This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
You might say that Utah hasn't had the best of luck with the blockbuster movies that have been filmed or partially filmed here.
The first big summer movie that was shot entirely here was the horrendous flop, "John Carter," from a couple of years ago. Then last year, "The Lone Ranger" and "After Earth" were partially filmed here in Utah to take advantage of the state's grand landscape. Not just that they were stench-ridden films, but they bombed at the box office. Let's hope that ends that curse.
Now news has come out that a new blockbuster shot a week's worth of footage here in Utah last May — Michael Bay's "Transformers: Age of Extinction," the fourth in the series of rock-em, sock-em robot movies based on the line of toys.
Marshall Moore, executive director of the Utah Film Commission, said the film crew slipped in, shot the scenes, and were out before anyone noticed. The film company did not get any tax rebates for shooting here.
Unlike those three other movies, "Transformers" will probably not be a box office bomb. But whether it will be a good movie, well . . .
If you drop by the Utah Film Commission's Sundance digs on the bottom of Main Street in Park City during the festival, you can pick up a copy of FilmUtah magazine, which has photos of the shoot.
— Vince Horiuchi