Planet Iacon via ACToys have posted up some interesting new images of supposed CGI renders for Optimus Prime in his new look for the upcoming movie Age of Extinction

Australian news website news.com.au are reporting that a 2nd blackmail attempt has taken place on the set of Transformers 4: Age of Extinction.  According to the report a female crew member who was setting up on the roof of a Kowloon building was approached  and  intimidated by four men who approached her asking for money.  One of the men was subsequently arrested after she reported the incident whilst the others remain at large.

To add to the headline, the media outlet have re-used a stock image from Transformers 3 with Michael Bay and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.

News outlets around the world, including the BBC, have picked up on a story about two men who caused a disturbance on the set of Transformers 4 demanding money from Mr Bay before injuring the American director by striking him on the right side of his face.  The two men proceeded to assault police officers before being arrested on suspicion of blackmail and assault.  Michael Bay refused to go to the hospital for treatment, instead deciding to continue working on set.

"A local newspaper in Hong Kong reported that three men caused what it called "a huge disturbance" to the filming of the American science fiction film.  It said that the men could have missed out on disturbance fees which the film crew paid to shop and business owners whose businesses were likely to be affected during filming.  The two men approached Mr Bay on the set during filming, a police spokeswoman told Reuters.  One of them demanded payment of HK$100,000 ($12,900; £8,030). >As the discussion continued, the man assaulted Mr Bay and also attacked three police officers who tried to intervene, police say. The officers received treatment at hospital for minor injuries.  Police also arrested a third man at the scene.

Report the BBC

ShootForTheEdit.com admin Nelson has posted some information and images from his trip to the Chicago set for Transformers: Age of Extinction. Below you will find a quote of what "Nelson" had to say

As some of you know, I visited the TF4 set in Chicago a couple of weeks ago. I won't bore you with the details, but here are some things I noticed and discovered.

Michael has a totally new crew for this movie (aside from the DP & the AD). Stunt people & drivers, SFX crew, camera crew, and grips. I guess it goes with the whole "fresh" feel and look of TF4.

...

The truck company for Optimus Prime in TF 1-2-3 never wanted anything to do with the movie franchise. Before filming the first TF movie, the production crew approach the truck company to see if they could lend them 2 trucks. They said no. The producers then found 2 old rusty 1995 models that barely worked and gave them a paint job that got the job done with a very tight budget for chrome and stuff. This time around, Western Star (a subsidiary of Daimler Trucks North America) gave them 2 new trucks. No questions asked.

Optimus Prime was painted by West Coast Customs.

...

There are 2 of every car, truck, and vehicle in this production (one for back up).

• 1 Bugatti is owned by a private owner. The other is a loaner from Bugatti.
• 1 Lamborghini Aventador was purchased by the studio. The other was purchased by Bay (the one with the interior shots in the movie).
• 1 vintage 1967 Camaro SS (BumbleBee) is owned by the studio, the other by Bay.
• Optimus and BumbleBee GGI renders are still being tweaked. Optimus looks grand and BB looks sleek, refined and badass.

...

Bay showed me a 5 min sizzle reel. It was f-ing amazing. After I saw it, he asked me "Kinda boring eh?" I think with all the pressure he's got, deprecating himself is his idea of humor. It also probably makes him strive more towards creating a kick-ass movie.

...

In the picture above you can see BumbleBee's head (paper weight) made of car parts (gears and stuff).

All the catering trucks have California license plates, I wonder why? I wonder if the local catering companies got tossed because of the leaked call sheet? Some how the food is better this time around (IMO).

All images are copyright of Michael Bay by Michael Bay Dot Com, on Flickr

You can view the original post along with the images over on ShootForTheEdit.com as well as after the jump along with all of the other official images.

Nelson, the Site Admin of Michael Bay's Shoot For The Edit website, has posted some new info on the Transformers: Age Of Extinction including confirmation that the "bearded robot" who's face was seen on a pole, will be Hound.

"I like how Bumblebee looks like in robot form this time around. He looks badass and sleek.

The Stingray is one of my favorite looking robots.

So is the Bugatti. Wait til you see this guy in action. He will blow your mind!!

And Hound reminds me of the bearded chubby fellow in Braveheart. He might take the cake when it comes to personality."

With just 3 weeks for Transformers: Age Of Extinction principle photography left, lead actor Mark Wahlberg has been interviewed by MTV where he discusses his Children's appearance in the film as well as making a brief mention to the Dinobots.

"My kids just did a cameo, just scared people in the street looking up, but they did a great job. I was so nervous because Michael doesn't have time for bad performances," he said. "You have to understand; you're shooting a $300 million movie. You've got a lot going on. He's got five, six takes. If you ain't got it, you're done. I didn't want to see my kids get clipped. They were excited about, but they started to get mad at me because I'm trying to over-direct them. It went great."

Regarding the Dinobots, when they were bought up his response was the following:

"You can't say that, dude. Did you leak it? Did you leak it? You leaked it," he said. "Somebody leaked it, dude. Somebody was on the set leaked it, and it is not OK. It's not cool."

You can watch the video of the interview at MTV.

Update: It has now been confirmed that the image if from a Cast and Crew party where a special 10-minute preview from the film was shown. See the information after the image for the latest update.

Instagram user Ronnie Lugo has posted an image from what appears to be a preview screening of something related to Transformers 4 along with the text "#transformers4 i bet you wish you could be here!".  Speculation of what this could be will no doubt run until Ronnie posts more information, though at the moment an early preview of a teaser trailer is the most popular choice.

Update: Audarshia Townsend has confirmed, over on her blog, that the image was taken from a Cast and Crew party for Transformers 4: Age of Extinction.

we were treated to a 10-minute sneak preview reel—with a brief introduction by Michael Bay. It showed many Chicago landmarks, including The Bean, Chinatown and Uptown Theater. I won't be a spoiler by telling you which landmark gets destroyed, but there were definitely many shrill cries in the audience when it happened.

Release dates for Transformers: Age of Extinction have been revealed for more countries, with several getting the film a day before the US, and Spain waiting until August

• Transformers: Age of Extinction Australia - 26th June 2014
• Transformers: Age of Extinction New Zealand - 26th June 2014
• Transformers: Age of Extinction Korea - 26th June 2014
• Transformers: Age of Extinction Russia - 26th June 2014
• Transformers: Age of Extinction Netherlands - 26th June 2014
• Transformers: Age of Extinction US Release Date - 27th June 2014
• Transformers: Age of Extinction Japan Release Date - Summer 2014
• Transformers: Age of Extinction UK - 10th July 2014
• Transformers: Age of Extinction Mexico - 11th July 2014
• Transformers: Age of Extinction France - 30th July 2014
• Transformers: Age of Extinction Spain - 8th August 2014
• Transformers: Age of Extinction Brazil  - Unconfirmed Day in July 2014

Thanks to Yahoo Movies UK confirmation of the title for the fourth Live Action Transformers Movie as Transformers: Age of Extinction has been confirmed.

A title which is much better than Dark of the Moon.

Also confirmed as US and UK release dates

US Release- 27th June 2014

UK Release- 10th July 2014

The UK date has been bought forward on previous Transformers movies, so this may be the case once more

Transformers: Age Of Extinction 

That's the latest domain, and Trademark, registered in relation to the Transformers Movies, and given confirmation of the Dinobots, a more likely name for the film.

The new trademark is categorized under Entertainment services:

"Entertainment services, namely, production and distribution of motion pictures, television shows and game shows"

Along with the subcategory of:

"Toy action figures, toy vehicles and toy robots convertible into other visual toy forms"

Also, brand new trademark applications revealed possible SPOILERS from the movie in the video game section.

• SPIRITS RISING
• MEGATRON RETURNS
• AUTOBOTS SUPREME

Transformers 4 Executive Producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura has confirmed that the Dinobots will be in Transformers 4

I can not disclose the specifics, but you can be sure that the joining of the Dinobots will give the audience new excitement. In addition to Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, the appearance of these classic roles changed, today the world's coolest, most exciting cars will appear in the film, including China's vehicles, whether you are a car enthusiast, you will feast your eyes and be shocked by them."

An image of a Toys R Us (USA) listing for upcoming products has been spotted including an interesting Transformers 4 related product

"Transformers 4 - June 2014 Dinobot theme + 2 more" is what the listing states, adding more fuel to the fire that the Dinobots will feature in the Transformers 4 Movie toyline, and potentially in the movie itself.

Michael Bay has updated his Flickr account with a new image titled "Just another day on the set of Transformers 4". You can view the image by clicking on the thumbnail below.

Pictured left to right:
Jack Reynor; Mark Wahlberg; 2nd Assistant B-Camera Casey "Walrus" Howard; 1st Assistant B-Camera John Kairis with back to camera; B-camera Operator Lukasz Bielan; Director Michael Bay; Director of Photography Amir Mokri.

Thanks to ComcBookMovie a new on set image has appeared showing yet another super car, this time a bright yellow Saleen S7.

Will the car appear in the movie or is it owned by somoene working on the film?  If the car appears in the movie, will it just be in the background or turn out to be another Transformer?  Speculation is running around that this may well be either Sunstreaker or Drag Strip, for obvious reasons

Hasbro have posted up the official advert for Transformers Constructbots the latest attempt at taking sales figures away from Lego in the contruction toy range