It was only a matter of time before "Captain America: The Winter Soldier's" opening weekend gross ($95 million) was bested at the box office. With an estimated $100 million domestic gross over the weekend, "Transformers: Age of Extinction" cruised into first place, knocking last week's number one flick, "Think Like a Man Too," off its perch. The fourth entry in the "Transformers" franchise was lambasted by critics across the board with a dreadful Rotten Tomatoes score, but that did not stop audiences from coming out in droves to see the latest chapter of Autobots versus Decepticons.
After a monstrous $41.6 million opening day on Friday, "Age of Extinction" continued to chug along on Saturday, tacking on another $31.8 million to its total, according to Box Office Mojo. The franchise may be receiving thumbs down across the board from critics, but there is no doubt that this is still a viable series with fans. While Sunday's take was not available at press time, studio estimates put it at more than $25 million, besting the $100 million dollar mark.
For small budget movies, the $100 million dollar mark is a huge coup for their production, but on a big budget movie like "Age of Extinction," it is the second week of its run that really matters. That's good news for Optimus Prime and company, because there are no really big threats for the three-day holiday weekend of July 4.
While "Transformers" has consistently done huge business here in the states, the movie thrives in the overseas markets too. The fourth live-action movie of the Hasbro toy line scored big in all of the other territories it opened in. Most notably, the film took in close to $90 million in China, with Russia and Korea both scoring more than $20 million apiece. The domestic and international IMAX takes were also impressive, showing movie studio execs that there is no slowing down this franchise in premium format theaters either.
Mark Wahlberg proved to be the perfect addition to this series as he continues to flex his box office muscles as the headliner in this installment, But remember, the robots are the real winners here. On top of the movie's grosses, Hasbro continues to churn out countless Transformers toys around the world for fans.
As the movie continues to rake in the cash, the franchise continues to solidify itself as a major summer mainstay. It's not going to win any Academy Awards, but the Transformers are here to stay for good.
