"Major media promotions can exceed $10 million," Fogelson said. "All of our media budgets are under pressure, and having substantial media money coming from a promotional partner can reduce the sheer amount of dollars you spend."
Still, Paramount, which spent some $180 million to produce "Transformers," will lay out more than $150 million to market and distribute the film.
The studio has other major tie-in deals for the sequel, including Burger King, wireless phone company LG Mobile, retailer Kmart and a yet-to-be-announced candy company and convenience store chain -- all footing extensive media buys.
"Our marketing partnership campaign on this movie is already bigger than the first 'Transformers' with or without GM," said LeeAnne Stables, Paramount's executive vice president of worldwide marketing partnerships.
On the original film, Paramount had five partners: GM, Mountain Dew, Burger King, EBay and Kraft, which collectively spent more than $40 million on TV, print, radio and online advertising.
"The reason we do these partnerships is not to defray our media spending," Stables said. "It's like a delicious gravy on top of the studio's marketing campaign that connects us to audiences in places traditional media can't buy -- like inside a car dealership or Burger King."
Given the huge success of the first "Transformers" -- the sales of $708 million in tickets worldwide and 14 million DVDs in the U.S. -- the loss of GM's ad dollars may not affect the box-office sales of the sequel because it is largely "pre-sold" to audiences. Nonetheless, the pullback may hurt the studio's chances of reaching out to car buffs it might not otherwise reach through ordinary marketing.
In the upcoming DreamWorks-produced film, starring Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox, five of Chevy's cars are characters -- including the one known as "Bumblebee" -- known as Autobots, which are good robots battling evil Decepticons bent on avenging the universe.
Officials from GM said the company's financial crisis prompted a change in plans. For 2007's "Transformers," GM backed a massive tie-in campaign, which even included TV commercials directed by Bay.
"We've pulled back on all of our marketing and advertising for obvious reasons, and spending is down dramatically," said Terry Rhadigan, communications director for Chevrolet, GM's biggest division. "It stands to reason that 'Transformers' would fall under that umbrella."
