'Transformers' Helps Make 2009 Biggest Summer Ever

It was the biggest summer in Hollywood history, a combination of massive blockbusters, a monster surprise hit, slightly higher average ticket prices, and tons of options. Leading the way was Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which sits now at $399 million. Internationally - although that's not counted in these figures - Transformers is the second-biggest film of the summer, behind Harry Potter. The total revenue through this weekend was $4.17 billion, .01 billion (or $10 million) above last year. Of course, there was no Dark Knight this summer, but IMAX sales, 3-D ticket prices, and a small amount of inflation makes up that difference and then some. Potter finished the summer in second place domestically, about five million bucks ahead of Up, which has yet to get really going overseas. The Hangover was the number four movie of the summer, as well as being the third-biggest R-rated movie ever made. Nobody saw that coming. The number outright flops was down, too. Angels & Demons, Terminator Salvation, Land of the Lost, Public Enemies, and G.I. Joe are the only $100 million-plus budgeted movies to not at least earn that much money in the states. However, the global numbers are solid enough for at least the first two. Contrary to director Stephen Sommers' crowing about Joe after it had been in theaters in three days, it still has a way to go to be a hit. Is it profitable? Yeah, but so is The Hurt Locker, and it only made $11 million. You don't greenlight $175 million movies to clear $50 million before DVD sales. Here are the top ten movies of the summer, and by comparison, what we thought would top the charts back in late April: 1 - Transformers ($399 million)
2 - Harry Potter ($294 million)
3 - Up ($289 million)
4 - The Hangover ($270 million)
5 - Star Trek ($256 million)
6 - Ice Age ($193 million)
7 - Wolverine ($180 million)
8 - Night at the Museum ($176 million)
9 - The Proposal ($160 million)
10- Angels & Demons ($133 million)
Our predictions: 1 - Transformers ($342 million)
2 - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ($309 million)
3 - Star Trek ($277 million)
4 - Up ($270 million)
5 - Wolverine ($255 million)
6 - Terminator Salvation ($235 million)
7 - Angels & Demons ($220 million)
8 - Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian ($210 million)
9 - Ice Age ($190 million)
10- Bruno - $145 million

Comments

[lisa]

UP > all of those other movies.

[Vince]

You know what film doesn't get nearly as much credit- "The Proposal". It had far less hype than other would-be female-driven hits such as "The Devil Wears Prada" and "Sex and the City" and yet it surpassed them all, especially considering its small (but by no means insubstantial) opening.

This summer was disappointing to me though. I felt that the summer blew its wad right after "The Hangover" was released. Granted, great films have come since then ( "500 Days of Summer" and the double-whammy of "District 9" and "Inglourious Basterds) but it felt that last year had so many EVENT pictures for me to look forward to, regardless if they disappointed.

[Get The Big Picture]

I agree about The Proposal. It was actually a serviceable romantic comedy, powered by very good chemistry between Reynolds and Bullock. I hadn't realized that it did better than those other movies you mentioned, though.

Now, the flipside is that there wasn't a romantic comedy until then all summer and not another for about a month later. That didn't hurt.

[lisa]

500 Days of Summer was great! I think I'm the only person on earth who actually liked Angels & Demons. Probably because Pierfrancesco Favino was in it. LOVE that guy! And I had no idea Ice Age 3 made that much money. Wow.

[Get The Big Picture]

Oh, Ice Age 3 is the biggest animated movie ever, if you just count foreign markets. Pretty amazing.

[Honz Brix]

I'm constantly watching the numbers daily and i still can't believe what the hangover accomplished this year. It's budget is reported at somewhere around $35 million and it has brought in $270 million in the states alone. It still has alot of markets internationally to open in and its somewhere around $430million worldwide. That just blows my mind! This weekend was its 13th weekend out and it dropped only 9% from last weekend. It didn't drop below $1 million until its 53rd day. Compare that to The Dark Knight's 1st day below $1 million which came on its 41st day. This has to be one of the best holdovers for a movie of all time. I enjoyed every movie i saw this summer for the most part but this one i can't get over what it accomplished.

[Get The Big Picture]

Well, that's the reason it's done so well. For one thing, there weren't a lot of comedies, and there was no better comedy than The Hangover. And if you look at the percentage of the audience that paid to see it in the first two weekends, you're still only at 38% of all the revenue. Transformers? 73% through the first two weekends.

Movies aren't supposed to have legs for three months, which The Hangover has very nearly accomplished. It will drop out of the top fifteen this week (marking its 90th day), but the system is much more about the first week, then the second and third weeks, and then maybe five weeks after that. To go this long this well is really rare.

[Orinn]

Transformers made more then Star trek...then all those good movies.....I hate people.
I really really do.

I'm curious now what movie made the most profit compared to its budget? I dont just mean this summer I mean all time.