Transformers 2 Brings in $28 Million on Thursday, Rolls On
Posted by John Cairns (jcairns@filmschoolrejects.com) on June 26, 2009
Well, today I’m writing this Reject Report in the aftermath of the absolute slaughter laid by Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen at the box office on Wednesday, to the tune of $60.6 million. That’s the all time Wednesday record by over $15 million, and the $16 million from midnight screenings in 3,000 theaters is also a Wednesday record. The two totals are also second in the overall single-day box office to The Dark Knight.
Not bad for a movie that is laying such a big egg with critics and audiences. I think it’s fair to say that a lot of the people who saw the movie Wednesday would say the $60.6 million spent on Transformers 2 was money well wasted. I’m a little surprised because only two movies that rolled out on a Wednesday have ever topped $40 million, and this one hit $60 million on a non-holiday midweek. Unbelievable.
As well, erc Box Office is reporting that the robot-filled sequel brought in another $28.6 million on Thursday, bringing its 2-day domestic total to $89.2 million.
It’ll be a very interesting next few days as we see whether the negative buzz factor has a significant impact on the box office. I doubt it — not until next week is my guess.
Actually, I don’t really have much to say right now about Transformers 2. I already stated that I thought the movie would rake in $95 million on the weekend, so I will stick by that prediction. I also feel confident that the flick will fall short of the five-day $203 million hauled in by The Dark Knight.
Really, though, there are more important things on the minds of people than the box office today, such as the deaths of both Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson on the same day. I’m still watching all the news coverage on TV as I’m writing this. So I’ll leave it at that for now about Transformers 2, and I’ll have much more to rant and rave about by Sunday when the final box office totals come in. It’s kind of unseemly to talk box office and records on a day when much more important events are going on in the entertainment world. Besides, Neil Miller has done a good job keeping you up to date with the breaking box office developments about the movie so far, so you don’t need me to repeat it here.
There are other movies rolling out this weekend, by the way. My Sister’s Keeper, a drama starring Alec Baldwin, Cameron Diaz and Abigail Breslin, rolls out in 2,600 theaters and should get something in the range of $11 million. It rolls out in theaters Friday. I suppose the movie was rolled out as counter-programming to some extent, but I think it will still get trampled by the Transformers 2 stampede in the short term.
Overall, the totals for the 3-day weekend are shaping up as follows — assuming my Transformers 2 prediction holds up (and keep in mind I was way off with my Wednesday guess):
- Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen $95 million ($184.2 million 5-day total)
- The Proposal $19 million
- The Hangover $17.5 million
- Up $16 million
- My Sister’s Keeper $11 million
- Year One $9 million
- The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 $6.5 million
- Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian $5 million
- Star Trek $4 million
- Land of the Lost $2.5 million
See you at the end of the weekend when I’ll be in more of a mood to rant and rave about Transformers 2 and how much money the flick made. For now, I’m going back to watching the sad Michael Jackson coverage on TV.
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