Orci Talks Transformers 2, Trek, and Autobots Invade Bethlehem

Posted by Dr. Cole Abaius (cole.abaius@filmschoolrejects.com) on May 20, 2008

Don’t ask me what I was doing driving through the middle of Pennsylvania this weekend. Those picturesque hills and lakes, surrounded on all sides by, well, nothing. My drive north along the idyllic parts of I-476 was peaceful except my friend who kept trying to get me to listen to Miley Cyrus. I only found out recently that the highway could have been swarming with giant robots from outer space that shape shift into all kinds of terrestrial vehicles fighting a galactic battle of good and evil right on top of my Ford Explorer.

Just nine miles East of where I was driving is the little town of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania – the site and shooting location for the uber-anticipated follow-up to Awesome Michael Bay’s Transformers – the behemoth that owned last Summer. According to local rag The Morning Call, Bay and company are headed to the sleepy little hamlet to take advantage of their incredible steel mill location, and they’re looking for Asian extras. From the sound of the article, it seems like everyone is excited to have the inevitable blockbuster shoot in their neck of the valley.

And who wouldn’t be excited?

I remember a similar driving experience I had late in 2006 while driving near the 110 in Los Angeles. When I saw the roadblocks, I cursed our mayor, until I saw that the road had been upturned and several shops were destroyed. It wasn’t until I saw the technocranes and two cars collide in mid-air that I realized it was a movie set – and what movie set it was. What I thought had been an earthquake was Transformers.

The second shockwave of that earthquake is already resonating. The team over at IGN was fortunate enough to sit down with Roberto Orci, screenwriter for the original and the sequel Transformers 2, to discuss his recent badass projects.

“The second one will deliver on a true Transformers story,” Orci said during the interview and goes on to confirm that Soundwave (and possibly Ravage) will make an appearance. According to Orci, the story is invested in seeing where our two main love birds are two years after the first film. Filming gears up in less than three weeks.

Fortunately, that’s not the only major project on Orci’s keyboard as he’s penned the script for the forthcoming Star Trek movie as well.

“This is not something like, ‘Oh, just sit through the first boring one, and then we get to the fun.’ This one, I’m telling you, it’s an origin story that’s… We didn’t save anything for later,” said Orci when confronted with the question of the difficulty of creating a viable origin for a well-established universe. It seems he also has a firm grasp on the gravity of writing a story arc that will please both die-hard, foam-mouthed Trekkies and the broader audience of movie-goers out there. Despite the looming threat of his friends and family causing him bodily harm for missing minor details, he’s taken on the task with a lot of love and seriousness.

That’s all that we want usually – a fan creating a love note to a series who keeps in mind that non-fans will want to see it. It would appear that Orci is definitely on the right track with both projects.

I have a feeling that the next time I’m driving north up from DC through Philadelphia, I’ll have a camera in hand, a decent cover story for sneaking on set, and the outlandish hope that any moment my car will take over the driving for me when it spots a Decepticon on the Pennsylvania horizon.

To the read the full interview, check here: IGN: Orci on Transformers 2, Trek

Read more articles by Dr. Cole Abaius