In an interview with BlastMagazine.com Transformers actor Tyrese Gibson confirmed that he will be returning in for the third instalment in the live action movie franchise as well as comment on Michael Bay's involvement

Michael Bay, he definitely needs to take a break from (Transformers), understandably so, but this is the movie — the biggest movie he’s ever directed in his life,” said Gibson. “And so, he can keep producing all of these other projects, but he is officially the king of geeks. ... I will absolutely be back,” and my part is going to be bumped up.­

Starlight Childrens Foundation­ are auctioning off a Transformers poster from the 2007 movie on eBay with the money raised from the auction going to charity.

This poster is signed by Michael Bay, Steven Spielberg, Josh Duhamel, Jon Voight, Shia Lebeouf,
Megan Fox, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Tom DeSanto, Don Murphy and Lorenzo Di Bonaventura.­

IGN has sat down with one of the producers of Transformers and Transformers Revenge of the Fallen Lorenzo di Bonaventura. In the sit down they discuss Transformers 3, which Lorenzo says they are trying to work out a date for, the negative press received for the Mudflap and Skids characters within the US as well as negative press reviews for the 2nd film, Michael Bay's involment in TF3 and Unicron. ­You can r­ead the interview here.

­Hasbro and GM have issued the following press release regarding the 2010 Camaro Transformers Special Edition.  You can view the images here.

Chevrolet announces the 2010 Camaro TRANSFORMERS Special Edition

"When the first TRANSFORMERS movie was setting box office records, we had countless customers asking to purchase the 'BUMBLEBEE' Camaro," said Karen Rafferty, product marketing director, Chevrolet. "Now, they can buy one with the new Camaro TRANSFORMERS Special Edition. Streets all over North America will be buzzing in no time."

Features such as an EPA-rated 29 highway mpg on the V6-powered Camaro, Bluetooth phone connectivity, USB connectivity, XM Satellite Radio and OnStar combined with TRANSFORMERS design cues add to the car’s status as a 21st century sports car.

“Hasbro is thrilled to team up with Chevrolet and excited to see the Camaro TRANSFORMERS Special Edition come to market for our fans to enjoy,” said Samantha Lomow, Global Brand Leader for TRANSFORMERS at Hasbro. “The yellow Camaro with the black stripes has become so iconic and closely associated with the BUMBLEBEE character that this edition was a natural fit for both companies.”

While the aggressive styling of the Camaro is unmistakable, true TRANSFORMERS fans will notice some of the unique, but subtle features of the Camaro TRANSFORMERS Special Edition.

The 2010 Chevrolet Camaro TRANSFORMERS Special Edition includes the following:

* AUTOBOT® shield on the driver and passenger side panels
* AUTOBOT® shield on each of the four wheel's center cap
* AUTOBOT® shield embroidered on interior center console
* "TRANSFORMERS" logo on driver and passenger doors' sill plates
* "TRANSFORMERS" logo embedded into the hood rally stripes
* High-gloss black center rally stripe package
* Manufacturer’s suggested retail price of package: $995

Dealers are now taking orders for this car. Customers can order the TRANSFORMERS Special Edition as either a Rally Yellow LT or SS model. The optional RS appearance package can also be added.

The V6-powered Camaro uses a 3.6L engine with variable valve timing to optimize performance and fuel economy. It is SAE-certified at 304 horsepower (227 kW) and 273 lb.-ft. of torque (370 Nm). A six-speed manual transmission is standard with the 3.6L engine; a Hydra-Matic 6L50 electronically controlled six-speed automatic, with TAPshift control, is available.

The high-performance Camaro SS is equipped with a powerful 6.2L V-8, with a choice of a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission. Manual transmission-equipped models receive the LS3 engine, SAE-certified at 426 horsepower (318 kW) and 420 lb.-ft. of torque (569 Nm). It is paired with a TR6060 six-speed transmission.

A new, L99 V-8 engine is used on automatic transmission-equipped SS models. It is based on the LS3, but also includes GM’s fuel-saving Active Fuel Management feature. It is SAE-certified at 400 horsepower (298 kW) and 410 lb.-ft. of torque (556 Nm). It is matched with a Hydra-Matic 6L80 six-speed transmission that helps delivers an EPA-estimated 25 mpg on the highway.

About Chevrolet
Chevrolet is one of America's best-known and best-selling automotive brands, and one of the fastest growing brands in the world. With fuel solutions that go from "gas-friendly to gas-free," Chevy has nine models that get 30 miles per gallon or more on the highway, and offers three hybrid models. More than 2.5 million Chevrolets that run on E85 biofuel have been sold. Next year, Chevrolet will offer the Chevy Volt, an extended range electric vehicle that will travel up to 40 miles without using any gas at all. Chevy delivers expressive design, spirited performance and provides the best value in every segment in which it competes. More information on Chevrolet can be found athttp://www.chevrolet.com.

About HASBRO
Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE:HAS) is a worldwide leader in children’s and family leisure time products and services with a rich portfolio of brands and entertainment properties that provides some of the highest quality and most recognizable play and recreational experiences in the world. As a brand-driven, consumer-focused global company, Hasbro brings to market a range of toys, games and licensed products, from traditional to high-tech and digital, under such powerful brand names as TRANSFORMERS, PLAYSKOOL, TONKA, MILTON BRADLEY, PARKER BROTHERS, CRANIUM and WIZARDS OF THE COAST. Come see how we inspire play through our brands athttp://www.hasbro.com. © 2009 Hasbro, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Many thanks go to Chuck Ratcliffe for sending us images of a mispackaged Transformers Revenge of the Fallen Jetfire toy, which actually included The Fallen and not the old Autobot codger.

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This is really a bit of an add-on to the last news story, but I've just noticed how close ROTF is to the revenue the first movie generated:

TF1: $708,272,592
TF2 - ROTF: $672,302,317

Thats getting very close. Which given the economic climate is extremely good news for our favourite franchise.

(Okay yes BOM isn't the greatest please the glean details from as it does miss out a few teritories... However it does so consistantly, and almost everywhere else uses it as a benchmark, also it's Non-US info lags a week or behind so the actual current total for ROTF is almost certainly higher than it appears right now, but as a quick benchmarking yardstick, it still works IMO)

Quoted from the SciFi channel's "Scifi Wire" weekly round-up:

"Finishing third after two weekends in the number one spot, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen took in an estimated $24.2 million domestically for the July 10 weekend, raising its domestic haul to $339.2 million, the Associated Press reported; the sequel passed the $319 million total of 2007's original Transformers."

The original story can be found: http://scifiwire.com/2009/07/news-briefs-transformers-2.php

Transformers Revenge of the Fallen is set to break the $650 million dollar mark for it's grossing this weekend with the current takings standing at $648,102,242 (consisting of $315,007,925 domestic and $333,094,317 international).

China is the second highest grossing area for the film with the UK in third.

Japanese website Ami-Ami has been updated with three new listings of Transformers Revenge of the Fallen Human Alliance toys.

RA-25 ?????????????? (Skids, Arcee and Mikaela)
RA-22 ?????????????? (Sideswipe and Epps)
RA-21 ?????????????????? (Bumblebee and Sam)

Ryan Church has updated his website with some concept artwork that he produced for Transformers Revenge of the Fallen.  Ryan has also produced concept art for various other films of which you can view several examples on his website which is well worth as look.

Marketwatch have published a report on the state of Hasbro shares, toy sales and the fact that Revenge of the Fallen has already grossed over $600 million worldwide.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Hasbro Inc. is revving up for bigger sales in the toy aisle thanks to the blockbuster Transformers movie sequel, with merchandise sales topping the 2007 product lineup by up to 25%, analysts say.  "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" is No. 1 at the box office so far this year. Since its June 24 release, the movie has racked up $607.6 million in global ticket sales through July 6, according to reporting service Box Office Mojo.Industry analysts forecast that Transformers toy-related sales, including licensing fees, could be as high as $600 million by year's end. If sales hit that mark, this would be 25% above the $482 million in sales the first Transformers movie-toy line racked up two years ago.Retailers started to sell merchandise for the second Transformers movie on May 30. The toys, celebrating their 25th anniversary, include robot action figures, helmets and lunch bags. "The toys are doing exceptionally well," said Lutz Muller, a toy-marketing analyst who runs Vermont-based Klosters Trading Corp.In an emailed statement, Toys "R" Us said the new Transformers "have surpassed sales of the toys based on the first Transformers movie." The major retailer helped support Hasbro's launch of the product line with print and Internet ads.

Shares of Hasbro's stock hastraded flat at $23.04 in midday trading Wednesday.Analysts' estimates vary on Transformer product sales for this year. Drew Crum at Stifel Nicolaus expects Hasbro to generate $550 million in sales from the toy line this year, while Sterne Agee's Margaret Whitfield estimates Transformers toy sales can easily exceed $500 million.  Sean McGowan at Needham & Co. projects Hasbro will sell $595 million worth of new and old Transformers merchandise in 2009, or 14% of total company sales.

There is less competition among movie-themed toys on retailer shelves this year. In 2008, kids had plenty to choose from, when Hasbro and Mattel Inc.  made numerous toys tied to action movies featuring Indiana Jones as well as comic-book characters Batman, Iron Man and the Hulk. Gerrick Johnson, analyst at BMO Capital Markets, estimates Transformers sales could provide a lift to Hasbro's second-quarter earnings due to the strength of orders ahead of the sequel's release. The toys have wider distribution compared with 2007, he added.

But Johnson expects 2009 Transformers sales to be on par with those of 2007. He cited cautious consumer spending and competition from popular Bakugan action figures that sell for less. Toronto-based SpinMaster sells Bakugan.

Hasbro could not be reached for comment on how the sales have gone so far.  The company reports second-quarter earnings July 20. Analysts expect the toy maker to earn 24 cents a share, compared with 25 cents a share earned in the year-earlier quarter, according to FactSet. Sales are pegged to rise to $797 million from $784 million.Hasbro is looking to generate more action-figure sales from the Aug. 7 movie release of "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra." Muller of Klosters Trading estimates G.I. Joe movie-related toys will generate sales between $150 million to $180 million in 2009.Yet Muller warned that G.I. Joe toy sales could be undercut by Transformers and toys tied to the July 15 release of the latest Harry Potter film.

Hasbro shares have fallen 21% for the year to date, compared with a 2% loss for the S&P 500 Index and a 5% loss for Mattel. Investors have become wary of Hasbro since the company announced a kids' TV joint venture with Discovery in late April. McGowan rates Hasbro shares overweight; Crum has a hold on them, Whitfield a buy and Johnson a sell.  The mean target price on the stock is $27.91, down 12% since the start of the year, according to FactSet data.

The BBC has reported that Revenge of the fallen has held the top spot against Harry Potter this weekend:

"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen kept its place at the top of the North American box office chart, taking $42.3m (£26.2m) over the weekend."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8137671.stm

Having a quick look at BoxOfficeMojo you can see a nice comparison page for the Domestic (US) takings of Transformers, Iron Man and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. A basic summary breaks down as follows

US Domestic earnings

Transformers: $319,246,193
Iron Man: $318,412,101
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: $268,700,00

Worldwide Takings

Transformers: $708,252,592
Iron Man: $585,133,287
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: $508,915,819

Interestingly Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen has now taken 68 million dollars more (in the US) then it's cost to make, and is only $85million dollars behind Iron Man's worldwide total takings. (Obviously there has probably been an increase in box office pricing since the previous two films).

Transformers Revenge of the Fallen is already the 38th highest grossing film in the US and 66th worldwide.