PRIME AD SPACE Optimus

Maybe it's appropriate for a movie based on a cartoon based on a line of action figures, but the live-action version of Transformers is shaping up to be the most product-placement-crammed Hollywood production since, well, Michael Bay's last flick. The noted brand-o-phile re-imagines the "robots in disguise" franchise's mythology in a way that provides convenient opportunities to plug Hasbro toys, General Motors cars, and all manner of consumer electronics.

According to a source who worked on the film, which opens in July, Transformers begins with a sequence set in the 19th century, in which Antarctic explorers discover Megatron, leader of the evil-robot army the Decepticons, frozen in the ice. The discovery provides the basis of all modern technology, leading to a bit of exposition in which such devices as the iPod and the Xbox 360 (both available at your local Best Buy!) are shown to be descended from Transformers.

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