It has only been three short years since the Transformers blazed into theaters with 2011's "Dark of the Moon," but don't let that fool you into thinking this franschsie has no legs. This weekend, the Hasbro toy giant partners again with visionary director Michael Bay to launch a military-style strike on multiplexes the world over with the latest release in the franchise, "Transformers: Age of Extinction." And after making $8.8 million in overnight screenings alone, The Hollywood Reporter's number crunchers are seeing nothing but green on this first official weeked of summer.
Shia LeBeouf has gotten the proverbial boot from the first trilogy and was replaced by big-time A-lister Mark Wahlberg for this movie. On top of the $8.8 million already made by "Extinction" during late Thursday and early Friday showings, the blockbuster is headed into over 4,200 screens this weekend, with 353 of those being deluxe IMAX format theaters. Those IMAX format screenings offer a bigger screen and a much bigger price tag for tickets.
Box office prognosticators have estimated the film's weekend gross to be closing in on the $100 million dollar range, but with very little competition in its way, "Transformers" could have a record weekend. It should squarely blow the year's biggest domestic opening weekend from "Captan America: The Winter Soldier" ($95 million) out of the water on the way towards a monstrous global gross come Sunday night. While some argue the validity of a film's blockbuster status by its opening weekend alone, "Transformers" movies have been known to have legs. There is still a huge audience for this series that will see the movie once, twice or even three times over the coming months.
However, critics are lambasting the sequel with a paltry 17% (so far) score from cumulative professional reviews the world over on Rotten Tomatoes. That being said, besides die hards of the franchise, this low total cumulative score from critics may be a warning sign for those on the fence about seeing the film. Still, it is impossible to overlook the "Transformers" brand awareness that will get moviegoers in the seats, no matter if it was Certified Fresh or not on RottenTomatoes.com. Make a "Transformers" movie, and like the baseball field in Iowa, "people will come."
