:

Salazaar wrote:I also find it disappointing that whenever the film is plugged on a television show, it's referred to as "based on a toy." Why can' they address it's based on a successfull TV show that's lasted since the mid-80's? I hope Mr. Orci can answer this one.

Because the show has changed over the years and Cartoon Network made sure that Energon and Cybertron were not successful.

Maybe done due to large focus on the pre-production stage of the movie...

So, still wondering- what age are you? In school or a teacher to what grade?

Salazaar wrote:

Hotrod wrote:

Salazaar wrote:I also find it disappointing that whenever the film is plugged on a television show, it's referred to as "based on a toy." Why can' they address it's based on a successfull TV show that's lasted since the mid-80's? I hope Mr. Orci can answer this one.

Because the show has changed over the years and Cartoon Network made sure that Energon and Cybertron were not successful.

Maybe done due to large focus on the pre-production stage of the movie...

No, the same reason they managed to kill Teen Titans and JLU. They play crap and change time slots like crazy. Back in the day you could watch CN and watch good a cartoon. Now name me one good cartoon that comes on between 10am-8pm Sun.-Sat.

Tempest19 wrote:So, still wondering- what age are you? In school or a teacher to what grade?

Wouldn't you like to know.

JW, because you seem to be making cliche statements about teenagers- so I'm just guessing you aren't one. I mean, according to you we're all mindless drones following a leader. Lol.

Tempest19 wrote:JW, because you seem to be making cliche statements about teenagers- so I'm just guessing you aren't one. I mean, according to you we're all mindless drones following a leader. Lol.

I am a teenager. I see it every day, trust me.

Whether or not any of us thinks the movie will be a success, Hollywood definitely does. There is no competition for the biggest movie weekend of the year...if you'll remember Die Hard was supposed to come out the same day, and strangely, DH4 moved up a week.

PG-13 action flick. Based on a toy line, so it's fun for the whole family. Big frakkin robots that transform. FX you've never seen before. Ever. July 4th weekend, one of the biggest movie weekends of the year. Released unopposed. Do you think Warner Brothers would like to have Mr. Potter opening on the 4th? There's a reason they didn't bump that release up.

The record for July 4th weekend is only 88 million. Now, I don't know how the tally is calculated with the 4th on a Wednesday and the movie opening on a Monday, but if the Monday to Sunday gross isn't at least 100 mil domestic, I'll be shocked. C'mon, X3 did 188 million on Memorial Day last year and there wasn't even a plot in that movie.

Stalinglad wrote:

Salazaar wrote:

GetterDragun wrote:

Salazaar wrote:The average teen would not be willing to sacrifice their social status to watch a movie. /rant

Not for nothing, why would going to see a summer block buster make you uncool?

Because it's Transformers.

Why do you keep changing your argument? At one point you say most teenagers wont see the movie because they don't know what Transformers are, but now you claim they know what they are (hence, "uncool").

I said they wouldn't know what the Transformers movie is (meaning the seriousness, explosions, coherent plot, etc.etc.) but they know what Transformers, the toyline is, a toyline directed towards children. Therefore they can make the assumption that the movie is kid-directed and not serious at all, which is wrong.

Salazaar wrote:I said they wouldn't know what the Transformers movie is (meaning the seriousness, explosions, coherent plot, etc.etc.) but they know what Transformers, the toyline is, a toyline directed towards children. Therefore they can make the assumption that the movie is kid-directed and not serious at all, which is wrong.

Oh and for the record, I became a Transformers fan after reading the leaked screenplay. I decided to give it a shot, sit down and read it and I was litterally amazed at how much I liked it.

I'm not some G1, toy collecting, nostalgia-atic fan.

The screenplay, trailers and TV spots is what hooked me in. I watched Beast Wars when I was little, but never a TF cartoon. I'm just one of the general public being introduced to this world.

So, as to those "unitiated" and wouldn't know better? I was one of those guys dude.

So, if anything, it will have a run similar to a heightened POTC1.

Pirates of the Caribean is based on a Disneyland ride.

Spider-Man is based on a comic book.

Harry Potter is based on a series of fantasy novels.

The source material for all these films are geeky, nerdy, or, on first glance, could be considered lame by others. On the other hand, they all brought in buckets of money.

Magnimus wrote:Pirates of the Caribean is based on a Disneyland ride.

True, there were LOTS back then wondering- "how can this movie make a lot of money?! It's a Disney world ride for Christ's sake!!!" Now look at where it's at.

Stalinglad wrote:

Salazaar wrote:

Stalinglad wrote:

Salazaar wrote:

GetterDragun wrote:

Salazaar wrote:The average teen would not be willing to sacrifice their social status to watch a movie. /rant

Not for nothing, why would going to see a summer block buster make you uncool?

Because it's Transformers.

Why do you keep changing your argument? At one point you say most teenagers wont see the movie because they don't know what Transformers are, but now you claim they know what they are (hence, "uncool").

I said they wouldn't know what the Transformers movie is (meaning the seriousness, explosions, coherent plot, etc.etc.) but they know what Transformers, the toyline is, a toyline directed towards children. Therefore they can make the assumption that the movie is kid-directed and not serious at all, which is wrong.

Could you then please back up your claims with statistics that teenagers are against it, because it seems all you are referring to is your own opinion. As Mr Orci pointed out earlier, many teenagers are interested in the movie. I'm sure he knows better and has the data to back his claims.

I don't think Mr. Orci has numbers either. Every person at my school that I've asked about it has rolled their eyes and said "isn't that a toy? That'll be stupid" or something like that (except about two people).

Your posts remind me more of a high school setting prior to Senior Year. Am I guessing that right?

And as I said, worse case scenario- our B.O. will follow the same pattern the first POTC film did.

Salazaar wrote:I don't think Mr. Orci has numbers either. Every person at my school that I've asked about it has rolled their eyes and said "isn't that a toy? That'll be stupid" or something like that (except about two people).

With all due respect, Paramount/Dreamworks has access to whatever numbers they need. It's why they have focus groups and test screenings and sneak peak premieres and all sorts of other stuff. They track how many hits the hasbro site gets, they track how many hits and friends the Myspace page gets, they track the number of times "transformers' comes up in the search engines. And all the web-based numbers I have access to indicates a pretty good interest.

Are there no geeks at your school?

Tempest19 wrote:The screenplay, trailers and TV spots is what hooked me in. I watched Beast Wars when I was little, but never a TF cartoon. I'm just one of the general public being introduced to this world.

So, as to those "unitiated" and wouldn't know better? I was one of those guys dude.

Ladies and Gentleman, our first general public inductee. We've been expecting folks like you. Welcome to the fandom.

Stalinglad wrote:

Salazaar wrote:I don't think Mr. Orci has numbers either. Every person at my school that I've asked about it has rolled their eyes and said "isn't that a toy? That'll be stupid" or something like that (except about two people).

Want to make a bet? Studios and marketing research goes hand in hand. If he didn't have the numbers I'd be shocked.

Aren't you making a generalisation regarding teenagers' attitudes? Just because you've spoken to a sample (not the entire population) is not enough to assume the rest of the world's teenage population feels the same.

Generalizations of that certain group of people are usually right. I spend 7 hours a day with them for 180 days. When you spend that long with a group of people, you see their true colors. There's no reason to think any other schools would be any different. Now back on topic please...

Asderiphel wrote:

Salazaar wrote:I don't think Mr. Orci has numbers either. Every person at my school that I've asked about it has rolled their eyes and said "isn't that a toy? That'll be stupid" or something like that (except about two people).

With all due respect, Paramount/Dreamworks has access to whatever numbers they need. It's why they have focus groups and test screenings and sneak peak premieres and all sorts of other stuff. They track how many hits the hasbro site gets, they track how many hits and friends the Myspace page gets, they track the number of times "transformers' comes up in the search engines. And all the web-based numbers I have access to indicates a pretty good interest.

Are there no geeks at your school?

Sorry, but no. They people at my place of education are actually normal.

Hmm, dude- there were two or three high school/ colleged aged students talking about a positive response before I sign up.

So, teenage wise (area differences= larger sample)

Seems to be 1 agains, 3-4 for. That's a pretty damn good ratio, imo.

And as I said, initially- please note that this was way way before any pics or trailer was released- I was one of your skeptical "how can this be good?" guys. I read the screenplay, I saw the trailer and clips and I became converted. Because after that I realized that there was more to Transformers than meets the eye.

And as I said, the worst we can expect is a POTC1 scenario.

Salazaar wrote:I don't think Mr. Orci has numbers either.

I think that since Roberto Orci worked on the screenplay, he'd be in the know and have numbers.

Salazaar, your assumption about social clique systems seems strangely misplaced given the buzz about the Transformers movie. Yes, teenagers will feel pressure to avoid things the majority group feels is "uncool," but from many accounts the Transformers movie seems built around teenage sensibilities: hot cars, hot girl, explosions, action, fights and chases, macho destruction, etc. It's not like Transformers is "Brokeback Mountain," which would challenge majority sensibilities.

I find it hard to beleive that teenagers are unaware of the tone and mood of the film given how saturated their lives are with media and how much media exposure Tranformers is getting.

So...your school is full of stuck-up douche-nozzles.

Your argument is still flawed, however. Nerdiness is in. Hence Star Wars prequels and any and every comic book movie or any movie with awesome effects and explosions.
Done and done.

There's about 600 students in my school. I've talked to about two hundred fifty something, and they all had the same damn response.