A new overseer has been assigned to the Namibia-based filming location of director George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road.  Concerns about the film falling behind schedule and beginning to go over budget (not to mention the cost of flying executives to and from Africa) have necessitated the placement of Warner Bros. producer, Denise Di Novi on location.  While she won’t have producer credits on the film, Di Novi will be responsible for supervising the production as a “studio representative.”  The film, which started shooting in July, is reportedly still expected to wrap by the end of November.

Mad Max: Fury Road starring Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Nicholas Hoult and Zoe Kravitz, is due out next year. Hit the jump for more.

Filming on the fourth Mad Max film, Mad Max: Fury Road, has been underway for a couple months now, but Kennedy Miller Mitchell Productions have now released an announcement that principal photography has begun.  These production start announcements usually don’t mean much except they usually contain the first synopsis for the movie, and this press release is no different.  We’ll also give the release a pass since Mad Max: Fury Road looked like it might never happen since it was constantly delayed, and the production hit a serious snag when their original location was hit with flooding and turned into an oasis, which doesn’t really lend itself to a post-apocalyptic wasteland.  Shooting is now taking place in Africa.

Hit the jump for the press release, which contains the synopsis along with the names of all the major roles (and there are some great character names).  Mad Max: Fury Road stars Tom Hardy as the new Mad Max, and also stars Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Zoe Kravitz, Riley Keough, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Hugh Keays-Byrne, and Nathan Jones.

Once cast as the Amazon warrior princess Wonder Woman in what was to be George Miller’s failed Justice League film, Megan Gale will finally get to team up with the director in Mad Max: Fury Road.  Her role is unspecified at the moment, but we do have character names for a host of other roles, including that of Hugh Keays-Byrne, who was tapped to star as the Martian Manhunter alongside Gale.  Mad Max: Fury Road features Tom Hardy in the title role along with Charlize Theron as Furiosa.  Hit the jump for more casting info.

We’ve got some early set photos from George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road to share with you today.  From on location in Africa, they feature model/star Abbey Lee Kershaw and some suped-up vehicles that continue the signature look of the Mad Max franchise.  It’s hard to believe that it’s been 27 years since the last Mad Max movie came out, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome starring Mel Gibson. The fourth installment features new additions Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Zoe Kravitz. Hit the jump to check out the first set photos from Mad Max: Fury Road.

[Update: A few more set photos have surfaced, including one of Huntington-Whiteley, Kravtiz, and a few other cast members.  They're included after the jump.]

Here are some recent casting additions at a glance:

• Edward James Olmos (Battlestar Galactica) has been confirmed as a cast member in Machete Kills, starring Danny Trejo.
• Rosie Huntington-Whiteley(Transformers: Dark of the Moon) is set to join the cast of Mad Max: Fury Road.
• Jason Mantzoukas (The Dictator) joins the David Wain-directed comedy, They Came Together, with Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler.

Hit the jump for more.

Take a grain of salt.  Then find a way to make that grain into smaller grains and then take one of those micro-grains of salt and use it with this rumor: Jason Statham may be the new lead for the Transformers franchise.  In between stories about Zac Efron still being “hot” for Vanessa Hudgens, and Ricky Martin being protected by the gay community, Showbiz Spy reports that the franchise could go in a “darker direction” and that Statham is being mentioned as the man who could take it there.  It’s a franchise about giant robots who can turn into vehicles.  How dark can it possibly get?  Oh, and the fact that Statham is dating Rosie Huntington-Whiteley “would be an added bonus in marketing the movie.”  Yep, that’s what Transformers fanboys care about: who’s dating who behind the scenes.  Showbiz Spy reports that this information comes from a “Hollywood Insider”, which may as well mean that it comes from someone who lives inside the Hollywood area.

You can click here for my suggestions for who could take over the director’s seat of the franchise. I won’t speculate on who would make a good lead for Transformers 4 because I don’t know what kind of movie they want to make other than an expensive one.

A Michael Bay movie cannot be measured by the same standards as a normal movie.  A Bay movie cares not for compelling characters, narrative cohesion, or realistic emotions.  Instead, a Michael Bay movie must be judged on its “Bay-ness”.  How gigantic are the special effects?  What levels of homophobia, sexism, and racism can the humor reach without being outright offensive?  How long can the camera linger over the curves of the sexually-charged lead female character without starting to feel like really expensive porn?  Transformers: Dark of the Moon is about as Michael Bay as Michael Bay can get within the confines of a PG-13 movie (his gold standard in the R-rated realm is Bad Boys II).  The movie is far more successful in its action sequences and its humor (homophobic, sexist, and racist as it may be) than 2009′s abysmal Return of the Fallen), but lacks the charm of the first film in the franchise.  But since “charm” can’t be digitized and bought for millions of dollars, Bay is all about the set pieces and judging by that metric, the final hour of Dark of the Moon is his masterpiece.

A last-minute trailer for Transformers: Dark of the Moon has been released, along with a couple of new posters. There’s quite a few new shots to be seen here, and this one really ramps up the action. With Michael Bay doing all he can to ensure that the 3D prints are projected at the highest quality possible, this is gonna be one hell of a visual experience.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer and posters. The film stars Shia LaBeouf, John Turturro, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Patrick Dempsey, Kevin Dunn, John Malkovich, and Frances McDormand.  Transformers: Dark of the Moon opens in 3D on June 29th.

Paramount has sent over some video and a bunch of images from the Transformers: Dark of the Moon premiere in Moscow.  So if you’d like to see Shia LaBeouf, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Patrick Dempsey, John Malkovich, the band Linkin Park, and producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura on the green carpet, hit the jump.  In addition, the video the studio sent over mixes footage from the premiere with cast interviews.

As I said when I posted the clips earlier today, I can’t wait to see TF3 next week.  Everything I’ve seen tells me it’s going to be a really fun ride.

Eight new images from Transformers: Dark of the Moon have been released.  This proves yet again that the movie exists and that it will feature actors and giant robots.  Thank goodness.  I’m glad we could clear that up.

Hit the jump to check out the images. The film stars Shia LaBeouf, John Turturro, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Patrick Dempsey, Kevin Dunn, John Malkovich, and Frances McDormand.  Transformers: Dark of the Moon opens in 3D on June 29th.

A few new images from Michael Bay’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon have hit the net.  As most of you know, I’ve seen a lot of footage from the 3rd installment and everything is telling me that Bay has made something special and it’s going to be a huge improvement over Revenge of the Fallen.  Also, unlike a lot of filmmakers that don’t know how to use 3D, Bay is using 3D to help tell the story.  I think TF3 will be the best looking live action 3D movie since Avatar.  Hit the jump for new images of Shia LaBeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Patrick Dempsey, Josh Duhamel and Michael Bay.

The new trailer for Transformers: Dark of the Moon has gone online. If you want to see the trailer in 3D, it’ll be playing in front of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides starting today.  This new trailer is very similar to the first one. It’s just as impressive, and the epic nature of the flick is very prominent. As much as I want to look forward to this, I’m still wary given how cool the trailers for Revenge of the Fallen looked compared to how terrible the actual film was. Nevertheless, the Chicago set-piece looks positively massive. The clip features Josh Duhamel’s character and a bunch of guys jumping out of an aircraft, which is much more exciting than the first clip that consisted of a pissing contest between Shia LaBeouf and Patrick Dempsey.

Hitting 3D theaters on June 29th, Michael Bay’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon stars Shia LaBeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Josh Duhamel, John Malkovich, Frances McDormand, Tyrese Gibson, Patrick Dempsey, and voice work from Hugo Weaving, Peter Cullen, and Leonard Nimoy. And if you missed it, be sure to check out Steve’s report from Michael Bay and James Cameron’s recent presentation on 3D here. Hit the jump to check out the trailer.

The first clip from Transformers: Dark of the Moon has gone online.  Does it feature robots punching each other?  Robots coming in from outer space?  Robots punching each other as they come in from outer space?  None of the above.  Instead we see Carly (Rosie Huntingon-Whiteley) leading her boyfriend Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) around her “Starship Enterprise”-like workspace and introducing him to her boss (Patrick Dempsey).  The boss shows off how successful he is, how handsome he is, Sam notices that Huntington-Whiteley is a supermodel, and promptly wets himself.  Okay, that last part isn’t true, but you can smell his insecurity.  You wonder why Sam just doesn’t say “Yeah, I saved the world a couple times with my giant robot friends, but those little trophies are nice.”

Hit the jump to check out the clip.  The film also stars Josh Duhamel, John Malkovich, Ken Jeong, John Turturro, Frances McDormand, Peter Cullen, and Tyrese Gibson.  Transformers: Dark of the Moon opens in 3D on July 1st.

Paramount has released a new poster for Transformers: Dark of the Moon.  Tiny human lead actors (Shia LaBeouf and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley) in the foreground?  Check.  Gigantic Optimus Prime in the background?  Check.  Hints of massive destruction?  Check.

Yep.  It’s a Transformers poster.

Hit the jump to check out the poster and click here to see the new trailer that was released yesterday.  The film also stars Josh Duhamel, John Malkovich, Patrick Dempsey, Ken Jeong, John Turturro, Frances McDormand, Peter Cullen, and Tyrese Gibson.  Transformers: Dark of the Moon opens in 3D on July 1st.

The theatrical trailer for Transformers: Dark of the Moon has landed online. We see some pretty fantastic looking footage on the moon, followed by some really impressive stuff back on Earth. We’re talking full-on invasion this time around. We get our first look at Frances McDormand as well. However, as we all know from the second flick Revenge of the Fallen, simply watching robots fight for 2+ hours does not a good movie make (understatement). This one has to be better than Revenge of the Fallen, right? Hitting 3D theaters on July 1st, Michael Bay’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon stars Shia LaBeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Josh Duhamel, John Malkovich, Frances McDormand, Tyrese Gibson, Patrick Dempsey, and voice work from Hugo Weaving, Peter Cullen, and Leonard Nimoy.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer along with the first “synopsis” and a new still from the movie.  I put “synopsis” in quotations because it’s more of a logline and not a particularly illuminating one at that.