In a recent exclusive interview with MovieWeb in September of this year, Transformers fanchise favorite, Tyrese Gibson, predicted that the franchise would continue for at least a fourth outing, perhaps with both Michael Bay and Shia LaBeouf attached, despite reports that both had previously indicated they would not return for another pic.  His fans and fans of the franchise follow feverishly on Gibson's active Twitter feed for updates or more support for his prediction.

Specifically, Gibson had this to say when he spoke with MovieWeb:

"My humble prediction would be that... we're at $1.1 billion. This is the biggest year of my life. I'm on the other side of $1.7 billion in box office receipts, between both films. I think, with the success of Transformers: Dark of the Moon, both Michael Bay and Shia probably want a break from the franchise, but there's no way, I believe, that, at some point, they're not going come back to do Transfomers 4. Maybe they need a few years to get a few other creative things out of their system, which is understandable, but for people to love this franchise around the world like they do, it's damn-near crazy to not give the fans what they love and enjoy again. So maybe two years, maybe three years will go by, you never know, but I believe, and hope, that we are able to do another Transformers. I'm a real Transformers fan, outside of the fact that I'm in the movie, but I just hope we're able to do it again one day. It's the first film in Paramount's 99-year history that has ever grossed $1 billion. I hope we're able to figure this out."

Today, we get the news that Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner revealed on an investor's conference call that the toy company is in "active discussions" with Paramount Pictures for Transfomers 4. Executive producer Steven Spielberg and director Michael Bay are involved in the talks, and Brian Goldner expects to have news on the sequel in the next fiscal quarter.

Brian Goldner also talked about a number of other movie projects based on Hasbro products, including Micronauts, Ouija, Candy Land, Risk, Stretch Armstrong, Clue and Monopoly.

Back in August, Universal Pictures dropped Ouija from its production slate but Goldner indicated the pic is in a similar situation to Disney's restructuring of Lone Ranger. Goldner said the Ouija script is being reworked, and he expects it to find a new studio shortly to resume development to be developed by McG, most recently noted for TV's Chuck and the big screen outings Charlie's Angels, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, We Are Marshall and Terminator Salvation.

Micronauts is being developed for J.J. Abrams at Paramount. The scripts for Monopoly, Clue, and Risk are also being developed.

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Forget the patent war between Apple/Samsung and Apple/HTC. This is the silliest legal battle happening in tech right now.

Toy maker Hasbro just filed suit against Asus, the maker of the excellent Eee Pad Transformer Prime tablet, because it claims the tablet's name is too close to the Transformers character's "Optimus Prime."

In a statement to Paid Content, Hasbro said:

Hasbro continues to aggressively protect its brands and products and the specific actions we are taking today against Asus underscores yet again Hasbro’s willingness to pursue companies who misappropriate our intellectual property for their own financial gain.

Because, you know, it's really easy for consumers to get confused by $500 Android-based tablets and plastic toy vehicles that turn into robots.

Anyway, The Verge did some digging and found that Hasbro's patents only apply to toys, games, and cartoon shows based on the Transformers brand. 

Asus has not commented on the lawsuit yet.

While the drama unfolds, take some time and read our full review of the Eee Pad Transformer Prime.

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"Transformers 3" dominated China's box office in 2011, grossing a total of $172 million, according to Gravity Group.

That's over $100 million more than China's highest grossing movie "Flowers of War," which brought in $71 million and starred westerner Christian Bale. 

"Kung Fu Panda" came in second with $95 million and "Pirates of the Caribbean 4" came in third with $73 million. 

However, 2011 was not a bad year for the Chinese movie industry. Gravity Group reported that China produced 588 films in 2011, which generated 53.6 percent of total revenues at $1.11 billion. The total box office revenue was $2.08 billion, up 28.9 percent from the 2010 revenue of $1.61 billion.

In fact, China's box office revenue has doubled since 2009.  

In 2011, China also built 803 new cinemas, adding 3,030 new screens bringing its total number of movie screens to 9,230. Yet, China still has ways to go to compete with US and its 39,233 movie screens.

Take a look at the below graphic:

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Apparently John Travolta may be more forward and creepy than we imagined. 

Two unnamed male masseurs have filed sexual assault lawsuits against the "Grease" actor alleging that he tried to have sex with them during a massage session. 

The first masseur says the actor touched the plaintiff and himself inappropriately while the second claims Travolta asked his butt to be massaged then attempted to get plaintiff number two to touch his scrotum. 

Travolta's reps claim that the first masseur's claims are completely fabricated but has not yet been reached about the second claim which just arose earlier today. Plaintiff one says he has proof and is asking for $2 million in punitive damages. 

Check out some other crazy legal battles brought upon celebrities, theaters, production companies and more. Some of them might actually have some merit (check out the guy who filed a lawsuit against rising movie snack prices) but most are just completely ridiculous.

Apparently "Drive" should have been more like "Fast and the Furious"

Michigan native Sarah Deming decided to sue the FilmDistrict, the distributors of the movie "Drive," because the movie trailer misled her into buying a ticket. She believed the resulting movie was nothing like she had expected from watching the trailer. Seriously. 

Here were her points of argument: 

1. The trailer promoted the Ryan Gosling film as more of a "Fast and the Furious"-type action flick which it definitely is not. 
2. "'Drive' bore very little similarity to a chase, or race action film … having very little driving in the motion picture."
3. "'Drive' was a motion picture that substantially contained extreme gratuitous defamatory dehumanizing racism directed against members of the Jewish faith, and thereby promoted criminal violence against members of the Jewish faith."

But Deming didn't ask for much in the suit, just the cost of her ticket and to halt production of misleading trailers from that point on. Here's the trailer that caused all this mess:

Lindsay Lohan sues a "milkaholic" baby

In the height of her ridiculousness, Lindsay Lohan decided to sue E*Trade for a commercial parody they did about a "milkaholic baby" named Lindsay that she believed was based on her wild days of partying and drinking.

She's not wrong.

Lohan sued the company for $100 million and demanded the commercial be pulled off the air. 

Here's the reason LiLo's lawsuit is stupid: When the E*Trade commercial aired, everyone knew about the actress' crazy ways and E*Trade later slammed Lohan by saying that she had already damaged her own reputation way more than the commercial ever could have done. The matter was settled out of court. 

Check out the LiLo-inspired commercial: 

Nicolas Cage does not steal dogs!

In her 2008 memoir "Body Heat," actress Kathleen Turner accused Nicolas Cage of getting arrested for DUI twice and for stealing a dog while working together on the 1986 film "Peggy Sue Got Married." 

Cage, not being one to take accusation of him being crazy lying down, filed a libel suit in the United Kingdom against the actress, her book publisher and The Daily Mail, who ran the excerpt about the DUIs and dog-napping. 

Even better, Cage actually won his suit. the British publishing company was ordered to print a correction on subsequent copies of Turner's book, Turner was told to apologize and The Daily Mail agreed to publish an apology and remove their article about the allegations. 

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The demo for "Transformers: Fall of Cybertron" was released today for Xbox Live and PlayStation.

The full game will not be released until August 21 but in the mean time, the studio that brought you this action-packed game want to know what their fans think.

The press release states, "in order to provide the best experience for gamers at launch, High Moon Studios will be carefully monitoring the multiplayer action for player feedback and balancing data. Fans are invited and strongly encouraged to direct their comments to the team's Twitter account: @FallofCybertron."

The current demo available features both single and multi-player modes, where fans can experience Bumblebee's quest (Shia LaBoeuf's "car" in the film franchise) as he defends the Autobots from Megatron and the Decepticons.

SEE ALSO: The creator of "Minecraft" reveals that his game occupies a genderless world >

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On July 16, The Children's Museum of Indianapolis asked the hard-hitting question, "what was your favorite toy growing up?"

And after eight weeks and more than 24,000 votes submitted, the final results have been announced—and the winner is G.I. Joe. He was followed by Transformers, and then LEGO Toys in third place.

After the first five weeks of public voting, the top 100 iconic toys were narrowed down to a list of the top 20. From that 20, another vote was conducted to determine the final rankings.

"Each of the toys the public chose for the top 20 has been produced for 25 years or more, which is not surprising considering their cross-generational appeal," said president & CEO of The Children's Museum of Indianapolis Dr. Jeffrey H. Patchen is a press release. "Objects such as crayons and bicycles have been around for decades—evoking strong emotions and fond memories with children, parents, grandparents, and even great-grandparents."

Beginning today, the final 20 toys will be on display at the museum for the public to view until the end of the year.

Check out the final ranking of the top 20 iconic toys below:

1. G.I. Joe®
2. Transformers®
3. LEGO® Toys
4. Barbie®
5. View-Master®
6. Bicycle
7. Cabbage Patch Kids®
8. Crayons
9. Play-Doh®
10. MONOPOLY®
11. Raggedy Ann®
12. Spirograph™
13. Etch A Sketch®
14. Little Golden Books®
15. Hot Wheels®
16. Lincoln Logs®
17. Candy Land®
18. Roller Skates
19. Silly® Putty
20. Mr. Potato Head®

Now see the toys every kid will want this year >

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Love it or hate it, "Transformers 4" is all go for 2014 with a new logo, a new lead actor Mark Wahlberg, and ... a new setting? 

According to Vulture, Director Michael Bay's been looking to set production in China and is trying to find ways to make the film with a Chinese partner.  

He's not the first to notice the overseas potential.  

Earlier this year, Disney teamed up with Chinese film production company DMG and filmed parts of the upcoming "Iron Man 3" in China.  

If Bay's planning on taking the franchise anywhere, China's his best bet considering these three things:

China's Huge International Market

Currently, China is the second-largest international market in the world. According the the Motion Picture Association of America, last year alone it grew a huge 35 percent. 

The top five international markets of 2011: 

1. Japan: $2.3 billion

2. China: $2 billion

3. France: $2 billion

4. U.K.: $1.7 billion

5. India: $1.4 billion

Tapping into one of the largest markets could lead to … 

A Wide Release in China 

Currently, China's been choosy with their rollout of big American box-office blockbusters.  

They opted to pit "The Dark Knight Rises" and "The Amazing Spider-Man opposite each other at the end of August.  

As a result both films earned paltry $30 million  when they each had the potential to earn much more. 

China's reasoning for doing this is to limit the effect of American films on the foreign box office.  

Filming in China and, even more ideally, working with a local production partner raises the odds that the fourth Transformers will get a wide release in the country instead of shoved off until a later date or put head-to-head with another American film. 

And, it wouldn't hurt if the film picked up a fan following in China as well since … 

Transformers fever has been on the decline in the U.S.  

"Transformers" has been far from a box-office flop at home, but like the tired "Shrek" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchises, after three installments, it gets to be a bit much for U.S. audiences. 

The one place where the "Transformers" flicks haven't seen a decline has been in the foreign markets. Rather, it's seen a sharp rise of $337.2 overseas million since the last film. Compare the differences in domestic and foreign grosses over the course of the franchise: 

                                                                     Domestic                    Worldwide

"Transformers":                                          $319.2 million                $390.5 million

"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen":     $402.1 million                $434.2 million

"Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon":     $352.4 million                $771.4 million 

If the film can sustain a massive following elsewhere–as it's been doing–Paramount can expect an even bigger take in from the foreign box office. China is definitely looking like the hot spot of the moment to do so. 

SEE ALSO: Who's benefiting from the billion dollar bond film 'Skyfall' >

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Forget "Boogie Nights" and Oscar-nominated films "The Fighter" and "The Departed."

Mark Wahlberg says the most important role of his career will be his lead role in the upcoming "Transformers" film. (Mind you, the movie is the fourth pending film in the series.)

Wahlberg recently caught up with movie site comingsoon.net to share his excitement in working with Michael Bay so soon again after next year's "Pain & Gain."

While doing so, he expressed just how important the next installment in the franchise is to him.

"I loved the idea and I think we can make something really cool and kick-ass," said Wahlberg. "This is not something where it's already established and I'm just in there to get a paycheck. I'm thinking this is the most important role of my career and I can do something really special."

The untitled "Transformers 4" is currently slated for a 2014 release.

SEE ALSO: The explanation to the infamous ending of 'Sopranos' from the creator himself >

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The search for actors for "Transformers 4" just became interesting.

Paramount Pictures announced it will be casting Chinese roles for the next installment in the franchise through a reality show in China. 

"Transformers 4 Chinese Actor Talent Search" will be a talent competition with four winners—two of whom will have previous acting experience—receiving roles in the next film.

The four winners from the show will join other Chinese actors expected to be cast in the film.

At a press conference in Beijing Thursday, producer Lorenzo DiBonaventura said adding more Chinese actors to the film will help bring "the Chinese culture, Chinese traditions, and Chinese talent into the movie."

Earlier this month, Paramount Pictures announced that "Transformers 4" will be a Chinese co-production which will include filming in the China.

The series will begin airing this June in China.

Mark Wahlberg and Stanley Tucci have been confirmed for the next film.

"Transformers 4" is slated for a June 27 release next year. 

SEE ALSO: Harrison Ford curses out Chewbacca on "Jimmy Kimmel Live">

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Like in any other field, even the most talented movie directors don't get to just jump into the best jobs without paying their dues.

Many film directors start out on the writing side of movies. Others get their first jobs directing commercials and music videos.

We've rounded up some of the best commercials directors made before they were famous.

Before he made "Bad Boys" and "Transformers," Michael Bay made the original "Got Milk?" commercial in 1993.

Famous for "Se7en,""Fight Club," and "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo," David Fincher's early works include the most intense Coca-Cola ad you'll ever see. This was also made in 1993.

Known best for "Alien,""Blade Runner," and the famous "1984" commercial for Apple, Ridley Scott got one of his early breaks with this Hovis ad in 1973.

Before he made "Pan's Labryinth" and this summer's "Pacific Rim," Guillermo del Toro directed (and starred in!) this campy 1991 Alka-Seltzer commercial.

Edgar Wright, creator of cult-hit "Shaun of the Dead," made this Pizza Hut commercial back in 2000.

After "The Elephant Man" and "Blue Velvet," but before "Twin Peaks" and "Mulholland Drive," David Lynch made a series of commercials for Calvin Klein in 1988.

SEE ALSO:  This Hugely Famous Model Is So Heavily Photoshopped in Calvin Klein's New Ads She's Unrecognizable

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According to various reports, 'Transformers 4' Director Michael Bay was attacked as he was filming 'Transformers 4' in Hong Kong. 

A Hong Kong police spokesman told Reuters that "two brothers surnamed Mak, aged 27 and 28, approached Bay on the set during filming for the American science fiction film and the younger brother demanded payment of HK$100,000 ($12,900)." 

According to Reuters, the Mak brothers were engaged in a discussion with Bay when the older Mak assaulted him. Mak attacked three police officers who tried to break up the melee.

The attack took place at the Yick Fat Building in Quarry Bay on the Hong Kong main island. 

Deadline reports the attackers "allegedly attempted to obstruct filming and demanded compensation claiming the shooting was interfering with their business. A person on the scene said the younger brother told the filmmakers they had to pay him HK$100,000 if they wanted to shoot in the area and threatened to cause 'inconvenience' if not."

Sounds like they succeeded at least in the inconvenience part.

Bay's injuries were reportedly minor and included scratches to his face and filming continued.

Both brothers and one other man are in custody.

Bay and his filming crew are slated to be in Hong Kong for two weeks and he recently said about the city, "Hong Kong is a beautiful city. There are aged buildings and skyscrapers all around. It has the best of both old and new.” 

Here's a video of Michael Bay and crew arriving in Hong Kong.

SEE ALSO: Here's 7 reasons to visit Hong Kong right now

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Reports coming out of Hong Kong made much of an altercation on the first day of production on the Hong Kong set of Transformers: Age Of Extinction. The film already shot four and a half months in Arizona, Utah, Texas, Michigan, Illinois and Washington since May. Paramount just released a statement indicating that things weren’t nearly as dramatic as described.

I heard from my own sources that Bay ducked at the right time, and that he got a punch in before this guy who by accounts was under the influence of something was taken away and arrested. Most importantly, Bay is completely OK even though he was shaken up. After all, who expects something like this on a movie set? He went on and completed the day’s shoot and had a good day. Which is like saying that otherwise, Mrs. Lincoln enjoyed the play.

Here is Paramount’s version of events:

“Contrary to several erroneous news reports made today, Bay did not get hurt in a fight on set,” said Paramount. “The production company did have a bizarre encounter with a man (allegedly under the influence of a narcotic substance) who was wielding an air conditioning unit as a weapon. The man, who had earlier accosted several other crew members, rushed onto the set in Quarry Bay and swung the air conditioning unit directly at Bay’s head. The director ducked and wrested the air conditioner from his attacker, preventing what could have been a serious accident. The company’s security team quickly stepped in and subdued the assault. The police, who also scuffled with the assailant and two of his companions, ultimately arrested the three men. No one on the cast or crew was injured and the production immediately resumed filming without further incident.”

SEE ALSO: The First Poster For 'Transformers 4' Gives A Hint At The New Villain

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It was reported in the South China Morning Post and the Hong Kong Economic Journal Wednesday that there is yet more trouble for director Michael Bay and his "Transformers 4" film crew in Hong Kong as a Triad gang member was arrested Wednesday night for supposedly trying to extort money from the film crew.

This follows on the heels of last week's incident where Bay and the crew were accosted by a "maniac" wielding an air conditioner. That man was one of two brothers Mak Chi-shing and Mak Chi-hang — Hang Fat Air Conditioner and Water Electrical Company — who tried to extort the film crew for a reported HK $100,000.

SCMP reports:

Police are looking for three other racketeers in connection with the latest case, which happened on the roof of a residential block in To Kwa Wan Road at about 2.30pm on Tuesday.

The four men allegedly approached the film crew and demanded money from them as they were checking the site, according to police.

Officers were called to the scene and arrested a 35-year-old Hong Kong man. The other three suspects managed to escape. A police source said the man was a suspected triad member.

We've reached out to Paramount for further comment on the incident. 

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The next "Transformers" movie is out this June.

The fourth installment in the franchise, "Transformers: Age of Extinction," will star Mark Wahlberg as Cade Yeager, a mechanic who gets involved with the "robots in disguise." 

One of the most anticipated aspects of the sequel will be the introduction of "dinobots"— robots that transform into dinosaurs. Earlier this month, we saw a brief look at the dinos when Paramount released the first trailer for the movie during the Super Bowl.

Now, we have a better look at what to expect on screen.

Monday, we were invited to check out Hasbro's lineup of toys for the year at the 2014 Toy Fair. Among the new Transformers were a bunch of the dinobots you'll see in the film.

These will definitely be among the toys your kids will want this year. Check them out below.

Grimlock
This is the T-Rex you see Optimus Prime on in the trailer.

We got a kick out of seeing Hasbro re-enact the scene from the trailer. The cool thing about this larger dinobot was that he easily transformed in one swift action from this ... 
... to this. This toy in particular is the costliest Transformer we saw at $80.

Slug (left) and Strafe
Dinobot Slug is the purple and red Autobot triceratops, while Strafe (right) is a pterodactyl.

Two more dinos! Slash and Scorn.

Of course, the movie won't only feature Dinobots. 

Hound, in green, transforms into a military vehicle.
If you've watched the first three films, you'll recognize Bumblebee who transforms into a Camaro. He'll return in the new movie.Lockdown (top left) and Crosshairs (green, top right) can be seen here. Grimlock action figures were everywhere we looked (orange).Here's another photo of a lot of the figures together. The Transformers for the younger age group switch quickly and effortlessly from machine to vehicle (or robot to dino and back). That's good news for parents who otherwise have to try and figure out how to make the change on their own. Cool thing about this photo: The transformer in the center, Drift, turns into a Bugatti. We hope Michael Bay doesn't blow him up.And, of course, here's Optimus Prime.

Among all the Transformers we spotted, we also came across one that looks like a big spoiler for the film. If you're big on "Transformers" you may have spotted him above.

Don't scroll anymore if you don't want spoilers.

Here's who you should expect to be the villain in "Age of Extinction":

Galvatron
If you remember the villain from the last series, Megatron, Galvatron is usually known as a bigger, badder version of him reborn.

SEE ALSO: Now check out the first trailer for the film

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Last week, we told you about the ads Facebook has been making to show the public how the site can be used to bring people together in real life.

Last night, the social network released another new commercial on YouTube that extends this principle to what some might call the social fringes. We won't ruin the punchline, but let's just say there are some pretty interesting characters involved in this one, including an alien, a Transformer, and a Stormtrooper.

Set to the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey (Richard Strauss' "Also sprach Zarathustra"), the ad begins by showing a series of people in strange costumes (mostly aliens) getting ready to start their days and traveling somewhere by bus, bike, and taxi cab.

Then, the individuals are shown arriving at a convention of similarly dressed characters, where they exchange friendly greetings and hugs. It is then revealed that it is a meeting of cosplay enthusiasts, people who like to dress up in costumes and act as different characters, that was organized via a Facebook group.

The ad's tagline, "We are not alone," plays on the outer-space theme of the characters and the way Facebook believes it helps connect people to one another.

SEE ALSO: New Facebook Ads Show How To Interact With People You Actually Care About, In Real Life

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Hollywood studios scour the media landscape for properties with built-in audiences that they can turn into profitable feature films.

One consistently adapted property is the animated series. We made a list of 11 features based on beloved cartoons that left a bad taste in the mouths of critics and audiences alike. In fact, every movie on our list has a "rotten" rating at Rotten Tomatoes.

Did we miss anything? Tell us on Twitter.

NOW WATCH: 11 Video Games From The 1990s That Are Better Than Games Today

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Paramount Pictures is in the sequel business, and folks, business is booming. 

The studio is gearing up for the release of Michael Bay’s Transformers: Age of Extinction, the fourth film in Bay’s lucrative franchise. And while the rest of the summer is filled with semi-original tentpoles like Hercules and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (semi-original in that they are not direct sequels to existing properties), the studio just confirmed a handful of upcoming sequels that will fill its 2016 release calendar. 

At CineEurope on Wednesday, Paramount Pictures International SVP Edward Ryan mapped out the studio’s aggressive release plan (via THR), mentioning a few titles we knew about and confirming others that had been speculation to this point. For 2016, Paramount promises a fifth Transformers (as Bay has been saying Age of Extinction starts a new trilogy), a G.I. Joe 3, a Star Trek 3 (which we know will be directed by longtime screenwriter Roberto Orci), and Hansel and Gretel 2. Ryan also said that 2016 will bring the return of Eddie Murphy in a fourth Beverly Hills Cop movie, and a fifth Paranormal Activity. Looking for something original? Well, the sword-and-sandals epic Ben-Hur is getting a remake, with Wanted director Timur Bekmambetov behind the lens. I wonder if it will look like this? 



Some of these films even have release dates, and they aren’t all summer blockbusters. Ben-Hur, according to BoxOfficeMojo, will drop on February 26. And Beverly Hills Cop is eyeing a March 25 release date. Those are subject to change, of course. The rest of the Paramount movies discussed by Edward Ryan were rumored to arrive in 2016, but are now confirmed. 

The Transformers date strikes me as the most aggressive, particularly if Michael Bay finally decides that he is finished with Autobots and Decepticons, and is ready to move on to more non-Transformers material. Wheels will have to begin turning on a production schedule to maintain a 2016 date, as you can bet Paramount will want Transformers 5 to drop in the summer time. Right now, however, the favored Transformers weekend of late June / July 4 is occupied by Steven Spielberg’s The BFG, Sony’s Angry Birds movie, and Fox’s Independence Day 2. Crowded. But what weekend in 2016 won’t be? 

So sequels will remain the rage at Paramount, which also talked about Terminator 5: Genesis, Mission: Impossible 5 and Friday the 13th 3D at CineEurope. Everything old is new again. 

SEE ALSO: The 30 Most Expensive Movies Ever Made

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A week before the next "Transformers" movie hits theaters, one man is making his own real-life Optimus Prime and Bumblebee robots.

Li Lei, a small factory owner in China, builds giant replicas of the beloved children's toys in his spare time with his own money for rent and sale. 

Reuters photographer Aly Song took photos of the many colorful transformer robots and dinobots he creates.

They're incredible.

We've reached out to Song and Reuters to find out more about the life-size Transformers and have included their commentary below.

Here are a few of Lei's Transformer creations. According to Song, Lei started making his replicas 10 years ago. 

Many of them tower above passersby.

Not all of Lei's creation are massively tall. The replicas range in height from 20-30 centimeters to 15.6 meters. 

Replicas are made out of metal, plastics, sponges, and recovered auto parts. Here, kids are resting on a giant tank creation.

These transformers are still a work in progress. A medium-sized Transformer takes a total of three workers and 10 days to complete. 

Lei has made more than 200 replicas including planes, a tank, the Eiffel Tower, dinosaurs, Spider-Man, and Captain America. 

They're put together and are on display in the outskirts of Shanghai. Lei says he has received many new orders with the release of the next “Transformers” sequel out this June.

SEE ALSO: Über will send Optimus Prime to pick you up in these 3 cities

AND: Mark Wahlberg says "Transformers: Age Of Extinction" will be the biggest hit of the year

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It makes sense that, for commercial considerations, you'd want to pack yourTransformers movie with human actors. But the earlier film doesn't make the mistake of thinking we can't get enough of Sam Witwicky and his pratfalling parents. 

The Transformers: The Movie IMMEDIATELY sidesteps this option with its gasp-inducing first few moments. One minute, we're on a robot planet called Lithone, which -- much like Cybertron -- is inhabited by innocent, every-day Transformers. The next, the galactically-massive Unicron (voiced with real panache by Orson Welles in his final role) is devouring the world whole, sucking its inhabitants into his gaping maw, destroying this petty planet like an interstellar vacuum.

In fairness to Mr. Bay, his Transformers films stretch to considerable time-lengths, only to feature chaotic, rousing finales. The Transformers: The Movie, by contrast, peaks early and never really recovers from the initial burst of action. The assumption is that no one has the patience to pay much attention to an 84-minute movie where robots become cars. Times have changed, of course, which explains the ass-punishingly 140-minute-plus run times for the Michael Bay Transformers films. 

But this was also a time when children's entertainment didn't need to bow to politicians or concerned mothers to be "educational" or even "moral." As such, that genocidal opening of The Transformers: The Movie segues right to the opening action sequence (with a brief credit sequence detour thanks to Lion's stadium-rattling rendition of the classic Transformers theme). The Autobots are losing a war to the Decepticons, with the enemy Transformers threatening to take over Cybertron. The characters whiz by fast and furiously, and while you don't get a chance to know any of them, the movie's frantic pace forces you to get acquainted in a hurry. No exposition or origin stories here. 

And no "fake outs" when it comes to tragedy, loss and death. Just ask Optimus Prime.

Diehards, of course, would be wondering where Optimus Prime is in The Transformers: The Movie. Which is when he enters, in a moment that would give even non-fans goosebumps. He looks into the distance, and in Peter Cullen's unforgettable burr, he intones, "Megatron must be stopped... no matter the cost." What happens next is nothing short of movie magic. Optimus transformers in slow motion into a truck and drives off to this confrontation as Stan Bush's "The Touch" wails on the soundtrack. If you've never heard the empowering thrill of "The Touch", you've led an insufficient life. Of course, in one of those movie references that remains inadequately explained to this day, you may have caught the majesty of The Touch in Boogie Nights. 

There's no transparency in regards to any of the Transformers movies: these were created in order to sell toys. If anything, the earlier picture is more craven, killing characters left and right only to have them unceremoniously replaced by newer models. As such, these are Optimus' final moments: he falls within the first twenty minutes of the movie. His dying words, accompanied by Vince DiCola's mournful Noble-Savage theme, involve him passing on The Matrix Of Leadership. As Ultra Magnus becomes the new leader of the Autobots, Optimus' body turns to gray and his eyes flicker out. As he flat-lines, DiCola's music hammers home the world's saddest crescendo. Michael Bay couldn't even sniff a scene like this. 



What The Transformers: The Movie conveys is that it's paper-thin characters are serious. Their limitations are real, they face tragedy and heartbreak. The movie happens between seasons two and three of the show, and while the program had developed a consistent storytelling formula at that point, the film acts as if this is the first time we're seeing certain plot twists, giving them an added emotional scale and scope that the later movies can't manage. 

At this point, Starscream had attempted several coups against Megatron in the series. But his hubris in The Transformers: The Movie is positively Shakesperean. The villain takes over the Decepticons after leaving Megatron to die, drowning himself in pomp and circumstance during an initiation ceremony. But when Megatron returns, now named Galvatron after a monolith-like encounter with Unicron, his revenge on Starscream swift and unforgiving, instantly turning the pathetic sidekick into rubble. Galvatron wanted that to hurt. 

The picture builds to an action climax, one that happily assumes "female" Transformer Arcee is a key part of the group (she appeared in Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen only briefly). But nothing ever lags, thanks to a dynamite soundtrack of hits both welcomed (Stan Bush's Dare should be played before every exam) and unexpected (really, what is Weird Al Yankovic's "Dare To Be Stupid" doing in this movie?). 

But The Transformers: The Movie otherwise provides the sort of chase-heavy thrills that comes from robots that can become cars. Contrast that with Michael Bay's vision, where the robots basically abandon their transforming skills to have endless, violent punch-outs that annihilate cities. Bay's films show the action as a junkyard orgy. The '86 offering slows down to allow for actors like Leonard Nimoy and, yes, even Orson Welles to give actual performances. Fans of Michael Bay's Transformers movies are free to enjoy them. But they'll never top the gravity and excitement of The Transformers: The Movie. 

SEE ALSO: How Mark Wahlberg Went From High-School Dropout To Hollywood's Top Tough Guy

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"Transformers: Age of Extinction" is in theaters Friday, but how does the sequel pull off all of its action intensive scenes?

Well, it helps to have a great stuntman like Dan Mast.

The 26-year-old, based in California, has been doing stunt work for the past five years on films including "Battleship,""After Earth," and "Divergent."

His latest film will be the fourth installment of the popular "Transformers" series, "Transformers: Age of Extinction," in which Mast will double for the film's star, Mark Wahlberg.

Business Insider recently spoke with Mast about his experiences on the film.

Mast says one of his first issues on the movie wasn't leaping off a tall building or doing an intricate stunt, but rather finding a place to work out.

"It was hard finding a gym close enough because we were living out of hotels," said Mast. "And hotel gyms are awful."

Once Mast found a location to bulk up, his regime included following strict workouts of intense weight lifting (his goal was an hour a day, 5-6 days a week) and a steady diet of protein shakes.

Capturing Wahlberg's look, on the other hand, didn't require the same effort.

"All we had to do was match the hair color and after that, that was it," said Mast. "There was no wigs, no prosthetics, and no makeup other than the occasional dirty blood."

For Mast, working on "Transformers" was very different from anything he had done before because of the fast pace of the film's director, Michael Bay.

"It was very fast paced," Mast explained about the film's production. "From the minute Bay walks on set to the minute he walks off we're going, going, going 100 miles per hour. Personally I like it like that."

The film's lack of down time did keep Mast on his toes, but it also didn't give him a lot of time to get to know the man he doubled for on set.

"We didn't have a lot of hanging out ... but he was very cool," Mast said of Wahlberg.

When there were breaks, Wahlberg took the time to say hello and was very humble, which is something that isn't always a standard in the industry.

"I hear stories of other actors that just show up to set and leave, sometimes their doubles don't even get to interact with them," Mast added. "It was nice to work with someone who wasn't like that."

While many will head out to see "Transformers" this weekend for the special effects and CGI Autobots, Mast hopes audiences don't lose sight of how much realistic stunt work went into the making of the film.

"The great thing about working with Michael Bay is that if he wants to blow something up, he's going to blow it up," said Mast. "We're not pretending to run away from things. We're not faking reactions... a lot of this is very real, the only thing they're adding in later are the robots."

For example, many of the Michael Bay signature pyrotechnics that Mast had to flee from on set weren't put together in the editing room. 

"I hope they [the audience] don't think that a lot of these explosions were just computer graphics because they weren't," Mast added. "I hope people realize the reality of it."

SEE ALSO: The 12 Most Sought-After Stunt Doubles In Hollywood

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