During last night’s Las Vegas CinemaCon Micheal Bay announced the casting of Stanley Tucci in Transformers 4. Tucci joins Mark Walhburg, Jack Reynor, and Nicola Peltz, Bay also teased the audience with the casting news of a mysterious young actor that will be announced shortly.

Tucci’s most recent work in Jack the Giant Slayer is still in theaters and his reprisal of Caesar Flickman in The Hunger Games: Catching fire hits theaters on November 22nd.

Bay recently described Transformers 4 as a: “Chase from Hell.”

Via: Superherohype

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The horror that is Micheal Bay‘s reboot of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles continues to haunt the nightmare’s of TMNT fans everywhere, but the latest news out of the production is actually pretty good news. Alan Ritchson (The Hunger Games, Smalleville as Aquaman), has been cast as Raphael, the red bandana mask wearing, sai welding ninja turtle.

At least Ritchson won’t have to wear some bulky rubber suit, he’ll be doing performance motion capture and voice overs, much like the Hulk or Planet of the Apes characters. One can only hope that if Warner Brothers ever gets their act together on a Justice League movie, that Ritchson will still be available to play theKing of the Sea.

This casting has been the only ray of hope for this NerdBastard. The reboot is being directed by Jonathan Liebesman. I’ve got mixed feelings about his past work, I did like Battle Los Angeles, but the same guy brought us Darkness Falls, the story of:

A vengeful spirit has taken the form of the Tooth Fairy to exact vengeance on the town that lynched her 150 years earlier. Her only opposition is the only child, now grown up, who has survived her before.

Yeah, the tooth fairy gone bad. I’d rather watch the Rock’s Tooth Fairy, both versions are horrible horror stories.

What other actors do you think should fill out the cast? We’ve already talked about Megan Fox‘s casting as April. Who might play the other turtles and their Sensi  Splinter? There is still the villains to cast as well, Shredder, Krang, Bebop and Rocksteady.

TMNT is scheduled to hit theaters on June 6th, 2014.

Via: Comingsoon

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The two men that created the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird appear to be on opposite sides of the Micheal Bay TMNT reboot fence. Laird recently expressed his disappointment in the casting of Megan Fox while Eastman has remained a positive vocal supporter of the project. Eastman recently talked with CBR about the Bay reboot:

One of the things that’s awesome about the relationship I’ve had with Platinum Dunes and Michael Bay and Jonathan Liebesman and some of the producers, Scott Mednick and Galen Walker on the series, is that It’s probably amusing to a lot of people what the press puts out there and what they say people behind the scenes really want to do with the movie, but [Platinum Dunes'] main goal is actually to make the best possible “Turtles” movie with respect to the fans and the core audience as possible. We’ve learned from movies like “The Avengers,” which to me was a superhero movie so good to me personally that I practically wept. It was perfect, you know what I mean? That’s the stuff that I grew up on. Joss Whedon just knocked it out of the park, the whole team did, and that includes choreographing all the interlocking movies. From everything that I’ve seen in the ["TMNT"] script and the development and everything they’ve asked my input on specifically, it’s gonna be an awesome, familiar, solid “Turtles” movie. It’ll have everything that fans are gonna want and then some.

Much like you look at what they’re doing at Nickelodeon with the new animated series, it’s all based solidly on the “Turtles” foundation, but they’ve hit the reset button. They’ve taken it back to the first episode, with the Turtles first time above ground after many years of training with Master Splinter. They’re making a “Turtles” origin that is firmly rooted in “Turtles” history, but a slight tweak here and a slight tweak there. It’s been enjoyable and the IDW series is much the same, in that it’s firmly rooted in “Turtles” history, but multiple “Turtles” universes.

I think Tom put together such a great tapestry. I think you’ll see some of that with the movie. It’ll touch on that same “Turtles” foundation, that same 30 years of “Turtles” history, so you can just pick and choose parts that you like but still keep it firmly rooted in “Turtles” history.

When we did the first movie with [director] Steve Barron back in 1990, it was a perfect hybrid of what Peter and I were doing with the original black and white series and what we were doing in the animated series, like with April being a news reporter. Issue #2 of [1984's] “Turtles” she was a scientist. Then in the IDW series she was a scientist again. Everything’s there and everything can be traced back to the original group.

I think everybody’s going to be pleased with what the movie’s going to be and I hope we can pull stuff from there in to the “Turtles” universe, although I think in a lot of ways it’s already there in the IDW series.

Has Eastman drunk the Micheal Bay Kool-Aid? Does he know things we don’t, perhaps his press comment have merit, or perhaps he’s just trying to make the most out of a bad situation and protect his intellectual property as much as he can while still making a buck.

I’m really interested to see what the first clips or trailer looks like. I imagine it might not actually suck hairy balls which could spark another Internet flame war between TMNT fans and Micheal Bay haters. Both fan and anti-fan bases are pretty large and vocal.

Which side of the fence are you one? I personally don’t hold much hope for the project because Bay can’t seem to grasp the connection between bringing fans into the mix while opening the franchise to the mainstream movie going audience.

My biggest problem with Bay isn’t all the explosions or the sub-par actors and actresses usually cast in his movies, it’s the horrible writing and toilet humor. I’m dreading seeing some Turtle testicle jokes repeatedly  through the movie. I’m willing to bet hard money on each turtle banging some crook in the balls and shouting some horrific joke. Bay can’t just make the joke once, it has to be peppered throughout the entire movie, repeatedly smacking you in the face with it at every turn.

Thoughts?

Via: CBR

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Isn’t this one of the seven signs of the coming apocalypse?

Micheal Bay made the announcement on his website today that Megan Fox is joining the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Reboot. Wait a damn minute, isn’t that movie dead, wasn’t the script labeled horrible and then burned while we all danced in the pale moonlight? Apparently not.

Everyone should remember that Bay pretty much kicked Fox to the curb when if came time to put Transformers 3 in production. The two went back and forth about how terrible the other was to work with on the internet and in the media. The hatchets must have been buried though, or the size of Fox’s check is large enough to make her let bygones be bygones.

Fox must be playing April O’Neil, reporter who discovers the turtles and helps them out. I can’t think of another role in the franchise that makes more sense, not that anything so far in Bay’s TMNT reboot has made any sense at all to this NerdBastard.

It looks like fan-boys are going to get their sexy-version April with Megan Fox in the role. Don’t Google April O’Neil Slash Fiction unless you’ve got a strong stomach.

Well, it looks like this TMNT Reboot nightmare isn’t over. What do you think about this news? Will Fox’s “hotness” outweigh fans concerns about her acting skills?

Via: Deadline

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I dunno who’s on your celebrity death pool of 2013, but director Micheal Bay is high on my list. If he proceeds with his Teenange Mutant Ninja Turtles production, then surely fans will march to his home with pitch forks and torches. He’ll be strung up by his heels, have his eyes taped open, and be forced to watch his own rotten movies until he chokes on his own vomit.

*Note: Nerd Bastards does NOT endorse the kidnapping and torture of any human being, even one as vile as Micheal Bay.

What’s with the specious hate you ask? Well, when news of a Bay-produced turtle flick first broke, it sent fans into a frenzy. For two reasons.

1.) Bay.

Of all the directors out there that suffer from style over substance, he is, by far, the worst offender. He completely ruined the Transformer property with his unnecessary amount violence, racism and sex. Not to mention, his complete and utter disregard at telling a coherent storyline. Oh, and the insertion of human characters with pointless dialogue. *sigh* so awful.

While Bay won’t be directing this new Turtle flick, he still has his hands on it, and us fans just can’t tolerate another bastardization of a beloved franchise.

2. ) Aliens.

The Internet was set ablaze, with blogs and major media outlets slamming the filmmaker’s announcement concerning our heroes on a half shell to be of alien origin, and that the turtle moniker would be changed from “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” to Ninja Turtles.

Sufficed to say, there’s been quite a bit of controversy about the project.

Regardless of fan outrage, Bay’s turtles is still happening. In fact, Production Weekly is reporting that the new movie will start filming this April in New York.

To be directed by Jonathan Liebesman , Ninja Turtles is currently scheduled to be released on May 16, 2014, the same date as Warner Bros.’

Yep… Bay’s a goner for sure.

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This is, to many, the franchise that should have died when Megan Fox got fired, but yet it continues to make so much money that Paramount and Dreamworks can’t say no to a sequel and then another.

With the sad news that Micheal Bay will once again helm a Transformers movie, Transformers 4 is looking for some fresh faces in what the studio hopes is the first of a new trilogy. Bay said this will be the first “in a new direction”, with the human lead of the film being a girl and her boyfriend will be the secondary eye candy; the reverse of the Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox/Rosie Alice Huntington-Whiteley relationships of the last three movies. By the way, Mike, I am available.

Instead of going with some young and rising talent however, bay is looking for some unknown talent to step in and star and possibly wash his car during the casting process. According to Acting Auditions via Transformers Live the main characters are described as follows with a start date for filming:

“The female lead role is an 18 year old or above who can play high school senior age, and the male lead is an early twenties Texas race car driver who plays the female lead’s boyfriend. Shooting will take place in various locations beginning in April or May of 2013.”

An April or May start for next year means they’re trying to keep in time with the previously announced June 2014 release date. The only danger right now is the risk of hiring raw talent, it’s possible that whoever is hired isn’t ready for their big screen debut, but at least it isn’t as bad as dealing with the current talent. See what we mean after the jump.
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Micheal Bay‘s directing roots began with commercials so it’s no surprise that Doritos decided to partner up with Bay and have him join the panel of judges for this years Crash the Superbowl commercial contest. The grand prize winner gets a job working with Bay on Transformers 4. Bay talked with THR (The Hollywood Reporter) about the contest:

“When you find out where these guys came from…its great,” Bay says. “If you want to get noticed, this is the way to do it.”

“When I was a film student, I would have killed for this kind of opportunity,” says Bay, who is currently in post-production on Pain & Gain for Paramount before turning to Transformers 4, which will be released in June 2014. “When you’re on the set, you get to see it all go down.”

Check out the Doritos Crash the Super Bowl: Directors Cut video below featuring some clips from last years winners.

Hollywood dreaming filmmakers have until 11:59:59 pm CT on November 16, 2012 to get their video creations turned in for judging. The two top finalists chosen by Bay and a panel of Doritos judges will have their Doritos Superbowl ad run during the game. You can check out the rest of the rules and how to enter the contest at the Crash the SuperBowl FB page.

Bay wouldn’t comment when asked about what he would be looking for when judging the entrants, but I can imagine that there will be many, many explosions to sit through. Even Doritos got threw in a couple of explosions in the video above. Could that be the unofficial slogan of this marketing campaign . . .

Doritos – A Flavor Explosion ! ! !

*Copyright 2012 Nerd Bastards, all proceeds generated by the above slogan are to be paid to Mark Poynter.

Can’t blame me for trying . . .

Via: THR

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Just when we all thought that Micheal Bay was a safe distance from that dreaded Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot, he comes crawling back from the sewers. While the project itself continues to be held back (thank God), a copy of the Bay-produced script made its way to Latino-Review’s El Mayimbe and he released news that somehow went unnoticed for nearly an entire month!

How we ever managed to miss something like this remains a mystery, but according to El Mayimbe’s Twitter this version of TMNT written by Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec…

…makes up for Micheal’s name being attached to something held so dear to us older nerds, right? Well if that last tweet made up for all the disappointment you were expecting then this next one may possibly blow your mind:

No Tokka, no Rahzar and no Vanilla Ice, but Bebop & Rocksteady, the mutated henchmen of Shredder. Just those two names alone makes this nerd want to see the movie. But keep in mind that this is the script rumored to be part of the reason the entire production was halted. So while we wait to be disappointed in the next few years we can always look forward to watching Nickelodeon‘s new animated version of our friends and their “turtle power” this September. Check out all the details in the jump.
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Are they turtles? Check. Still mutants? Check. How about teenagers? Apparently so! EW dropped the full trailer for Nickelodeon’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated update and so far everything looks kosher for TMNT purists. Oh sure the heroes in a half shell are not without a few tweaks here and there. Gone is Donatello’s bo staff, replaced with a naginata. The animation seems a bit more chunky and cartoony than the more recent iterations as well, but it’s not without it’s charm. Hell, the only thing that really seems to stick out is the new catch phrase. I think it is safe to say ‘Booyashaka’ isn’t going to spur anything we could/would call ‘Cowabunga-gate’

Friends, this could be what heals us from everything that the bad man did (that’s Micheal Bay and his now ‘on hold’ Ninja Turtle reboot, btw.)

Set to hit TV screens across the nation this fall, staring the voices of Jason Biggs (Leonardo), Sean Astin (Raphael), Rob Paulsen (Donatello) and Greg Cipes (Michaelangelo). Check out the trailer after the jump.

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