Bay wants Transformers to transcend toy roots

The Dreamworks/Paramount marketing team and director Michael Bay have been busy making sure people don’t see Transformers as just a toy movie, reports Variety.

The team and behind-the-scenes talent have been making the rounds working on changing people’s attitudes about the film. While it might be family-friendly (it’s rated PG-13) it does not play down to the kiddy audience is the message being repeated to anyone and everyone. The challenge is in making the movie seem edgy enough for teenagers but also accessible enough for parents with kids.

To do that they’re playing up the movie’s action as well as its humor. Initial test screenings show they’re being at least partially successful.

What’s interesting is the quote by the studio executive in the story that director Bay will work on bringing in the teenagers but producer Steven Spielberg’s attachement may work on bringing in younger kids. What Spielberg has he been watching lately? I’m not saying everything the director has done lately has been a hit but I don’t think he’s made a movie that has flat-out kid appeal since 1993′s Jurassic Park. Spielberg now is not the same director as the one who made Hook. Time to update the demographic thinking.