Tonka: Infinite Ultimatum

Tonka: Infinite Ultimatum
Directed by	Marc Forster
Produced by	Michael Bay Stephen Sommers Lorenzo di Bonaventura
Screenplay by	Roberto Orci Alex Kurtzman Stuart Beattie Michael B. Gordon
Story by	Michael B. Gordon Roberto Orci Alex Kurtzman Marc Forster Stuart Beattie
Based on	Tonka by Hasbro
Starring	Pete L. J. Dickson Missy Peregrym Ben Bass Jason Statham Michelle Rodiguez Nicola Peltz Dwayne Johnson Cory Monteith
Music by	James Newton Howard
Editing by	Roger Barton Paul Rubell Bob Ducsay Jim May
Production company(s)	Platinum Dunces Spyglass Entertainment di Bonaventura Pictures Hasbro
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	August 5, 2009 (Premiere) August 7, 2009 (US)
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$141 million
Box office	$375 million

Tonka: Infinite Ultimatum is a 2009 American science fiction action film based on the Tonka toy line by Hasbro and video game series by Sega. The film is directed by Marc Forster, produced by Michael Bay, Stephen Sommers, Lorenzo di Bonaventura and written by . The film features an ensemble cast, starring Pete L. J. Dickson, Missy Peregrym, Nicola Petlz, Michelle Rodriguez, Dwayne Johnson, and Cory Monteith.

The film centers on the plot of Tonka Joe, his sister Suzy Sparks, their friends, Soda, and Blaze who join Tonka, an elite Military Delta Force callsign Tonka, that is partnered with alien robot trucks who can disguise themselves by transforming into everyday machinery (this was inspired by Transformers). Tonka employed both regular 70mm film cameras and specially-developed 3-D cameras. Shooting took place from May to November 2008, with locations in Hawaii, Toronto, Texas, New Mexico, and Jordan. The film was rendered specifically for 3-D, and the visual effects involved more complex robots which took longer to render. At the time of it's release, the film had made greater use of computer-generated imagery (CGI); it remains one of the few live-action/animated films to have been shot in anamorphic format.

Tonka: Infinte Ultimatum premiered at Calgary, Alberta, Canada's Telus science centre on August 5, 2009 and went into general release on August 7, distributed by Paramount Pictures. Exclusive early premieres in select 3-D and IMAX theaters took place August 6, 2009, one night before worldwide release in 2-D and 3-D (including IMAX 3D) formats—each featuring Dolby Surround 7.1 sound. Critical reception of the film was mostly mixed, with several critics praising the film's visuals and 3-D action sequences, but criticizing its writing, acting, and length. The film grossed US$375 million worldwide. A sequel, Tonka: Revelation, was released on June 5, 2015.

Plot

The film starts in 1961 during a late period of the Cold War. A marine named Thomas Blackstone (Robert Patrick) finds a group of intelligent mechanical vehicles which they dub themselves as Sentinel beings and learns about an on-going war between two forces from a planet called Volantis.

Fifty years later, weapons master Imran Lazaretto (Jason Statham) creates a powerful biological weapon called the FALL, a giant satellite capable of destroying an entire city with nanomites. The nanobots can only be stopped by activating the kill switch. His company M.I.K.E. (Military Industries Kinesis Electronics) sells four satellite warheads to NATO, and NATO troops led by American soldiers Joe (Pete L. J. Dickson), and his friends, Blaze (James Maslow) and Pops (Carlos Pena, Jr.) are tasked with delivering the warheads. Joe's older sister Suzy Sparks (Missy Peregrym) is a police officer of Toronto PD investigating a crime wave by a clan of unknown thieves. After her latest lead; a dock worker, refuses to give her information, she returns to the dock at night only to witness the unknown foes raiding the cargo containers. They are attacked by an unseen vigilante, which Suzy fails to capture on her phone's camera but notices a symbol left behind.

Joe, Blaze, and Pop's convoy is ambushed by the Raven (Nicola Peltz), whom Joe recognizes to be his ex-girlfriend Marie Miller. Joe, Blaze and Pops are then rescued by Tonka trucks Axle, Bolt, Dunes, Fins, Roach, and Ghost along with human allies Dirk, Twitch, E-Brakes and Zap and are taken back to Tonka headquarters in South Africa where they meet the rest of team;.

Cast

Tonka

• Pete L. J. Dickson as Tonka Joe (Joseph B. Blackstone), the lead teenager soldier and the main protagonist of the film. He believes a leader's place is with his friends, not behind the battle lines. Joe always puts his friends first before the objective.

• Missy Peregrym as Suzy Sparks (Susan M. Blackstone), Joe's 20 year old sister. She is driven by the desire to do the right thing even if it means not following procedure.

• James Maslow as Blaze (John S. Martin), Joe's handsome best friend and a pilot with a romantic interest in 'Niko'.

• Carlos Pena, Jr. as Soda (Michael A. Andrew), Joe and Blaze's weapon specialist best friend. Both Joe and Blaze nicknamed him Soda because of his hyper energetic behavior.

• Dwayne Johnson as Dirk (Shawn D. Dunn), an ordnance expert and field leader of the team. Dirk is willing to put his life on the line for his team.

• Miguel Ferrer as General Stone (Robert F. Brandon).

WAR

• Cory Monteith as WAR Colonel
• Nicola Peltz as
• Jason Statham as Destructor (Imran Lazarev)

Trucks

Tonka

• Kevin McKidd as Axle
• David Sobolov as Warlock

Production

Development

The idea of a film adaption of Tonka was conceived in January 2003 when Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Hasbro President and CEO Brian Goldner first lunched at a Mexican restaurant in Burbank, California. Don Murphy was originally offered a chance to part take in producing a film adaption, but turned down the offer as he was planning a G.I. Joe film adaptation, but when the United States launched the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, Hasbro suggested adapting the Transformers franchise instead.

Casting

Casting for the film first started in 2008, during the 2007-08 writer strike. Pete L. J. Dickson was cast as the role of Tonka Joe.

Filming

Tonka 's production cost was reported to cost $141 million, with the cost of the 3-D filming accounting at $10 million of the budget. Preparation for filming began on October 13, 2008 in Northwest Indiana. Principal photography commenced on May 8, 2008 in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Design

The filmmakers created the size of each robot with the size of their vehicle mode in mind, supporting the Transformer's rationale for their choice of disguise on Earth. The concept of traveling protoforms was developed by Roberto Orci when he wondered why "aliens who moonlight as vehicles need other vehicles to travel". This reflected a desire to move to a more alien look, away from the "blocky" Generation 1 Transformers.

Release

Infinite Ultimatum premiered at 

Cirtical reception

The film received generally mixed reviews from critics. Film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave Tonka a score of 57% based on 242 reviews. Metacritic, another review aggregator, gave the film a Metascore of 68/100, indicating "mixed or average reviews" from 107 critics.

Box office

Worldwide

Tonka: Infinite Ultimatum grossed $150,701,186 in North America and $225,095,801 internationally for a worldwide total of $375,796,987.

North America

The film opened in 3,085 theaters including a then-record total of 2,789 3D locations. It earned 4.4 million during Wednesday 9 p.m. showings, $7 million during midnight showings, and 26.5 million on its opening day (Friday) – including Thursday showings. On Saturday, it made 10,4 million. It grossed $22.0 million on Sunday totalling $95.8 million. Its 3D share accounted for 60% of its gross, which was atypical due to the downturn in 3D attendance in North America. For its three-day opening weekend (Friday-to-Sunday), it grossed $86.8 million, reaching number one at the box office. It achieved the fourth-largest opening weekend of 2011, and the fifth-largest opening weekend in August. Closing on November 3, 2009 with $150.7 million.

Outside North America

The film grossed $43.6 million on its opening day, pacing 49% ahead of Dark of the Moon. Including some early Thursday previews, it earned $47.7 million in one-and-a-half days, and by Thursday its overseas total reached $77 million. By the end of its first weekend, it had earned $320.9 million, which stands as the fourth-largest opening weekend of all time overseas and the largest for Paramount/DreamWorks. Its foreign launch was 68% ahead of that of Dark of the Moon ($219.8 million). 70% of its grosses came from 3-D (a higher 3-D share than Pirates 4's 66%). The film topped the box office outside North America for three weekends in a row.

Home Media

Tonka: Infinite Ultimatum was released on DVD and Blu-ray November 5, 2009. Both the DVD and Blu-ray disc gave the viewer the option of viewing the film either in its original theatrical 2.35:1 aspect ratio or a modified 1.33:1 ratio (utilizing pan and scan).

A Walmart exclusive edition of Tonka also was released on November 11, 2009. The PAL DVD and Blu-ray Discs of Tonka was released on November 28, 2009.

In North America, it sold 605,901 DVD units (equivalent of $10,710,186) in its first week, topping the weekly DVD chart. As of February 26, 2010 (2012-02-26), it has sold 1,084,175 DVD units (equivalent of $44,058,979). It also topped the Blu-ray charts on the same week and it has sold 1,981,996 Blu-ray units (earning $48,809,899) by November 13, 2009. The Blu-ray 3D release of the film was released on January 31, 2010.

Sequel

Main article: Tonka: Revelation

A sequel titled Tonka: Revelation, was released on June 5, 2015.