Haters gonna hate.
Michael Bay could care less about those who hate Transformers: Age of Extinction. As he told MTV, “they’re still going to see the movie.” And wouldn’t you know it, Bay was right. The general populace don’t care what uppity critics (hey I’m not uppity) have to say about yet another Transformers. They probably don’t check aggregate sites likes Rotten Tomatoes (where it has a 17% approval rating – 21 Fresh Reviews v 103 Rotten) or Metacritic (31/100 rating). It’s not like the critics got together in a show of unity to save everyone time and money over the weekend, but it sort of felt like it. When you have a friend who never participates in voting the worst film of the year for his critics organization but will make an exception this year for Trans4mers (or as he called it in his review, “F-U: The Movie”), you know it’s bad. Regardless, it still made $100 Million playing at more than 4200 locations.
Not only did Age of Extinction become the first film of 2014 to crack $100 million its opening weekend, it was the first to do so in a pathetic summer line-up where each week is a game of Pac-Man with one big release gobbling up the ones that preceded it the week prior. This summer only one film has repeated atop of the list: X-Men: Days of Future Past. Such a far cry compared to what we got back in 1984, where you would have Ghostbusters and Gremlins open opposite each other and dominate a summer that also included Star Trek III, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Purple Rain, The Natural, Revenge of the Nerds, and The Karate Kid. I would kill for a summer lineup like that nowadays. For those that don’t you can expect Transformers 5 by summer 2016.
Though it had a monster opening abroad with $201 million, including $90 million from China, the true test is if audiences will continue to show up in droves. Transformers: Dark of the Moon grossed $1.123 billion in 2011 (7th highest grossing film of all time). While on film in the series has grossed less than $700m worldwide, methinks that Age of Extinction won’t cross the billion dollar threshold. A weekend total of $301 million debut would suggest this is doable, and if it does it would mean that the globalization of crappy films is in full bloom. It must, since international totals usually account for 66% of total box office for blockbuster titles.
Outside of the top spot, Sony’s 22 Jump Street is sustaining second position quite well for consecutive weeks and has amassed a global total of $194.1 million. Currently at $140 million in the U.S., reaching $160+ million should be an obtainable goal. Also holding steady after a rocky start was the DreamWorks Animation/20th Century Fox release How to Train Your Dragon 2 ($122m in three weeks).
Unlike the steady performance of 22 Jump Street, Sony’s other comedy in theaters, Think Like a Man Too plummeted to fourth after opening in first last weekend. Angelina Jolie is still spellbinding audiences with Maleficent. The alternative look at Sleeping Beauty cracked $200 million domestically. Comparatively, the fantasy has bypassed Godzilla (which dropped out of the top ten) in five weeks, whereas that monster movie has been around for two months and has yet to reach the $200m plateau. Clint Eastwood’s Jersey Boys, though a lost cost venture for Warner Bros. (only $40m compared to Edge of Tomorrow‘s $178m), is far from a box office success. Still, it would seem that the over-50 crowd is attending.
Speaking of EoT, it is starting to develop a growth spurt after opening soft. In its fourth week it has reached $84m. If it continues at this pace, $100m is a possibility. Worldwide it is at $300m or, what Age of Extinction did in three days. Ouch. Sorry, Tom.
Rounding out the list we have The Fault in Our Stars with $4.8m, X-Men: Days of Future Past (which has crossed $700m globally), and Jon Favreau’s Chef, which again had the best hold of any film in the top 10.
In limited release, there are two great titles worth seeking out. Snowpiercer from South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-Ho opened with an estimated $162,100 from 8 locations ($20,263 per screen average). Begin Again from Once filmmaker John Carney did even better at five venues with $148,000 ($29,600 psa).
01. Transformers: Age of Extinction – $100 Million
02. 22 Jump Street – $15.4 Million ($139.8 Million)
03. How to Train Your Dragon 2 – $13.1 Million ($121.8 Million)
04. Think Like a Man Too – $10.4 Million ($48.1 Million)
05. Maleficent – $8.2 Million ($201.8 Million)
06. Jersey Boys – $7.6 Million ($27.3 Million)
07. Edge of Tomorrow – $5.2 Million ($84.1 Million)
08. The Fault in Our Stars – $4.8 Million ($109.5 Million)
09. X-Men: Days of Future Past – $3.3 Million ($223.4 Million)
10. Chef – $1.65 Million ($19.4 Million)
