The DreamWorks/Paramount sequel began shooting last week in Pennsylvania, mostly exteriors. Bethel, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. are doubling for different countries. From the start, the filmmakers planned a hiatus into the Transformers sequel, whether or not there was an actor’s strike.
The movie shoots on location for a month and then returns to L.A. If there’s a strike, they’ll work on FX stuff and won’t start up photography right away.
According to New Mexico governor Bill Richardson, later on this fall, NM will be the location of more filming of the pic, which hits theaters next summer. The first pic, starring Shia LaBeouf, Tyrese Gibson, Josh Duhamel, Megan Fox and John Turturro, grossed more than $700 million worldwide.
The new story, which Bay worked on himself during the writers’ strike, will also be a simple emotional tale surrounded by amazing F/X. This time, instead of boy-gets-car-gets-girl, our young hero grows up and comes of age in college–they’re shooting in Princeton! He has a long-distance relationship, becomes more independent and responsible. This time there’s not only a female transformer, but geriatric transformers.
Source: Thompson on HollywoodÂ