Unless you have lived under a rock or somehow stayed away from the reach of the media in the past weeks, you know the Transformers franchise grew to three films recently. The third installment opened to incredible opening weekend numbers. To be more specific, the film actually opened on Wednesday, June 29th – Dark of the Moon has also grossed over $400 million dollars at the Worldwide Box Office since then. Simply, ridiculous. The film was not very good at all, aside from the 3D — see my full thoughts here.

Bay was even caught reusing shots from one of his previous films, The Island, and inserting the clip into Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Watch this video. Bay probably loved the shot from The Island so much and was pissed no one really got to enjoy it — The Island only grossed $36 million total at the U.S. Box Office, while Transformers rolled out $37 million its opening day. Why not do a little recycling? The shot was so good. People won’t notice. We did — and I’ve gotta say, I’m disappointed… but not surprised. I’ve always said Bay is usually just re-packaging his old movies to make new ones. To see the full Box Office top ten and to read a little more, hit the jump.

Not surprising is the fact that 70% of foreign audiences chose the 3D version of this film. I loved the Transformers 3D, and apparently audiences listened when word of mouth spread the 3D was actually really good — take note Hollywood.

On that note, an even worse movie, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, just passed the $1 billion dollar mark in total Worldwide Box Office Earnings. Sick. This is only the eighth time that feat has been accomplished. Come on people, this type of behavior is what helps these garbage movies to continue rolling out. The studios don’t see stories, they see dollar signs. Another example is Cars 2… and definitely not just in terms of box office receipts, but also merchandising. The Pixar sequel hung on to #2 at the Box Office this past weekend, with Bad Teacher rounding out the top three — despite the negative reviews, I’ve heard good things about Bad Teacher. If you are looking for a raunchy R-rated comedy, apparently this is your ticket.

What Do You Think Of These Sub-Par Movies Making So Much Money?

{Top Ten Source: RottenTomatoes.com}

Follow Matthew on Twitter: @matthewdeery

Yesterday, Toy Story 3 crossed the $1 billion mark for worldwide ticket sales. The latest Pixar creation is only the seventh movie of all time to cross that threshold. Strangely enough, Toy Story 3 marks the second time this year that a Disney owned film has earned a billion dollars at the box office. Earlier this year, Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland also scored worldwide earnings over $1 billion. With those films both grossing more than a billion dollars, Disney becomes the first studio ever to have two films reaching those astronomical earnings in one year.

Just two weeks ago, Toy Story 3 became the highest grossing animated film of all time, and now it continues its march up the earnings list with this milestone. So obviously Woody and Buzz are the only animated characters on the billion dollar worldwide earnings list.

Even though Toy Story 3 came out more than two months ago in the United States (June 18), the movie continues to dominate the box office in other countries. The film is the most successful Disney release in Latin America ($138 million) and the United Kingdom ($102.4 million), and its also the fourth highest grossing movie ever in the UK. The film has dominated the Japanese cinema pulling in $111.2 million in its run and finishing #1 at the box office five weeks in a row.

I am not surprised this amazing movie has captivated worldwide audiences like it did the American crowds. The movie is not only a triumph of animation, but of storytelling. Getting viewers to care about toys is never a simple task, but Pixar creators did not get that memo. (Didn’t you get the memo?….Batman Begins anyone?)

The surprising thing to me is that Alice in Wonderland made so much money in theaters; apparently I missed that memo. I just now learned that the 2010 Burton directed project is the fifth highest grossing film of all time, just in front of The Dark Knight. I was taken aback because I didn’t think the newest 3D Alice in Wonderland was really that great of a movie. It was an interesting watch; but the 3D was crappy, the story was average, and the movie didn’t seem to posses the charm of the animated classic.

Any who, I thought posting the top ten grossing films of all time would be interesting for readers to check out. The top seven have all broke the billion dollar mark with Avatar at number one destroying the two billion dollar mark and set to earn even more with its re-release to theaters this weekend.

I think its interesting to note that one of the worst Disney movies I have ever seen, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, found a place on the top ten list.  I know not everyone hated this movie as much as I did, but it was one of the few movies that I seriously considered walking out of; and I absolutely loved the first installment and enjoyed the second one. You can also see two of the Potter movies in the top ten. Did you know that all six Potter movies are amongst the top 27 grossing movies of all time while all three Lord of the Rings films are in the top 20? The top ten goes something like this:

1. Avatar
2. Titanic
3. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
4. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
5. Alice in Wonderland
6. The Dark Knight
7. Toy Story 3
8. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
9. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
10. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

[Source: BoxOfficeMojo]

What Do You Think? Discuss.

So it’s no secret that Iron Man 2 was going to be an inevitable box-office smash, which it proved last week by bursting into theaters with an impressive $130 million opening weekend. But the real test of it’s box-office potential is ultimately how it would perform the the subsequent weeks in theaters, as a new big-budget movie is set to be released almost every week throughout this summer movie season. Well, Stark & Co. have held their ground by fending off it’s major competitor this weekend, Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood.

The Iron Man sequel was #1 at the box-office again this weekend, hauling in an impressive $52 million in its second week. A lot of that has to do with the film’s warm critical reception, as well as movie-goers waiting until the opening weekend hysteria died down. Coinciding with Iron Man‘s second weekend success, is Robin Hood‘s opening weekend woes. This past weekend, Robin Hood brought in a mere $36 million at the box-office, a poor performance indeed considering the film has been advertised for months and cost nearly $200 million to make.

What’s going to save a potential financial disaster for Universal is Robin Hood‘s box-office performance over seas. Right now, Robin Hood has earned $74 million abroad, nearly twice what it has currently earned in the U.S. As Robin Hood features nearly an all international cast, add to the fact that director Ridley Scott is British, and over time Robin Hood could eventually break even. What’s working against it in all aspects, is the awful reviews the film is currently receiving. Something that is definitely not going to help its cause, no matter where it’s showing.

Throw in the fact that MacGruber and Shrek Forever After are coming out this weekend, and it’s certainly easy to say that Robin Hood has a tough road ahead.

Source: Box-Office Mojo

What Do You Think? Discuss.

I haven’t done a Box-Office Benjamin$ segment in a while, but thought it would be a good idea to bring you up to speed on the unbelievable money machine James Cameron’s Avatar has become. As the image above displays, Avatar (as of today) has grossed just over $505 million domestically and is inching close to $2 billion worldwide. It has been #1 at the box-office for four straight weekends since the film opened on December 18, 2009. In the process of destroying records and winning awards  (Avatar won two Golden Globes last night for Best Director, James Cameron and Best Picture) the film will also dramatically affect how films are financed in the future.

One of the biggest concerns and criticisms of the film before it was released was whether Fox would be able to make any sort of profit due to the ridiculous budget the film had, rumored at nearly $500 million. The other concern was that Avatar could struggle financially because it is an original property with no franchise association or any established fan-base to market towards. Now that Avatar could seemingly make a 400% profit, other studios will be much more inclined to take risks on spending a couple hundred million for films that are not sequels, remakes or based on cartoons or toys.

What is also quite remarkable about the financial success of Avatar is its eventual spot on the all-time domestic list. As of today, the Top 10 highest-grossing movies of all time look like this (via Box-Office Mojo):

Avatar has only been out for one month and is only $28 million away from surpassing The Dark Knight which took the #2 spot in 2008 with $533 million domestically. If….what am I saying? When, Avatar surpasses The Dark Knight and claims the #2 spot, James Cameron will have the #1 and #2 highest-grossing films of all time. ONE DIRECTOR has the top two money-making films ever made. That is quite an amazing achievement for a filmmaker. And hey, at this rate, who’s to say that Avatar won’t knock of Titanic and claim the #1 spot. It could happen.

What Do You Think? Discuss.

After a very warm critical reception and the enticing brand name that is Quentin Tarantino, Inglorious Basterds blew up the box-office this weekend by raking in an impressive $37.6 million. It’s the biggest opening weekend for Tarantino’s blood-spattered career; the second best being Kill Bill in 2003, which brought in just over $22 million during its opening weekend. Oh, and the fact that The Weinstein Company had Brad Pitt’s face to plaster all over banner ads and TV spots didn’t hurt. It was just a great movie and it really was Tarantino’s masterpiece; as Lt. Aldo Raine  mentioned in the film’s closing shot.

I’m having a tough time deciding between Basterds and District 9 for the “best film of the summer/year” just yet, but it seems audiences are having a similar predicament, as the little sci-fi movie that could had a solid second weekend at the box-office, taking in $18 million. Let’s put this in perspective, District 9 relied its financial success on an unknown director, a first-time actor and a production budget of only $30 million.  After10 days, it’s total domestic gross is now $73 million; a $43 million profit (minus marketing costs) for a movie that had no brand name or familiar franchise association. It’s really nice to see that quality films like Basterds and D9 are making bank at the box-office, especially since this summer has been filled with mediocrity.

G.I. Joe is still struggling to truck along, which came in third this weekend with $12.5 million. It’s domestic total is now at just over $120 million. That number is deceiving though, as Joe’s production budget was $175 million, PLUS marketing costs. Either way, we’re going to see a Joe 2 sometime in the next couple years. UGH.

This weekend it’s all about which movie “kills it,” as two horror franchises unveil their latest installments, with Rob Zombie’s Halloween II and The Final Destination in 3D going head-to-head. Although the FD franchise has completely outstayed its welcome for sometime, I think the 3D factor could play big here. Rob Zombie’s first Halloween was decent, but I’m really “meh” about #2. I think that The Final Destination will be on top this weekend with a modest $25 million. I also think that Basterds will have a solid second weekend and come in at #2 with $21 million. Halloween II is going to flop and only bring in about $17 million, which puts District 9 at #4 with a solid $13 million third weekend. Challenge?

Here’s a breakdown of the rest of the Top 5 at the Box-Office this weekend.

1) Inglorious Basterds – $37.6 million
2) District 9 – $18.9 million
3) G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra – $12.5 million
4) The Time Traveler’s Wife – $10.02 million
5) Julie & Julia – $9 million

Source: Box-Office Mojo

What Do You Think? Discuss.

Looks like I was finally right with my G.I. Joe box-office prediction, or at least close. Last week I predicted that Joe & Co. would top the box-office this weekend with $62 million. I was only off by $6 million as Joe brought in an impressive $56.2 million from Friday to Sunday. The rest of my predictions were way, off, but I digress. So despite mostly negative reviews and just general negative perceptions prior to release, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra showed, like Transformers 2, that mindless action can find a significant audience during the summer months. So much so, that Paramount has already announced plans to very soon, initiate development on G.I. Joe 2: Reign of Cobra?. Classic.

The Movie Mash hasn’t posted a review for Joe yet because I’m leaving that responsibility to our very own Mr. Travis Andries, as he is a G.I. Joe connoisseur. He’s taking his time to give the best, most in-depth and analytical analysis possible because of his life-long passion for Joe. Just quickly from me, I thought it was entertaining, had some cool action sequences, but ultimately was too cheesy and had too much action to make it a coherent film. Also, Channing Tatum is the worst actor on the planet. So…(B-).  Stay tuned for that full review to be up in the next couple days. What’s interesting is that Joe was really the only movie that had much success this weekend, as the #2 spot went to Julie & Julia starring Merl Streep, which took in only $20 million; not a shabby amount for a film such as that, but a significant drop off from the #1 to #2 spot. The rest of the top five were in single digits.

This weekend should prove to be interesting as arguably the most-anticipated (at least for me), yet most unknown movie of the summer is about to hit theaters, District 9. I’ve been discussing the awesomeness of this film for a while now, but regardless of the bombardment of TV ads, it’s still a question mark because of the unknown actors and director involved. Reviews should do nothing but help the film as it is currently sitting at a perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes right now, a number that is of course subject to change. The film is apparently so good, that it’s currently the cover of Entertainment Weekly with the title, “Why District 9 Will Blow Your Mind.”  So while I am ecstatic and everyone in the biz who has seen it, loves it, can a completely original sci-fi movie that has no major stars and a rookie director make a splash at the box-office? Hellz yeah I say! G.I. Joe will have a major drop-off of 50% or more because of bad word-of-mouth, Julie & Julia won’t do anything more than another $12-15 million. And the only other same-day competition that it has is The Time Traveler’s Wife, which actually could prove as a worthy advisory; pitting the fanboys vs. date night. I still think that District 9 will come out on top and take in $40 million over three days. The Time Traveler’s Wife will come in second and take in $32 million. And G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra will round out the top three and take in $26 million over its second weekend. Challenge?

Here’s a breakdown of the rest of the Top 5 at the Box-Office this weekend.

CHAMP: G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra $56.2 million
2) Julie & Julia $20.1 million
3) G-Force $9.8 million
4) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince $8.8 million
5) Funny People $7.8 million

Source: Box-Office Mojo

What Do You Think? Discuss.

Sorry for the hiatus folks, but after Comic-Con I think studios needed a week or so to decompress, thus resulting in the VERY slow past five days of movie news. Anyway, I’m back with this week’s edition of Box-Office Benjamin$ and Judd Apatow’s Funny People is on top, taking in a respectable $22.7 million during it’s opening weekend. This could be seen as somewhat of a disappointment for a labeled “R-rated blockbuster comedy” with such name-brand star-power, while The Hangover makes over twice as much on its opening weekend. Word must have spread about the heightened level of emotional drama, compared to Apatow’s previous two films, which maybe some people didn’t like or want to see.  But that is why I think this movie is so great and is FAR superior as a motion picture than The Hangover. Check out my review of Funny People HERE.

It’s not all over for Funny People though, as Apatow’s flicks tend to take some time to get rolling. The 40-Year-Old Virgin only made just over $21 million on its opening weekend and then went on to gross over $100 million. Knocked Up only made $30 million its opening weekend and then went on to rake in an impressive $150 million domestically. Funny people is in the middle of the pack and can hopefully get some repeat viewings from movie-goers who appreciate Apatow’s creative ambition to make a comedy with potty humor, as well as real emotional substance.

I wasn’t able to talk about this last week, but boy WTF happened to Harry Potter? It got smoked last week by G-Force. Wow! Seems outrageous, right? Maybe not. Upon further examination, HP6 seems to be following the pattern of all the previous Potter flicks. HP6 currently stands at $255 million domestically and the only film to gross more than $300 million is HP1 with $317 million  back in 2001. While this seems to follow suit in regards to box-office, I have to ask, what’s the deal Potter fans? Doesn’t the HP fan-base scour worldwide and is comprised of hundreds of millions of people? Why can’t all these movies at least break $300 million each? Do you not like the films? Would you rather Warner Bros. not make them at all? What’s the deal nerds?!?!?!?!?!?

This weekend should be interesting. G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra finally hits theaters and this is going to either go one way or the other. It’s either going to be really surprising and make like $70 million, or it’s going to crash and burn immediately and make like $21 million. Reviews thus far have actually been extremely positive, contrary to pre-conceived notions of sub-par/mediocrity. I’m gonna be a glass half-full guy and go with a surprisingly successful debut. Remember Fast & Furious surprised everyone a few months ago by taking in over $75 million its opening weekend, and at least G.I. Joe is a fresh franchise. So I think its got a good chance.

G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra is going to be #1 this weekend, taking in a surprising $62 million. Whoooaaaaa!!! I know right? There’s virtually no other competition. But you know what always fairs well? Horror. Coming in second will be the island horror/thriller A Perfect Getaway (with Mila Jovovich and Steve Zahn), taking in $23 million. Funny People is going to make a run at #3 and take it with a solid $17 million second weekend. Meryl Streep’s Julie & Julia will flop and take in barely over $14 million. HP6 will round out the top 5 with $12 million. Challenge?

Here’s a breakdown of the rest of the Top 5 At The Box-Office from this past weekend.

CHAMP: Funny People $22.7 million
2) HP6 $17.9 million
3) G-Force $17.5 million
4) The Ugly Truth $13.2 million
5) Aliens in the Attic $8 million

What Do You Think? Discuss.

Another Potter flick another dollar. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince muggled out the competition this weekend by taking in a massive $158 million over five days, as it opened on a Wednesday instead of a Friday. It made $77.8 million from Friday-Sunday. The film has received stellar reviews across the board, as well as on The Movie Mash, although that didn’t go over well with some (cough) “Potter Purists.” So it seems as though Warner Bros. got their 2009 money-maker after the box-office debacles that were Watchmen and Terminator Salvation. While this is undoubtedly a complete and utter victory for WB and Potter fans, with such anticipation, it still was unable to beat Transformers 2 and The Dark Knight in the five-day race, by a significant margin.

As mentioned in last week’s B.O.B. report, the box-office record for the first five days of a film’s release is $203.1 million, set last summer by my favorite film of all-time, The Dark Knight. Michael Bay’s Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which opened last month, seriously threatened that record by raking in close second $201 million in its first five days. Now this is where the analysis gets interesting. The sixth Harry Potter film, HP & THPB who’s release had been delayed six months, was only able to muster $158 over five days…In July. Hmmmmmm. Now there’s no knocking that feat, as it’s very impressive, or is it?

Batman Begins only made $205 million in total, during its domestic run. It’s sequel, The Dark Knight, ultimately shattered every box-office record imaginable and ended with $533 million, second all-time only to Titanic. Of course Begins had three years to build a solid fan base after being released on DVD. And obviously the Heath Ledger factor was a huge box-office draw, especially the buzz surrounding his legendary performance. But how did The Dark Knight make in three days, what HP 6 made in five? Doesn’t Harry Potter have the biggest fan-base ever? Is the Batman fan-base bigger than Harry Potter’s, or were the “Potter Purists” boycotting repeat viewings because of adaptation accuracy squabbles? Does Transformers have a bigger fan-base than Harry Potter’s, or were the “Potter Purists” telling their other “Potter Purist” friends not to go back a second time? IDK because I’m not a “Potter Purist.” I haven’t read the books, but I thought the movie was great and I really don’t give a shit. Regardless, I seriously don’t know what is preventing these films from shattering box-office records every time. So I’m asking, what is it?

I’m sure that this mild speculation, as well as the image above, is undoubtedly causing an uproar in traffic, so it felt like a required proposal. HAHAHAHAHA! Why So Serious? Anyway, as the Hogwarts brigade were waving their wands at the concession stands, the other competition at the box-office inevitably suffered. Ice Age 3 continues to perform well by taking in an impressive $17.5 million in its third weekend, coming in second and bringing its domestic total to just over $150 million. Transformers 2 also continues to impress in its fourth week by taking in $13.6 million, coming in third, and bringing it’s domestic total to a whopping $363 million. And as speculated in last week’s B.O.B. report, “Bruno ist Auschwitz.” With the combination of Harry Potter and (ironically and hypocritically) homo-phobes, Bruno plummeted in its second week with a pathetic $8.3 million. (All of these numbers are Friday-Sunday three-days). Ah well, I guess genius shouldn’t be measured in dollars and cents. Oh and I know that gay Potter reference will surely ruffle some feathers.

This week is going to get crowded as Potter nerds, families, couples on dates and horror fans will all be battling it out. I predict that Harry Potter 6 will be on top once again, dropping a healthy 50ish percent and taking in $75 million in its second week. Jerry Bruckheimer’s 3D animation guinea pig flick,(no pun intended) G-Force, will come in second with a solid $42 million. The Gerard Butler/Katherine Heigel rom-com The Ugly Truth will come in third with $28 million. The first legit horror film since Drag Me To Hell, Orphan, will unfortunately come in fourth with $18 million. And Ice Age 3 will round out the Top Five with $11 million in its fourth weekend. Challenge?

Here’s a breakdown of the rest of the Top 5 at the Box-Office this weekend. (All numbers are Friday-Sunday three-days).

CHAMP: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince $77.8 million
2) Ice Age 3 $17.5 million
3) Transformers 2 $13.6 million
4) Bruno $8.3 million
5) The Proposal $8.2 million

What Do You Think? Discuss.

Just have to start off saying that Bruno’s baby O.J., is probably the cutest baby ever. Look at him. So adorable. Anyway, as I predicted, Bruno was #1 at the box-office this weekend by taking in a solid $30.6 million. For you nit-pickers, yes I was off by about $12 million in my predictions, but I did accurately choose the the order of box-office postings. I didn’t write a review from Bruno because that review would take so long to dissect and I didn’t have the time, I will say that I absolutely loved it and thought it was great. I nearly peed my pants with shocking laughter, so in a quick review I’ll give it an A-, as the story is not as good as Borat.

Borat opened with just over $26 million in 2006 and ended up making a very impressive $128 million domestic total for Universal Studios. So you’d think, that with a $30 million opening weekend, Bruno would be well on its way to beating it right? Well maybe not. It’s very unusual for a film to drop significantly from Friday to Saturday during it’s opening weekend. It usually goes up since most people don’t work Saturday. Well Bruno was not so fortunate by dropping from a $14 million Friday to an $8 million Saturday. That’s nearly a 50% drop, that like I said, is very unusual. This obviously means that the film suffered from a massive negative word-of-mouth effect. This would most-likely be because of the outrageously pervasive sexual and offensive content including fire extinguisher sex, a penis hole  that shouts “Bruno!!” and a black baby nailed to a cross like Jesus.  But, you know, what the heck did people expect? It’s Sacha Baron Cohen. It’s rated-R for pervasive strong and crude sexual content, graphic nudity and language. And it’s not just mindless hilariously awkward gay sex (although at times it is). It’s a critique on America’s still-present nonacceptance of gay people: ranging from uncomfortable to downright hate. It’s the same fashion of Borat, except Borat exposed America’s nonacceptance of “Arabs:” ranging from uncomfortable to downright hate.

So only time will tell how to see if Bruno has legs, but these statistical drops at the box-office sure don’t help. The parents who weren’t able to get a babysitter to see Bruno, helped Ice Age 3 come in 2nd with a solid $28.5 million, bringing its 12-day domestic total to just over $120 million. Michael Bay’s Transformers 2 continues to rake in the money, coming in third with an impressive $24.2 million, bringing its massive total to $342 million domestically, $711 million worldwide, just passing Lord of the Rings: Two Towers on the all-time chart. That’s pretty damn impressive considering nearly everyone I’ve talked to unfairly hated it. Entertainment writers are calling it, “the most successful bad movie of all-time.” Whatever.

Oooooo. Do you hear that? It’s Potter and Co. coming to massacre the box-office. Harry Potter is back after over a two-year hiatus and it’s gonna be big. Not only does Harry Potter have one of the largest and most intense fan-bases on the planet, but this particular installment, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has received almost flawless reviews, being hailed as “the best Potter film yet.”

The Harry Potter film franchise has made over $4.5 billion total combined. This latest film was supposed to be released this past November, but Warner Bros President Alan Horn pushed it back to July of 2009 because of the uncertainty of the Watchmen legal battle between WB and Fox. So needless to say the Potter fan’s anticipation is at it’s boiling point and the wait is going to pay-off for Warner Bros. HP and the HPB opens Tuesday at midnight and over the following five days, it’s going to dominate with repeat viewings. I predict that HP and the HPB will obviously be #1 at the box-office this weekend, with a five-day total of $210 million. That will shatter the five-day record held by my precious Dark Knight ($203 million), set last summer. This record was recently threatened by Transformers 2, but came up short with just $201 million over five days just a couple weeks ago. This is a very reluctant prediction as I would like for TDK‘s record to stand for as long as possible.

Ice Age 3 will come in second with a solid $22 million in its third weekend. Bruno will tie with Transformers 2 by both taking in $18 million. I’ve been pretty terrible at predictions so far, but I’m gonna keep at it cuz it’s fun! Challenge?

Here’s a breakdown of the rest of the Top 5 at the Box-Office this weekend.

1) Bruno $30.4 million
2) Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs $28.5 million
3) Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen $24.2 million
4) Public Enemies $14.1 million
5) The Proposal $10.5 million

What Do You Think? Discuss.

From a box-office analysis standpoint, I really wish all movies would open on a Friday, it would really make things a lot easier. But I digress. As the week prior, my box-office predictions were little off in last week’s edition of BOB. I’ll get it, don’t worry. Ice Age 3 and Public Enemies opened last Wednesday, July 1st in an effort to derail the box-office behemoth that is Transformers 2. It looks as though the prehistoric animated family comedy beat a lot of exceptions by coming in first…barely and technically.

Despite the well-known and unfair loathing of Michael Bays Sci-Fi-action epic, Transformers 2 held its own at the box-office, pulling in an impressive $42.5 million over the 4th of July weekend. Ice Age 3 held ITS own, by posting the exact same figure, $42.5 million over Friday, Saturday and Sunday. So that’s a tie, right? As I mentioned earlier, Ice Age 3 opened on Wednesday, so the true comparison of who actually won the day comes in comparing the Wednesday and Thursday grosses of last week. Transformers 2 pulled in $22.5 million on Wednesday and Thursday, bringing its 5-day total to $65 million. Ice Age 3 squeaked by its rival robots and contrasting audience demographic by taking in $25 million on Wednesday and Thursday, helping it to a 5-day best of $67.5 million.

Damn that’s close. So the eccentric squirrel and friends barely bested Megan Fox and Shia…BARELY! What’s somewhat disappointing, from a prediction and affectionate standpoint, is the performance by Johnny Depp’s Public Enemies, which inevitably came in third with a $26 million weekend/$41 million 5-day gross. I predicted that PE would bring in $48 over five days, which was pretty close, but I had the John Dillinger gangster flick coming in second, so I guess I’ll live to fight another day. What should be noted about all this is the epic, massive amount of money that the Transformers sequel is bringing in. In just over 10 days, the little film that could about the alien-robots has brought in a ridiculous $293 million domestically so far.

This weekend should be interesting as we’ll see just how much controversy and publicity can help a film’s success at the box-office. Yes, Bruno is finally here this Friday and it should prove to be much more successful than its predecessor. Borat made an impressive debut when it was released, bringing in a respectable $26.5 million on opening weekend, and ending with just over $128 million during its domestic run. Now, the reason why Bruno should be more successful is three reasons: 1) Sacha Baron Cohen and his shenanigans is much more well-known now and Borat did extremely well in DVD sales, so his fan-base has had nearly three years to grow. 2) Bruno is a much more controversial character as he is known for his outrageous sexual exploits, which will propel the inevitable word-of-mouth effect. 3) Sacha/Bruno has been promoting the shit out of this movie, appearing on pretty much every talk show in existence.

I predict that Bruno will be on top this weekend with $42 million. The parents will hit the theaters again, putting Ice Age 3 at a close second with $38 million. Transformers 2 will drop some and come in third with a respectable $32 million. Just to clarify, all of these projections are over THREE DAYS. Challenge?

Here’s a breakdown of the rest of the Top 5 at the Box-Office this THREE-DAY weekend.

CHAMP: TIE, Transformers 2 & Ice Age 3 $42.5 million
2) Public Enemies $26.1 million
4) The Proposal $12.7 million
5) The Hangover $10 million

Source: Box-Office Mojo

What Do You Think? Discuss.