Despite the monetary success, those closest to the original Transformers consider Michael Bay’s work on the movie franchise nothing short of abomination. Just hearing the word can now send a shiver down our spines as so much of our childhood was violated by his racism filled robotic romp.

Hearing there was going to be a new Transformers game brought us that same feeling. However, there was a shining light coming through the clouds, as bright as the AllSpark, when it was announced that the upcoming Transformers: War for Cybertron would be based on the original G1 universe.

Not only would Transformers: War of Cybertron take place in the most beloved of Transformers canon, but it would fill in the blanks for many fans of the series. All under the watchful gaze of franchise creators Hasbro, High Moon Studios has put together the pieces of what happened during the civil war between Autobot and Decepticon before the two factions found themselves warring on earth. In the video after the jump, it is obvious that High Moon Studios shares the affinity for Transformers Generation One that Michael Bay looked over.

Published by Activision, Transformers: War for Cybertron will come out for the XBox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, Nintendo DS and the PC in May of this year. Click through to take a look at what is in store for longtime and newfound fans of the Transformers.

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Welcome to the second part of my look at the duplicity that is the Hollywood we know and love (or love to hate in some cases).   Yesterday I delved into the mainstream films, such as Transformers, which get little to no recognition by the Academy.  These are movies that represent the very monetary foundation of which Hollywood is built.

Today I’m going to slide the other way and talk about the performance side of Hollywood.  Films with limited budgets, little to no marketing and have to fight tooth-and-nail in some instances for distribution as well as theater screens.  They are the darlings of Hollywood, praised for often dramatic portrayal of characters and deeply emotional stories.  Yet, even with all the attention they receive when nominated for an Oscar, only a select group of viewers end up seeing these films.

In contrast to their mainstream counterparts, performance films have always been the underdog.  It starts from the very point the script is completed all the way to getting onto the screen.  It’s the latter which ultimately proves the most critical because without theaters to show it, what good is a movie?

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It was an interesting show for the Oscars this year.  From the “Kanye” moment to Sean Penn somewhat proudly proclaiming he’s not part of the Academy.  Sandra Bullock won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role (The Blind Side) the very same year she accepted a Razzie for Worst Actress (All About Steve).  And, of course, the gross upset of Avatar at the hands of The Hurt Locker.  With 41 million viewers, this year’s Oscars had something for everyone but, perhaps more interestingly, it best reflected the two sides of Hollywood which exist today.

How fitting to have two hosts on the one Oscar night that would truly exemplify both faces of Hollywood.  For so long many have seen Hollywood as one massive, filmmaking entity but that really isn’t the case.  Now more than ever there’s a division between what I’m calling (for the purposes of this article) “mainstream” Hollywood and “performance” Hollywood.  The names pretty much say it all.

Films in the mainstream category are all the summer blockbusters, tent pole movies studios rely on to turn a healthy profit year over year (e.g. Iron Man, The Dark Knight, Avatar).  In contrast you have the performance pictures, lesser known films with limited release and all too often far less money behind them (e.g. Slumdog Millionaire, No Country for Old Men, The Hurt Locker).  These are two very different types of films, each vying for the attention of movie goers.

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We at The Flickcast are pretty diligent about serving up all the news that comes out each week. However, try as we may to cover it all, some things occassionally slip by. Well, no longer.

Welcome to On The Radar! This weekly post will be your premiere destination for a comprehensive roundup of items that may be developing stories we’re watching, Twitter commentary, or other relevant news that wasn’t quite ready for prime time just yet.  In short, a grab bag of geek items which are sure to please.

Let’s see what blips are on the radar this week.

‘Zombieland’ devours video rentals

Zombieland dominated the video lists this week, “…on the Nielsen VideoScan Blu-ray Disc chart, “Zombieland” went three for three, bowing at No. 1 and …racked up 31% of its total first-week sales from the Blu-ray Disc.” Way to go Zombieland, we can’t wait for the sequeal.

‘Avatar’ 3D boosts Cineplex ticket sales in Canada

3D showings of Avatar did wonders for Cineplex’s bottom line in Canada, “Despite running for only 13 days during its latest financial frame, “Avatar 3D” was Cineplex’s biggest boxoffice performer during the fourth quarter to Dec. 31, and has done around $74 million in Canadian ticket receipts to date.” No surprise really given the popularity of this film and the fact 3D showings are still being sold, out or causing line-ups.

Geek flicks drive Viacom profits

DVD and Blu-Ray disc sales from Star Trek, Transformers 2 and G.I. Joe stimulated Viacom’s fourth quarter earnings to the tune of $694 million.  Not bad considering the $173 million it made in the same quarter in 2008.  Also helping was the indie hit Paranormal Activity which increased operating expenses by 24%.

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Even with all the movie and TV news we do around here, we also love us some games — especially when those games tie into a movie. Case in point is the upcoming game from Activision and High Moon Studios: Transformers: War for Cybertron. In case you’re not familiar, the game features two distinct storylines: the Autobot campaign tells a story of heroism to save their home planet against overwhelming odds, and the Decepticon campaign tells a story of an unquenchable thirst for power to control the universe.

You will also be able to “play the game with friends through team-based online co-op, or go head to head in a variety of intense, online multiplayer game modes.” In addition, the game “features a sci-fi art style that introduces to fans the entire living, metallic world of Cybertron, as well as all-new visualizations of the iconic Transformers characters in their original Cybertronian forms.” I don’t know about you but I think that sounds pretty awesome. The trailer isn’t bad either.

Transformers: War for Cybertron is in development and will be released later this year for Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PC and DS.

Check out the brand new trailer after the jump.

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I have made no secret about the fact I think both Transformers and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen were awful.  The scripts were weak, or practically non-existent in the case of the sequel, and editing so bad it was difficult at times to see what was going. Case in point, director Michael Bay kept the fight scenes moving at rapid pace then would cut to a slow motion shot of Shau Lebouf shouting “Optimus!” or Megan Fox running away. Now, as much as I can appreciate Fox’s particular “assets” moving in slow-mo, it would have been better to slow down the scenes I was really interested in, robots fighting.

Be that as it may, I have defended Bay in the sense he knows how to appeal to the masses and can make a profitable film.  Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen took in approximately $823 million dollars worldwide and that figure is set to grow even larger based on record setting DVD sales:

“Paramount Home Video sold 7.5 million DVD/Blu-ray copies of “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” in its first week of release including 1.2 million Blu-ray’s, making it the year’s highest selling HD title. To put that in perspective, “Twilight” was the years biggest selling title and has sold 8 million copies since March 21st.”

If my math is correct that’s about another $150 million in the bank (using an average DVD price of $20). Not a bad week at all to be Paramount or Michael Bay. Bravo, Mr. Bay!

I may not like your take on one of my favorite childhood toys but I can’t argue with your success. You’re like the McDonalds of filmmaking. The food may not necessarily be a healthy choice, but we all keep coming back for more.

I’m not sure if this news should be taken as good or bad, but it seems writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman are officially off Transformers 3.  The dynamic duo of writing are probably two of the biggest names in Hollywood scribe circles these days having penned the fist two Transformers movies and this past Summer’s Star Trek reboot.

When asked why they are leaving Orci stated: “The main reason we would move on is because we risk getting stale and comfortable. If you only sing one song for too long, you miss the opportunity to sing news songs. We’ll see.”

With the pairs departure all the writing duties at this point fall to Ehren Kruger along with whatever Michael Bay wants to contribute (more explosions!).  This may not be such a good thing as Kruger is attributed for adding a lot of the comedy to the scripts which I felt did a disservice to the overall tone and pace of the story.

Getting back to my good/bad comment above,  I think it’s both.  It’s bad in the sense if there was anything positive about either movie (of which there was little as far as I can tell) it probably came from these two writers.  It’s bad because without Kurtzman and Orci the third Transformers film can only go downhill from here.  Not that it has far to go to hit rock bottom.

On the flip side, this will certainly free up the pair’s time to work on the sequel to Star Trek and continue producing their hit show Fringe. Even in Kurtzman and Orci’s absence I’m certain the next Transformers installment will go onto make a load of cash which makes it even more surprising the two would make an exit.  That said, I have to respect them for turning down a huge payday in favor of their craft.  My hat is off to you both.

Transformers 3 hits theaters July 1, 2011.

In what was undoubtedly not very surprising news, Michael Bay has confirmed on his website that there will, indeed, be a Transformers 3. Not only that, the film will hit theaters earlier than its rumored release of July 1, 2012 and will, in fact, be coming to a multiplex near you in 2011, a full year earlier. But wait, there’s even more — and this, while not entirely surprising, is a bit unexpected.

Not only will there be a Transformers 3 and it will be coming out a year earlier than expected, Bay also confirmed that franchise star Megan Fox will be in the third film as well. Given the seemingly hostile nature of their recent public spat, it appears Bay at least has decided to live and let live. I’m sure the many millions of dollars the franchise has made had nothing to do with it.

Bay wrote on his website that he met with ILM in San Francisco Thursday morning, followed by a flight to Rhode Island with Kruger to meet with Hasbro about new characters. “Well, it’s official: We have a great ‘Transformers 3′ story,” Bay said on his site. “Today is Day One.” This point is not better illustrated by the countdown clock now running at Bay’s site. As of today, it shows 636 days until Transformers 3 hits theaters. So, start planning accordingly.

Even though Bay has publicly confirmed Fox’s involvement in the third film, the beautiful star herself has not, as yet, commented. In addition, Shia LaBeouf was not mentioned by Bay at all, so there’s no confirmation on if he will be in the third film along with Fox. Although, according to other sources, both Fox and LaBeouf are slated to return, as is Exec. Producer Steven Spielberg and co-writer Ehren Kruger. So, we can probably expect announcements from Fox and LaBeouf’s people soon.

Transformers 3: The Blatant Grab for Cash hits theaters on July 1, 2011.

At the San Diego Comic-Con, IDW Publishing revealed several major digital comic book expansions for the iPhone and iPod Touch. IDW’s newest offerings include the G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra prequel comics, Transformers and CSI. An expanded electronic catalog of the G.I. Joe and Transformers tales, as well as Danger Girl, Astro Boy, Groom Lake, John Sable Freelance and GrimJack will also be available in the weeks ahead.

“The digital medium represents a huge opportunity for the comics industry, and we’re proud to be leading the way,” states IDW CEO, Ted Adams. “Through e-publishing, we can introduce an entire new audience to comics and the joys of comic books.”

IDW launched the first digital Transformers comics in May, and rapidly became a popular paid iTunes application. The Transformer catalogue also includes the prequel and adaptation graphic novels for the original movie. IDW’s entire G.I.Joe: The Rise of the Cobra prequel comics are now available, with the movie adaptations coming soon. The fan-favorite series G.I. Joe: Origins and the CSI comic series are now available for download on iTunes.

In addition to new material and story lines, IDW will also bring the classic 1980s Transformers and G.I. Joe series to the iPhone, iPod Touch and the Internet, beginning with Classic Transformers, which can be found online at classic-transformers.com.

IDW’s classic comic expansion will begin J. Scott Campbell and Andy Hartnell’s sexy spy comic, Danger Girl. Danger Girl #0 is currently available as a free application on iTunes, and features an eight-page preview of the comic.