Transformers 2 in the Valley

A scene from the set taken by Michael Kubel of The Morning Call.

Welp, there’s been a lot of excitement in the city of Bethlehem and the greater Lehigh Valley over the past week or so. Movie crews rolled in late last week to begin assembling sets at the old Bethlehem Steel Plant to prepare for the filming of Transformers 2. Yup, the opening scene to the Transformers sequel features Bethlehem, which has been transformed to look like a Chinese city. Still, it’s pretty cool (full Morning Call story).

Filming was scheduled Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday from 4 PM-7AM. Unwilling to fight rush hour traffic or burn the midnight oil to see the spectacular pyrotechnic explosions, I stayed home and read about it in the paper. I mean, maybe if I could have pushed a few buttons to actually blow stuff up or share an Egg McMuffin with Michael Bay…yeah, I would have show up for that.

Filming was a bit hindered by rain and thunderstorms. Despite the weather, Bay and his crew got all the footage needed and are now moving on to their next location. Still, it was an exciting event for the Lehigh Valley and a bit more positive than Billy Joel’s song, “Allentown” and Alexis Cohen’s “American Idol” audition.