Trivia / Transformers: Dark of the Moon

• Approval of God: Though the film wasn't to his taste and he wasn't interested in joining the cast, in an interview in 2021, Corey Burton said he did like Shockwave's design (though his Animated design remains his favorite).
• Awesome, Dear Boy:
  • Leonard Nimoy was very enthusiastic about rejoining the Transformers franchise after having played Galvatron in the 1986 movie.
  • John Malkovich said he was warned by others not to work with Michael Bay but found the experience to be a lot of fun, comparing him to a kid in a toy store.
• Creator Backlash:
  • Peter Cullen really disliked the "we will kill them all" line, petitioning for it to be changed before being overruled.
  • Bay was furious that Amazon’s listing for the comic adaptation spoiled the film’s central twist and demanded that there be no further comic adaptations of his films moving forward.
  • Hugo Weaving left the trilogy feeling no attachment to Megatron or the franchise and admitted it was a shame it was meaningless to him, as he had tired of making franchise films. Bay took this as a personal attack and lashed out at him.
  • Unique, ironic example with John DiMaggio, as he didn’t like the films and even heckled this film’s teaser trailer when he saw it in theaters. Not much later, he ended up approached by Bay to star in the film and ended up not only cast as Leadfoot, but became a recurring cast member for nearly every film released since.
• Fake Nationality: Despite looking the stereotypical Redneck type, John DiMaggio (an American) and Ron Bottitta (a Brit) play Leadfoot and Roadbuster with Scottish accents.
• Defictionalization:
  • The Wreckers made an appearance in car form during the parade laps of the 2011 Daytona 500.
  • The "Pink Bumblebee" version of Laserbeak got its own release in Asian markets◊.
• Deleted Role: Mudflap and Skids were to return in the film, where their role was to die defending Bumblebee and NEST soldiers when Sentinel Prime revealed his true nature.
• Deleted Scene: The Twins from Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen were intended to be in this movie but were removed in the final cut. If you look carefully you might be able to see their vehicle modes in a distant line-up shot.
• Early Draft Tie-In: In concept art, Leadfoot was going to be accompanied with a Cybertronian dog named Steeljaw. While Steeljaw was cut from the movie, he was still included with one of Leadfoot’s toys. To be more specific, the dog would transform into Leadfoot’s engine.
• No Export for You: Hasbro cancelled the American release of the sixth wave of DOTM toys, including the much-anticipated Human Alliance Soundwave, due to low retailer demand. The canceling of the line also means that certain characters such as Dino/Mirage never get any mainline toys until the debut of the Transformers Studio Series toyline.
• On-Set Injury: An extra was seriously injured during a stunt in Hammond, Indiana. Owing to a failed weld, a steel cable snapped from a car being towed and hit the extra's car, damaging her skull. The extra, identified as Gabriela Cédillo, had to undergo brain surgery. The injury has left her permanently brain-damaged, paralyzed on her left side and her left eye stitched shut. In May 2012, it was revealed that a $18 million settlement had been reached between Paramount and the Cedillo family. As a result of this accident, recycled footage from The Island (2005) was used instead, with CG robots inserted into the footage.
• One for the Money; One for the Art: Michael Bay agreed to return as director in order to get Pain & Gain film made.
• The Other Darrin:
  • Sideswipe is voiced by James Remar instead of André Sogliuzzo.
  • The video game tie-in also swaps out many of the voices with other actors, some from High Moon Studios' previous Transformers game. With Fred Tatasciore as Megatron and Ratchet (as well as taking over for Bumblebee and Sideswipe), Issac C. Singleton Jr. as both Soundwave and Shockwave, and Steve Blum as Starscream. Dino also gets recast in the game, voiced here by Dave Wittenberg, while also being called by his original name Mirage.
• The Other Marty: An unintentional one; Barricade during the torture scene in Chicago speaks with Soundwave's voice as provided by Frank Welker.
• Real Life Writes the Plot: According to Word of Saint Paul (Michael Bay's website administrator), the original ending of the movie (where Optimus and Megatron would have agreed to a truce) was altered to differentiate it from the comic adaptation, which ultimately lucked out as a good move as the film’s central twist was leaked by the comic before release.
• Refitted for Sequel:
  • The concept of Optimus combining with his trailer was considered for Revenge of the Fallen before he eventually was decided to combine with Jetfire.
  • "Heed Our Warning," the score that plays during the invasion of Chicago, was originally composed for Revenge of the Fallen but went unused, and is available in that film's soundtrack.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Shortly after the release of Revenge of the Fallen, Michael Bay stated that Ramon Rodriguez would be back as Leo Spitz in a larger role. However, he was ultimately cut from the film.
  • Due to the released call sheets, it is highly suggested that Sentinel Prime was originally going to be called Ultra Magnus. Test screening however drove the change and Ultra Magnus' head was reused as what the Apollo 11 astronauts step on and uncover as they explore the ship. Considering his actions, this wouldn't be the first time this type of change has happened. ^note They didn't want Ultra Magnus' name to be tarnished by association with a traitor, just like they didn't want Rodimus Prime's name to be tarnished by association with a jerkass.
  • The Twins from ROTF were scripted into the movie but were carefully removed from the final cut (you can briefly see their vehicle modes in a line-up shot). Their roles would have been to be killed by Sentinel Prime after he reveals himself as a traitor by killing Ironhide. Maybe they weren't confident in getting an Alas, Poor Scrappy reaction....
  • Corey Burton was asked to reprise his role from the original cartoon as Shockwave, but he declined because he wasn't interested in doing blockbusters. Before Frank Welker ended up voicing him, David Warner ^note  The guy Burton originally based his Shockwave voice on was also considered for the role.
  • Rodimus was intended to appear, concept art of him were made. But he does end up appearing in Transformers: The Last Knight as "Hot Rod".
  • Megan Fox was supposed to return but after feuding with Michael Bay she was fired and the character of Carly was created to fill her role. Katie Cassidy, Brooklyn Decker, Ashley Greene, Lucy Hale, Amber Heard, Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively were considered for the role.
  • An odd case occurred in the case of James Avery having a role in the movie. In early 2010, a video interview published on Avery’s website with the video’s information stating he would be playing the Autobot Silverbolt in the film. Avery never repeated this himself in the video, but months later, his agent, while debunking a rumor he’d passed away, reiterated that he would be playing the character. However, come the film’s release, neither Silverbolt or Avery appeared in the movie, and no further word was said on the subject.
  • Many of the deaths (and those that survived) were changed, including:
    • Megatron being honest of wanting a truce with Optimus and the two parting on good terms, with the Decepticons going to undo the damage they did to Cybertron and Optimus remaining to clean up Earth.
    • Que/Wheeljack would have survived the battle
    • Dino/Mirage died trying to use his invisibility to escape (something that also was removed)
  • The Wreckers were to have a pet robot dog named Steeljaw. Like with Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen, this was cut late in the game and thus a toy was made.
• Word of God:
  • They advertised Shockwave as the Big Bad/an important enemy as part of a "misinformation campaign", where they would deliberately lie about certain aspects to keep information and spoilers about the film to a minimum to prevent plot twists having no impact, such as Sentinel Prime being the real Big Bad and Soundwave's car alt-mode.
  • Bumblebee's new look is to represent his maturity from a simple guardian to a full-fledged warrior. His stripes are also moved farther out from the center of his vehicle mode.
  • The Twins from Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen were killed by Sentinel Prime moments after he destroyed Ironhide but this wasn't included in the theatrical cut for pacing reasons.

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