Movies

‘Transformers’ and ‘Friday the 13th’ Share a Weird Universe Connection

Published

7 years ago

June 26, 2017

Michael Bay directed one and produced the other. But it goes deeper than that.

With Transformers: The Last Knight now out in theaters, I was reminded of something over the weekend that I had been meaning to look into for a while now. The latest Michael Bay-directed film is the fifth in the franchise that kicked off back in 2007, just two years before Bay’s Platinum Dunes remade Friday the 13th. But what do the two universes have in common, aside from Bay being creatively connected to both of them?

Oddly enough, actor Travis Van Winkle links the two in an unexpected way!

Van Winkle appeared in Transformers as Trent DeMarco, the character perfectly described on Wikipedia as “the stereotypical jock: he’s on the football team, has big arms and washboard abs, a sweet ride, a smokin’ hot girlfriend, and he hates nerds.” At the start of the film, DeMarco is the boyfriend of Megan Fox’s Mikaela Banes, though he’s dumped by her when she finally catches on that he’s, well, the biggest douche in school.

Trent exits the film after Mikaela leaves him.

Cut to two years later.

In the Friday the 13th remake, directed by Marcus Nispel, Travis Van Winkle plays one of the douchiest characters in the franchise’s history. He’s a self-obsessed asshole who ends up cheating on his girlfriend with her best friend. His character’s name? Trent, described as “a snobbish rich kid who loves to show off his wealth.”

And get this. As if it wasn’t already clear (he even drives virtually the same vehicle), IMDb notes that the character’s full name in Friday the 13th is, you guessed it, Trent DeMarco!

Yes, Travis Van Winkle played the same exact character in Friday the 13th as he did in Transformers; the horror remake reveals that Trent was killed by Jason Voorhees just a couple years after Mikaela dumped his sorry ass!

Now I’m not going to pretend that this means Jason Voorhees exists in the same universe as the Autobots and Decepticons, as it’s really just a fun connection between two Michael Bay films, but there is something undeniably amazing and amusing about a character we hated in Transformers being killed within the Friday the 13th universe.

That’s Jason for ya. Righting the world’s wrongs, one asshole at a time.

John Squires

Writer in the horror community since 2008. Editor in Chief of Bloody Disgusting. Owns Eli Roth's prop corpse from Piranha 3D. Has four awesome cats. Still plays with toys.

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Movies

‘Rosemary’s Baby’ Prequel ‘Apartment 7A’ from ‘Relic’ Director Heads to Paramount+ This Halloween

Published

1 hour ago

April 26, 2024

Meagan Navarro

Get ready to revisit the Bramford apartment building this Fall. Paramount+ today announced that the all-new original film set before Rosemary’s Baby, Apartment 7A, will premiere this Halloween season exclusively on the streaming service.

Set in 1965 New York City, the film tells the story prior to the horror classic Rosemary’s Baby, exploring what happened in the apartment before Rosemary Woodhouse moved in.

Our first look image gives a closer peek at the Bramford. Check it out above.

Directed by Relic filmmaker Natalie Erika James, the film stars Julia Garner (Ozark, Wolf Man), Dianne Wiest (Mayor of Kingstown), Jim Sturgess (Across the Universe) and Kevin McNally (Pirates of the Caribbean film series). Additional supporting cast includes Marli Siu (Anna and the Apocalypse), Andrew Buchan (All the Money in the World), Rosy McEwen (Blue Jean) and Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (Wonka).

In Apartment 7A, “When a struggling, young dancer (Garner) suffers a devastating injury, she finds herself drawn in by dark forces when a peculiar, well-connected, older couple promises her a shot at fame.”

“Apartment 7A is the perfect way to kick off the Halloween season,” said Jeff Grossman, Executive Vice President, Programming, Paramount+. “Director Natalie Erika James and the prodigious creative team have crafted a chilling and clever new entry into the genre.”

The psychological thriller is a Paramount+ original movie in association with Paramount Pictures and is based on the novel Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin. Directed by James, with a screen story by Skylar James and a script by Natalie Erika James & Christian White and Skylar James, the film is executive produced by Vicki Dee Rock and Alexa Ginsburg, and is produced by John Krasinski, Allyson Seeger, p.g.a, Michael Bay, Andrew Form, p.g.a, and Brad Fuller.

While Paramount+ hasn’t announced the official debut date just yet, expect Apartment 7A to arrive just in time for Halloween as part of the streamer’s Peak Screaming collection that offers a broad and popular lineup of new originals, fan-favorite horror movies and iconic Halloween episodes from beloved series.