Singapore opens world's 1st Transformers ride at Universal Studios

By Imelda Saad, Channel NewsAsia, 2 Dec 2011 

The world's first theme park attraction based on the Transformers franchise opened at Universal Studios Singapore on Friday (2 Dec).

And appearing alongside the Autobots was director-producer, Michael Bay, who did not rule out the possibility of another Transformers sequel.

Mr Bay made a grand entrance in a 2010 edition of the Chevrolet Camaro, which is the same car featured in the Transformers film franchise.

With a touch of the Allspark - the life force of the robots - TRANSFORMERS The Ride officially opened after nearly four years in the making.

Standing nearly three metres tall, Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots, and the much loved Bumblebee are undoubtedly the star attractions.

The latest attraction promises to bring the ultimate 3-D battle between the Autobots and Decepticons with groundbreaking visual effects by Industrial Light & Magic, a division of Lucasfilm.

It is also one of the most expensive rides at Universal Studios Singapore with Mr Bay lending his creative input on its development.

He said the process was similar to directing a movie, only with a ride element thrown in.

Mr Bay said: "I tried to help them sculpt the story and figure out what type of shots we'd like to do, what type of characters we can use. They also had some great ideas.....on how the simulators work, how it mixed with the photography and the shots that we need."

Transformers fans will get to ride inside a never-before featured Autobot called EVAC and whizz through tunnels, cityscapes and across rooftops.

With the opening of the new attraction, Universal Studios is expecting to rake in its highest attendance in December. It did not disclose any figures.

The same ride will make its debut at Universal Studios Hollywood by May next year.

For fans wanting to catch these fighting machines on another big-screen adventure, Mr Bay did not rule out another sequel.

Mr Bay: "How did I know someone's going to ask me this question today? We're talking about it, but there's nothing right now. I'm going to do a tiny movie first, then we'll talk about it, if I potentially do it."

He added that if he is to produce another Transformers movie, it will feature the latest in cinema technology.