It was also in early May that Duke completed all post-production of Transformers, after adding the theme song sung by Taylor Swift and the opening logos of Hasbro and Warner Bros. This also meant that Warner Bros.’ distribution could officially move into full operation.
The film would be released simultaneously in nearly a hundred markets worldwide. Although the screening times would vary due to time zone differences, for Warner Bros., it was still an extremely large-scale project.
Nowadays, international co-productions are becoming more common, which also means that both parties must not only recognize each other’s business data, but also establish stronger mutual trust between buyers and sellers.
There is no doubt that, backed by media conglomerates and with a long enough history, the six major Hollywood studios have unparalleled advantages in this regard.
From presales to copy production, confidentiality, transportation, and garnering support from local media, distributors, and theater chains in each market, Warner Bros. is a leader. These advantages, built up over decades of development, are absolutely beyond the reach of newcomers like Lionsgate.
With the media launching a bombardment-style promotional campaign for Transformers, copies of the film were also shipped around the world. Warner assigned specialized personnel to handle confidentiality, in order to prevent premature leaks.
Thousands of standard copies and nearly twenty IMAX copies were delivered to China by professional teams. Since the China Film Group participated in the investment, Transformers encountered significantly fewer obstacles so much so that not even a single cut was made by the notorious scissors.
This was also related to Duke’s production. While the film certainly included displays of the U.S. military’s bravery and world-saving actions, it contained no content that could be seen as a veiled criticism of this side.
Chinese moviegoers have deep resentment toward those scissors, blaming them almost entirely for the slow development of Chinese cinema even though, in some cases, it wasn’t actually the scissors’ fault.
"Not a single cut." In this market, that alone was an excellent promotional gimmick.
Headlines like "Transformers
"The market across the Pacific represents the future, but the North American market is the present."
In an IMAX theater in Washington, D.C., Duke sat near the front row and said to Tina Fey, "And for the next several decades, the North American market will continue to be our foundation."
Tina Fey withdrew her gaze from the crowd of uniformed soldiers behind them. "So that’s why we’re having this advance screening?"
Duke would never neglect the North American market, and Warner Bros.’ promotional spending here was the highest. To build hype, they had even organized this special ’military screening.’ Apart from a few crew and media members, most of the attendees were U.S. military personnel, especially soldiers and officers who had participated in the on-location shoots.
Approximately 600 active-duty soldiers and their families attended this secret premiere of Transformers.
"Let’s hope they all give it a good review," Tina Fey said, somewhat concerned.
Military personnel are different from the average viewer, and PR work is comparatively more challenging.
Duke gently patted her arm. "Don’t forget—American soldiers in the movie can’t find any worthy opponents on Earth anymore, so they have to fight aliens."
Hearing this, Tina Fey couldn’t help but laugh. This was a film that portrayed the military and soldiers in a positive light. Even if some soldiers didn’t kind of film, they likely wouldn’t harshly criticize it.
Just like Captain America, which had premiered earlier in May. Because it had to show Steve Rogers’ transformation into Captain America and his interactions with Natasha Romanoff, the plot and effects weren’t particularly dazzling. Still, the media and critics were generally favorable.
The American spirit promoted by the film aligned perfectly with what mainstream society had always advocated. It fit the public’s aesthetic values. In today’s post-comic-book-boom era, a relatively plain film still managed to pull in over $82 million in its opening weekend in North America. This clearly showed that both the film’s message and the ideals represented by Captain America had strong support.
Movies have never existed solely as audiovisual products they are always closely tied to the social environment.
The U.S. military needs an excellent commercial to boost recruitment. The Pentagon needs a widely distributed film to reshape the military’s image globally. Duke needs the military’s professional skills and access to various advanced weapons and equipment.
Thus, this tightly coordinated collaboration between Hollywood and the Pentagon produced Transformers.
When the film reached the part where the Autobots and U.S. soldiers united to fight the evil Decepticons, the audience in the theater burst into enthusiastic applause.
On screen, good and evil clashed in fierce battles, action scenes dazzled the eyes, and the audio effects were spectacular and overwhelming.
The audiovisual experience provided by IMAX 3D was astounding. After the film ended, the adrenaline-filled soldiers praised Transformers to the media with no reservations.
"No doubt, this is the best movie I’ve ever seen," said Sergeant Mario Youngrod in full military uniform.
He had just stepped out of the theater and was visibly excited. "I watched the animated series as a kid—this movie blows the cartoon out of the water."
After the screening, Warner Bros. survey personnel stood outside the theater to ask soldiers for their thoughts on the film. The feedback they received was almost unanimously enthusiastic and positive. One soldier, when talking about how Hollywood portrayed the military, said, "Duke Rosenberg is the only director in Hollywood who can accurately portray the image of the military."
"The film’s visual effects are incredibly engaging audiences will finally understand what the Air Force is really about." ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵·𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖·𝙣𝙚𝙩
Speaking to Fox Television, Mike Gasparto, an officer working in the Air Force’s personnel department, said, "Audiences will get a chance to see some of the exciting things my department does."
Another Air Force officer walking with him was also interviewed, "There are a lot of Air Force officers in the movie, over a dozen military roles with speaking lines. I think it’s really important for young people to know that the Air Force does more than just fly people around in planes."
All the responses from the test screenings were immediately reported by the media under Warner Bros.’ direction and quickly became a major focus for many entertainment outlets and film magazines. Transformers naturally became the most anticipated super blockbuster of June and perhaps all of 2008.
During the period leading up to the film’s premiere in China, Duke, like the two lead actors of the cast, had a schedule packed to the brim, with non-stop publicity events entering his calendar one after another.
On Monday, Duke gave an exclusive interview to Entertainment Weekly.
In response to the question, "Why are your movies always so successful?" he answered—"My mother once said that the only way to make money is to aim at the general public. Transformers is the same. Many of my films are about heroes, or about the stories of heroes growing up."
On Tuesday, Duke became the cover figure of the new issue of Empire magazine.
On a prominent inner page of the magazine, he answered the question, "Why do Hasbro and Warner Bros. both think you’re the best director for Transformers?"—"I have a very sharp sense for visual effects. Mr. George Lucas once said I have the best pair of eyes in Hollywood. I also like sharing ideas with others. In the editing room, Mike Dawson jokingly slapped my leg. Why? Because Transformers brings out people’s inner child."
On Wednesday, Duke once again made headlines on Yahoo Entertainment.
The Yahoo reporter asked him, "There was a time when Transformers received heavy criticism in the media. Why was that?"
Duke replied—"When I had lunch with Sarah from the Los Angeles Times, I asked her why I was being criticized so badly at the time. She said, ’You became famous too early. The point of building up celebrities in the media is so one day they can be chopped down all at once.’"
On Thursday, one of Duke’s interviews appeared on a prominent page of The Hollywood Reporter.
The journalist focused on his new movie: "How did you create the action scenes in Transformers?"
Duke gave a long response, "I film action scenes by focusing on the key points and rhythm of events. For instance, in a car chase scene what’s the rhythm of the events? When shooting, I use models to find the right feeling, replaying the entire sequence in my head scene by scene."
"I don’t use storyboards to string scenes together—that stuff is trash, and no one in the crew looks at it anyway. I usually explain the scene beside the set using a prop car. You might think that’s a bit silly. But I think it’s crucial because not everyone in the crew is sharp enough to do their part right you have to make sure they don’t mess things up."
"I draw the prop car on paper and tell them, ’You turn here, do a little action when the gun fires, then turn there, and do this and that.’ It would take a huge effort to explain a scene using storyboards. Explaining it on-site is much clearer."
On Friday, Duke appeared on Ellen DeGeneres’ talk show.
Facing the woman known as Hollywood’s top lady charmer, who asked, "Do you enjoy making movies?"—he answered very seriously, "I love the feeling of the camera rolling. On the set of Transformers, when the actors perform, I don’t film right away—I want to see their eyes first. There’s just so much the camera needs to capture. Actually, I started out in Hollywood as an actor... In some late ’80s films, you can see shots of me as a background extra."
On Saturday, Duke wrapped up his intensive North American publicity schedule and boarded his private business jet to cross the Pacific Ocean and head to China for the global premiere of Transformers.
Before him, Tina Fey had already led many staff members over there. Dozens of massive Autobot and Decepticon models had also arrived in Shanghai, just waiting for the premiere to begin.
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