The Bumblebee is Back!

Bumblebee is Back...While midnight on Wednesday, June 24 marks the official opening of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the big box office numbers will roll in over the weekend. If presale ticket numbers and media hype are any indication, the second Transformers film could become the highest grossing film of the summer.

Strong ticket sales would be great exposure for General Motors. The company has several of its hottest new designs starring in the film. Director Michael Bay says the cars themselves become like celebrities, something he witnessed while shooting in a remote part of the Middle East. "Bumblebee is one of the most famous cars in the world," the director says. "Literally, we're in this poor little town in Jordan, and all these kids surrounded (the car). They all knew Bumblebee's name."

Last night, a sneak peak screening gave select movie goers at Novi's Emagine theatre the chance to see the film and test drive new Camaros before and after the film. Feedback for both the movie and for the chance GM provided to test drive Camaros was excellent. Lines to experience the car persisted for some time after the movie. Similar grassroots level marketing efforts have taken place at theatre's across the country.

Camaro – Big Debut Not Just on the Silver Screen... The first Transformers movie introduced the world to Bumblebee (as a Camaro) while the car was still in development. This time around, people can leave the theatre and go order one of their own.

A total of about 67 GM vehicle were used in the film. Of those provided by GM, the vast majority were non-salable vehicles - the type used for testing or other activities. According to Adam Denison of Chevrolet Communications, before a single 2010 Chevrolet Camaro had been sold, General Motors had a list of 800,000 “hand-raisers” – people who said they're interested in buying the Camaro. Many of these came with the release of the Transformers DVD. GM today has counted over a million hand raisers expressing interest and has 25,000 sold orders. The company began allowing customers to place real deposits in October and had 14,000 preorders by spring - before a single Camaro had even rolled down the assembly line in Oshawa, Ontario. Most of those new owners are now glad they placed their bet on Chevrolet.

The car is such a hit, Camaros have been hard to find in showrooms initially. But fear not, because the GM plant making them in Oshawa is working overtime to fill demand and shipments are arriving to dealerships each day - some in true celebrity style. Just receiving the deliveries is becoming an exciting event.

GM...The global company that's Proud to be America!