The Hasbro toy company has teamed with the production company Angry Films to create a live-action version of the popular cartoon series that ran from 1984 to 1987, about a group of alien robots who disguise themselves on Earth as common vehicles.
"The basic thing is that if you've been going to the comic book festivals and seeing all that stuff, the '80s kind of came back last year in a huge way," Angry Films producer Don Murphy said Wednesday.
"We figured the technology had finally caught up to the point where we could actually show a 18-wheel truck turning into a giant robot," added Murphy, who also helped make the upcoming comic book movie The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
The story of the Transformers centers on a war between two mechanized armies � the heroic Autobots, led by the red tractor-trailer Optimus Prime, and the evil Decepticons, ruled by the gigantic silver gun Megatron. Seeking new sources of energy, both factions crash-land on Earth.
Although the Transformers toys have changed over the years � from animal shapes to the current series of futuristic machines � Murphy said the movie would be based on the original lineup.
The 1980s Hasbro toys, which the cartoon helped turn into a money-machine for the company, have recently been reissued by the original Japanese manufacturer, Takara. A recent comic book based on the Transformers and a DVD of the original cartoon series have also become best-sellers.
Murphy and his producing partner, Tom DeSanto, whose credits include X-Men and X2: X-Men United, are still in the early stages of the Transformers movie. The project has not yet settled at a studio and no potential release date has been set.
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