Four films in and the Transformers are still worth their weight in box office gold. You might expect fans to be tired of Michael Bay's formulaic, over-the-top explosion fests, but no. The latest entry in the franchise, "Transformers: Age of Extinction," opened Friday, June 27, 2014 (following midnight showings on Thursday), with a domestic haul of $41.6 million. Based on those numbers, Paramount expects Bay's spectacle to hit or exceed $98 million over its all-important opening weekend.
"Captain America: The Winter Soldier" holds the opening weekend record for 2014 so far, with a $95 million Friday through Sunday debut. "Transformers: Age of Extinction" should have no trouble topping that. The top grossing film of the year thus far is "The LEGO Movie," with staying power that allowed it to just squeak past "Captain America," with total receipts above $256.8 million. "Extinction" is expected to better this number too, with Paramount hoping to bring in more than $300 million total in the United States alone.
The power of the "Transformers" films to pull fans into theaters in droves is one of the few reliable metrics of summer 2014, which otherwise has seen no major hits. Even the biggest titles of the summer, such as "X-Men: Days of Future Past," "The Amazing Spider-Man 2," "Godzilla" and "Maleficent" have failed to hit the same kinds of numbers as blockbusters of recent summers. Only "X-Men" has so far managed to reach $200 million.
Paramount and Michael Bay must feel particularly vindicated by these box office totals, given the dismal reviews "Transformers: Age of Extinction" has gotten. Rotten Tomatoes, which collects reviews from dozens of major critics, is showing an average score of 18% positive for the movie — one of the worst scores of any movie all year. Metacritic's score isn't much better at 31%. Realistically, the only numbers that matter are the ones with dollar signs in front of them. Who needs critics when you've got a bulletproof franchise? Not even the movie's 165 minute runtime can deter the faithful.
Bay has called "Transformers: Age of Extinction" the start of a second trilogy, though he claims he's done directing the franchise. One has to wonder how another director will handle this series that's so strongly identified with Bay. The bigger question is whether audiences will flock to theaters to watch eye candy that lacks his penchant for excess.
