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Transformers 3 Breaks 4th Of July Box Office Record
From Boxofficemojo.com:
Weekend Report: ‘Transformers’ Claims Independence Gross Record
This weekend, Transformers: Dark of the Moon dominated the box office with an estimated $97.4 million on approximately 9,300 screens at 4,013 locations. In the process, the robo-threequel rocked the Independence Day weekend gross record, eclipsing Spider-Man 2′s $88.2 million, and socked Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides for the top-grossing weekend crown of 2011 so far. The Friday-to-Sunday opening salvos of Transformers and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen were $70.5 million and $109 million, respectively.
Transformers 3 Hits $372 Million Globally
Photo by Robert Zuckerman
THR:
Paramount’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon has transformed into the third best worldwide debut of all time, smashing records and grossing a whopping $372 million through Sunday.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince scored the best worldwide debut of all time in grossing $394 million, followed by Spider-Man 3 at $382 million.
With the actual July 4th holiday still to go, Michael Bay’s Dark of the Moon should finish Monday with a total opening gross of $405.8 million.
Domestically, Dark of the Moon’s gross through Sunday was $162 million. It’s expected to earn another $18.8 million Monday for a total domestic launch of $180.8 million.
TF3 DOTM Makes $79.4 Million Globally On Day 1
Paramount’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon is doing monster business overseas, where it is pacing 38 percent ahead of the last film in the franchise.
Dark of the Moon posted an opening day gross of $32.5 million at the international box office. Including Tuesday previews, the 3D tentpole has raked in $36.6 million off shore.
In North America, Dark of the Moon has grossed $42.8 million, bringing the tentpole’s global cume to $79.4 million in just over a day.
Source: THR
Articles
A few articles on Michael Bay out this week.
GQ
Blow-Up: An Oral History of Michael Bay, the Most Explosive Director of All Time
Variety
Michael Bay, seriously
AICN: The Action In This Film Is Truly Amazing Work.
From AICN:
“…but in this film – you’re going to see a dynamic to his action that is nothing short of jaw-dropping. I say “Jaw-Dropping” not with any sense of hyperbole – in the last hour of this film you’re going to see shit go down that will physically cause your jaw to drop. Hang open and perhaps end with a smile.”
HitFix: Michael Bay Delivers The Best Action Of His Career To Close The Trilogy
From HitFix:
The Decepticons are way nastier in this one, and so when Optimus Prime and the Autobots unleash hell… AND THEY DO… it is so deserved and so worthy of one cheer after another that it almost becomes audience participation.
I’ve seen the film in a regular 3D theater, and in an IMAX presentation, and they are very different experiences. In the regular 3D theater, the FX work looks pretty much flawless, and you can take in the entire widescreen frame at once. In the IMAX theater, you can see every single seam in the work (there aren’t many), but you can also get totally lost in the frame. It’s a great way to really look at the details of what ILM and Digital Domain did, and I cant say I’ve ever really felt a sound mix more viscerally. But if you’re considering sitting this out for a 2D version, don’t. Really. This is a meticulously designed 3D experience, and Bay impresses often and in a real-world setting that makes this more surreal than “Avatar” in many ways. It’s so strange to see a city as recognizable as Chicago take this sort of beating, and it’s a reminder that many movies try to find cheap and generic solutions to their third acts, something you can’t accuse this one of doing.
The Sun UK Review
The first movie was great but the sequel, with it’s ridiculous robot heaven, was not. A disappointing sequel? No surprise there. What was surprising was both star Shia LeBeouf and director Michael Bay admitting afterwards that they “dropped the ball” and promising to make amends with part 3. Well time heals all wounds - and two years on they’ve seriously made amends.
This is epic in every sense of the word. The scale, the action even the humor have been raised to a level that surpasses not just the sequel but the first film too, without doubt they saved the best till last.
An opening battle on the robots home planet of Cybertron shows off the most impressive 3D since Avatar - this was actually filmed in 3D, not another rip-off conversion - and brings back happy memories of Star Wars as a spaceship darts down tunnels of what is basically the Death Star.
Soon we’re back in the present day where Sam (LeBeouf - on funny form) is shacked up with new girlfriend Carly (Rosie Huntingdon-Whiteley). It’s the stunning Victoria’s Secret model who replaces Megan Fox as the love interest after the star was famously fired for comparing Michael Bay to Hitler. Fox’s old character is referenced just once when a robot announces, “She was mean. I didn’t like her”.
If you like your action BIG, then this is the must see movie of the summer. While part 2 got caught up in mystical nonsense, here the plot is simple, Autobots vs. Decepticons for control of earth. With that in mind, Michael Bay returns to his favorite stomping ground of the freeway chase - and outdoes both his own Bad Boys 2 and The Island - before settling into the hour-long action-apocalypse of a climax.
As the robots - including a giant metal robo-snake that crushes skyscrapers- lay waste to Chicago, the film comes good on it’s promise of a human body count. Entire crowds of people are vaporized -War of the Worlds style - by killer flying machines, it’s basically what the last two Terminator movies should have been. Also adding to the darker tone is the fact that now the Transformers themselves ‘bleed’ when injured, shooting out a red liquid (Engine oil? Brake Fluid?). There’s no disguising it: this is spectacular.
Thank You Note From Michael Bay
I just want to take the opportunity to thank all the fans around the world for letting me have fun with the Transformers franchise. It has been a wonderful opportunity to have worked with about 4000 crew members around the world. These artists are some of the very best in the entire film business. I’m honored to have had you work along side me. We had an amazing time.
‘Dark of the Moon’ has some of the most technically challenging sequences ever shot. And shot in 3D. I must urge you to find the very best theatre and see this movie in that format. 3D was a forethought, not an afterthought in this movie. I’m glad Jim Cameron and Steven Spielberg really convinced me to shoot in this new technology. We used and invented many new techniques to make the 3D sharper, brighter and more color contrast. I think theatre owners heard their audience that they need to respect the specs of the projectors and not dim the bulbs to save money.
Many theaters are presenting it in the brand new 7.1 sound, which is awesome. This is the most complex, intricate sound track that me and my Academy Awarding winning sound team have done. They really out did themselves to make this a big picture experience. Hopefully you will have as much fun watching this movie as we all had making it.
Thanks,
Michael Bay
Transformers: Dark of the Moon Moscow Premiere and Live Linkin Park Concert Video
Click on the image below to watch the video.
Michael Bay Talks DOTM
Michael Bay speaks to the Orange County Register:
A. We have finally reached the stage where you can do anything you can think of. You can make anything believable. And the 3-D really elevates this movie.
Q. There are studio types who insist that this film could single-handedly revitalize the entire 3-D field.
A. Listen, there are a lot of movies that have done it very poorly. They abused the technology, and it’s a shame. We have devoted a ton of money and a ton of time to make a very good 3-D movie. The entire movie was designed as a 3-D movie. It wasn’t an after-thought. People who believe that action is bad in 3-D are 100 percent wrong when the 3-D is done correctly.
Q. How can we tell when it’s done correctly?
A. We actually can guide your eye to the action. You can see and feel more in 3-D. I like when the robots are in your space. Not every movie should be 3-D, but the size difference between the humans and robots makes it more effective.
