Reuteres reports that Transformers is the top selling DVD of 2007 with sales of 13.7 million units (per Home Media Magazine market research and the Redhill Group). The top five in sales for 2007 are as follows:

#1 - Transformers - 13.7 million units
#2 - Happy Feet - 13.5 million units.
#3 - Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End - 13.2 million units
#4 - 300 - 12.9 million units
#5 - Shrek the Third - 12.2 million units

In what could be the final blow in the high-definition format wars, Paramount is set to drop its support of the HD-DVD format. Warner Bros. studio has recently said they would back the Blu-ray competing format and according to a Reuters report, Paramount has a clause in its deal that would allow the studio out should Warner Bros. side with Blu-ray. Read on below to discuss!

EDIT: A spokesperson for Paramount has denied this report and stated the studio will continue to support HD-DVD for now. We at TFW2005 will keep you abreast of the latest developments. Thanks to RobotoChan for pointing us to the updated story from bloomberg.com.

IESB.net has posted an interview with Lorenzo di Bonaventura regarding his role as a producer of the upcoming G.I. Joe live-action movie. Towards the end of the interview, they did ask him about the filming status of Transformers 2 as he serves as a producer. Lorenzo stated that filming is currently scheduled to start on June 2, 2008. Filming is dependent upon resolution of the writer’s strike, as they current have a very fine outline to work off of but no complete screenplay. He also states that director Michael Bay has already designed “stuff” already and that he has quite a few great sequences imagined. Lorenzo also reiterates Michael Bay’s previous statement that Transformers 2 will deliver a bigger experience.

Transformers has made it from a field of 15 contenders to the final “bakeoff” of seven films that on Jan. 16 will be narrowed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences visual effects branch to three nominees for the Best Visual Effects Oscar. To see the other six semifinalists and discuss, read on below!

In a somewhat dubious honor, the filesharing news blog TorrentFreak has compiled a list of most pirated movies and TV shows for 2007. According to a representative sample from one torrent site, “Transformers” topped the movie list for last year. While we at TFW2005 absolutely do not condone piracy, this news can be discussed at the following link.

In an article regarding Paramount Studios’ change in fortune in 2007, Hollywood trade paper The Hollywood Reporter mentions that the Transformers movie sequel is “as-yet-unslotted”. Up until this report, the release date has consistently been reported as June 26, 2009. It is unknown is this unslotted report is an error on the part of this Hollywood trade paper or if information regarding a delay due to the writers’ strike has been leaked. No official word has been given by the studio or those tied to the movie.

A wonderful news tidbit has been given to us in Michael Bay’s New Years Message:

I want to thank Nelson for running such a good site!
For the millions of viewers that logged on this year I want to thank you for the support. Transformers 2 will be coming soon. The new robots are really really unique and there are a lot of them this time.
I WANT EVERYONE TO HAVE A GREAT HAPPY HEALTHY NEW YEAR.
Your friend,
Michael

Thumbs Up, home of the light-up Transformers shirts, now have more neat Transformers accessories available for purchase in the United Kingdom. Available now are two different styles of USB Flash Drives, at both 1 Gigabyte and 2 Gigabytes. The two styles are the Autobot Insignia and Decepticon Insignia. Each flash drive comes with a lanyard as well, which is all sold in blister packaging. The 1GB drives sell for £19.99, while the 2GB drives will sell for £29.99.

TF Mosaic, a fanfic-based comic strip, that has been featured on IDW Publishing’s discussion forums has announced via an interview on Newsarama that the one-page comic strip will be printed in one IDW Transformers title per month, starting with the release of Devastation Issue #2 later this month. The interview with the strip creators, Josh van Reyk and Shaun Knowler, also announces guest writers and artists such as Simon Furman, Eric Holmes, and Robby Musso. The article also features information on how the strip was originally conceived and also details how the interaction with IDW and Hasbro has been.

Hints of the final two figures of the Collector’s Club combiner have appeared in the latest issue of the Collector’s Club magazine.

An image in the Classics comic “Crossing Over” depicts the final limb of the combiner to be the Stormcloud/Blackout mold and the torso to be that of Barricade from the Energon line.

The images do not hint at any remolds done to the torso figure which was rumored to happen.

Check out the latest issue of the Collector’s Club magazine for the hints!