Sunday
28Jun2009
Box Office - 'Transformers' = $201 Million
Sunday, June 28, 2009 at 10:47AM
Here's a surprising number: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen had a better per-screen average in its first five days than The Dark Knight, and nearly outgrossed it dollar for dollar. According to the latest estimates from Box Office Mojo, which could change slightly when the actual totals are calculated, Transformers made $201 million from Wednesday to Sunday, only two million shy of the record set last July.
1 - Transformers ($112 million, $201 million five-day total)
2 - The Proposal ($18.5 million)
3 - The Hangover ($17.2 million)
4 - Up ($13 million)
5 - My Sister's Keeper ($12 million)
1 - Transformers ($112 million, $201 million five-day total)
2 - The Proposal ($18.5 million)
3 - The Hangover ($17.2 million)
4 - Up ($13 million)
5 - My Sister's Keeper ($12 million)
Colin Boyd | Permalink | in Box Office, Transformers | Print Article | Email Article | 8 Comments | Share Article
Reader Comments (8)
The traditional weekend wasn't even close to The Dark Knight
Given the lack of any serious competition, Transformers should carry top spot through next week. The new Ice Age will probably steal away some tickets and more I think than Public Enemies when they land July 1st. The only other potential wave maker for the summer is Harry Potter and it'll be interesting to see how far Transformers has fallen by then.
No, the Friday through Sunday numbers weren't anywhere near The Dark Knight, however, since it had already made $90 million before the weekend, the fact that it crossed $100 million in days three, four, and five is roundly impressive.
I think it's got at least another week on top. I doubt Bruno is going to do a Hangover-like $45 million the following weekend, but if it does, that would topple Transformers. The big difference between this one and The Dark Knight is the release date. July 15th is much better over the long haul than June 30th, simply because August sucks so much.
Well, I agree with Colin that if this were to open on Friday instead of Wednesday, this movie very well may have beaten Dark Knight's record-setting weekend last summer. I would definitely say that $201 million over the first five definitely shows the propensity for a crowd-pleaser despite poor reviews. The fans seem to be attracted to these movies, and I think a word called "fun" is the main factor. Keep it up Transformers!!
TRANSFORMERS REVENGE OF THE FALLEN WAS LOUD, AWESOME, AND FUN.
WILL SEE AGAIN AND AGAIN.
I still stand by the idea that Transformers will fall next weekend.
Look at it this way, "Ice Age" will make at the very least $40-50 million next weekend (and that's with the Wednesday opening blowing off demand), and "Public Enemies" will do about high-20s to mid-30s (or even low 40s if it really takes off- the adult audiences hasn't been too well served this summer). So thats about $70-80 million dollars of business gone from Transformers (albeit more indirectly).
"The Dark Knight" still dropped 55% with spectacular word of mouth the weekend after it opened, and that's includes the fact that the two biggest opening movies that week only took about $40 million worth of tickets. So with two more eye-catching, crowd pleasing movies releasing next week, Transformers will have to hold extremely well to take them on. I'm not feeling it unfortunately.
Public Enemies probably won't take off. I wish it would, but I didn't even think it had much more bang than $100 million before I saw it and having seen it, it is not a must-see event. I've maintained all along this is a late September/early October movie. It'll do OK, but it won't steal too much from Transformers.
The other Ice Age movies weren't released in the summer, so that's kind of a man among boys scenario when looking at its history. I mean, the second one made Up money its opening weekend. Don't think that'll happen in July, although your number of $40 - $50 million feels about right. $70 million, however, I don't think is possible. Keep in mind, it is a holiday weekend, so families will be doing all sorts of family things, not just going to the movies. That doesn't impact Transformers nearly as much.
We'll have to see the actual figures on Transformers for this weekend, but based on the estimates, it doesn't look like the audience went anywhere over the course of five days. It's pretty strong straight through the weekend. In terms of percentages, the Sunday drops were much better than those same days for Star Trek and Iron Man in their third days, so even if it does drop 55%, you're still looking at over $50 million.
Again, Bruno has a chance on July 10th, but he'd have to rocket past $30 million himself. It should be able to do that, but comedy is always harder to predict.
All I can say with any degree of certainty is that by the time Harry Potter opens, it will already be well past $300 million, possibly in the $335 - $350 million range. That's a healthy three weeks.
Yeah, again, I completely agree with Colin on his prediction of Transformers staying on top until maybe Bruno or Harry Potter. My only issue is with what Vince said about Dark Knight dropping 55% even with spectacular word of mouth. I'm not quite sure what this is implying but Transformers is having excellent word of mouth as well. I was just reading online last night about the studio doing exit polls of people leaving and reporting that 91% of people said it was at least as good as the first, if not better. I'd say that's very good word of mouth from a movie that is managing a whopping 21% on Rottentomatoes.com.
This is, as many people will imagine, going to be the highest grossing, poorly reviewed movie of all time. This might be the movie where critics and fans completely disagree. But because Ice Age is targeted at slightly younger audiences, and Public Enemies slightly higher, and, as Colin said, Public Enemies is not even a movie to drop things and go see, I also don't fell that Transformers will topple next weekend. In it's third week, probably, but next week, I see it making between $45-$55 million, which will give it enough to be close to the $300 million mark in just over two weeks. I'd say that's pretty impressive for a movie that did terribly in critical reviews.