Neil Kaplan Cast in Video Game

From TFW2005, Neil Kaplan's facebook page reveals he has been cast as the voice of Long Haul and Protectobot (essentially a Ratchet repaint) in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen video game.

I am THRILLED to announce my return to the "Transformers Universe". This summer you can find my work on "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen". This brilliant video game is from the geniuses at Activision. I play both sides of the fence as Decepticon - Long Haul and Autobot - Protectobot. So... I can help you save or destroy the Earth. Just try to let me know ahead of time... nothing worse than tearing down what was meant to be saved.

Kaplan's credits are long, sticking mostly to video games with some cartoon work including being the voice of Optimus Prime for the Transformers: Robots in Disguise cartoons back in 2001. Keep in mind that doing a voice in the game doesn't necessarily mean he is doing a voice in the movie or that Long Haul even has any lines in the movie. Thanks to Scorpio for the link.

Tony Todd Cast In Transformers 2

The official Tony Todd website has revealed that the actor has been cast in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

If you watch movies and television on even a semi-regular basis you probably recognize the face. His most recent roles included playing CIA Director in the first season of Chuck (before getting blown up), playing the dictator in just finished season of 24, Candyman from those movies and a just really long list of credits. He is part of that large group of character actors that helps keep the Hollywood engine running, just plugging away working and yet rarely gives the proper credit for their efforts.

The note from the site:

We've been waiting to announce this for a little bit and here it is:
Tony will be taking part in this summers biggest blockbuster ...

TRANSFORMERS 2 !

Now who he is going to play is still under wraps, but we can say...
don't look for him because you wont see the man himself...!!
Thats all we can say for now!
This is going to be one helluva a summer !!

That indicates the deep voiced actor is playing a Transformer, which one is the question. He sounds like a Decepticon to me, possibly one of the Constructicons (my guess is Mixmaster). Congrats to Tony, hopefully not a Decepticon (alternate suggestion is Sideswipe) or it will just be a one movie role. More than likely Tony recorded his voice work months ago.

"General" Morshower Talks TF2

Glenn Morshower (24's Aaron Pierce) talks Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen with IGN. Morshower was in the first film as Colonel Sharp that died during Blackout's assault. Now he is going to appear in the film as a new character that shares his namesake.

Said Morshower, "You know, I did the first one and a lot of people died and we were part of the team that was killed. But even though a lot of people died, that didn't seem to bother them. They wanted to bring me back. And then Michael Bay said, 'Well, you'll be playing a completely different character. But don't tell me now if you want to do it [yet]. I'm going to send you the script.'"

Morshower than explained the big surprise in store for him. "He sent it to me and I looked at the name of the character… The name of the character is General Morshower. He named the character my name." In his follow up conversation with Bay, Morshower recalled, "[Bay] goes, 'You don't mind, do you? We think your name is really different, really cool.' I went, 'What do I care? It's mine!' So I went in and played General Morshower."

The actor then revealed, "I just saw about thirty minutes of the film last week. It's tremendous! You will love it. I think it's even better than the first. So June 24th!"

Cool news. As a fan of the actor it is nice to see him return to the film. Hopefully this will be the start of a running joke for the franchise of seeing what role the great character actor will have next. Thanks to Y2G for the link.

Welker is Officially Cast in Transformers 2

Ugo Movie Blog is reporting that legendary voice actor Frank Welker has been officially cast in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen as Soundwave. The news is from an interview with Roberto Orci as he was promoting Star Trek. Soundwave is a character Welker originated for all three seasons of the 1980s cartoons or G1 cartoon as sometimes referred to that ran from about 1984-1987.

Jordan Hoffman: Who’s voicing Soundwave in Transformers?
Roberto Orci: Welker.

Jordan Hoffman: That’s official?
Roberto Orci: I think so.

Jordan Hoffman: Uh oh.
Roberto Orci: Might be something I just told you for the first time, but I think so.

Fantastic news for die hard Transformer fans who have been trying to get our favorite voices cast in the movie.

Nimoy to Bay: Just Ask

Last week, Michael Bay indicated he is open to casting Leonard Nimoy as a voice in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen but "I just feel kind of bad about asking him. Like ‘I can’t pay you that much? But would you do this voice?" and maybe use his mother as a go between.

Today, IESB asked Nimoy if he would be willing to do a voice in the movie. Sadly a video of the exchange could not be posted due to a press embargo on Star Trek stuff in the states until May 7th. This is usually done by the studios so that there is a huge amount of talk about the movie before the critical opening weekend and most sites are not going to breach it for fear of losing access. It is also a way to contain bad reviews but that isn't an issue in this case as Star Trek reviews have been glowing.

I am paraphrasing our conversation. Nimoy was in a great mood, laughing and having a good time and said he would be perfectly willing to do a voice in the Transformers sequel, all Michael has to do is ask - but has he?

IESB asked Nimoy straight out if Michael Bay has contacted him yet regarding the voice work, Bay has said he may use his mother as a go between if need be.

Nimoy said he had just seen Bay's mother and she didn't say anything. He doesn't think she wants to be the go between. Nimoy said that he's not hard to get ahold of, if Michael wants to get ahold of him, he can.

Since it is voice work which can be done in a day or so under experienced hands, Bay still has plenty of time to cast who he wants when he wants. Of course with the world premiere now schedule just six weeks away the clock is ticking.

Bay Talks Potential Nimoy Casting

MTV once again, this time talking to Transformers 2 director Michael Bay about voice casting, specifically casting his cousin, Leonard Nimoy (Star Trek's Spock) in the sequel.

“I’m still not done with all the voices,” Bay explained to us recently when we brought up “Revenge of the Fallen” robot casting for the film.

As loyal fans of the robots-in-disguise remember, Mr. Spock himself - Leonard Nimoy - was the voice of characters like Galvatron in the 1986 cartoon “Transformers: The Movie.” And “Revenge” writer Roberto Orci has said that he’d like to see Nimoy return for the summer blockbuster.

“You know, he’s related to me,” laughed Bay. “And now that you are filming this, maybe you can send it to him.”

“[Nimoy] is married to Susan Bay, who’s a cousin to me,” Michael explained, saying that he’s afraid of insulting his relative with the mere pittance allotted to pay his voice actors. “I just feel kind of bad about asking him. Like ‘I can’t pay you that much? But would you do this voice?’”

So Michael hasn’t worked up the nerve yet to ask his famous cousin – who appears in next month’s “Star Trek” – to lend him his vocal talents. Instead, the pair have been using a third relative as a go-between.

“Would he do it?” Bay asked. “He suggested to my mom that he might do it.”

Mike Patton To Voice Mixmaster

MovieWeb.com is reporting that they have confirmed that Mike Patton has been cast to voice Decepticon Constructicon Mixmaster. Mixmaster will form the head of the gestault. He is the lead singer of Faith No More and producer for multiple artists (wiki here). Thanks to Gregory for the link.

Rumors about musician Mike Patton's involvement in the highly anticipated summer sequel Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen were confirmed today by a "close" friend of the singer (who may or may not live in Philadelphia). More of a cameo than a leading robot, Patton will lend his unique vocal talents to Mixmaster, one of the seven Decepticons that form to create Devastator. He is a concrete mixing truck that serves as the left leg of this gigantically awesome robot.

While Patton's participation in the film was 100% confirmed, the "source" didn't seem quite so positive about the actual robot he would be playing, at times calling him a dump truck (which is actually Long Haul). Either way, he will voice one of the seven vehicles that form Devastator. Patton is said to have landed the gig after producers heard his voice work on the video game The Darkness. This is a big year for the prolific singer, as his score for Crank: High Voltage will be released this coming Tuesday. And he is currently in the midst of embarking on a European reunion tour with his former band Faith No More.

Welker Tapped As Soundwave

Every now and then Michael Bay likes to drop in on his forums and cause some havoc by answering a question is such a way as to lead to more questions. Not this time though. Bay has indicated he is going to please many die-hard Transfans.

I think I'm going to pursue Frank on Soundwave.

Michael

If "persue" becomes a contract for the movie, that means that finally Frank Welker will get to reprise a Transformer role in the movie. Welker is the legendary voice behind Megatron, Soundwave, Frenzy, Ravage, Ratbat and more. His overall voice career is extensive and probably includes some of your favorite childhood characters in other cartoons and movies. Hopefully once Welker has signed on the dotted line, Bay will provide an update. Thanks to Ty for the link.

Weaving Confirms Return

While promoting his latest movie Last Ride in Australia, Hugo Weaving, according to AdelaideNow revealed that he has signed on to return as the voice of Megatron for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Thanks to gameon91 and Ty for the link.

``I’ve already done it,’’ Weaving says, adding Bay had told him to keep the news hush-hush. ``He’s over in LA and we were working on the video split sort of thing and I had this strange conversation where he seemed to imply it was all a big secret. So there you go. I’ve given you the secret scoop.’’

So how is Megatron resurrected?

`I think in the last one, doesn’t Optimus Prime pick up a little bit of, a little shard of the cube, or the thing that’s left, and he takes it with him. Maybe there’s something there… but I don’t know,’’ he laughs.