Transformers: Dark of the Moon Sets New Box Office Record
Despite being absolutely hammered by critics left and right, Transformers: Dark of the Moon managed to rise to the occasion this 4th of July weekend by setting a new box office record. The film grossed a staggering $97.4 million from about 9,300 screens in 4,013 locations. This figure far surpasses the previous record holder Spider-Man 2 which made $88.2 million during the Independence Day weekend back in 2004.
On top of that, keep in mind that the Transformers flick actually opened on Wednesday so its five-day box office total (including midnight previews from Tuesday) was $162.1 million! In that regard, it also beats Spider-Man 2 by knocking it out of the ninth position in the list of the highest grossing five-day premieres in history.
The first Transformers movie raked in $133.3 million over five days and the sequel made $200.1 million in that same amount of time. While that statistic makes it seem like Dark of the Moon underperformed, it actually did quite well considering that attendance was down by over 10% compared to the others. The fact that the movie was shown in 3D at a record-breaking 2,789 locations was one of the main reasons it still made so much money.
As previously mentioned, the latest installment in the Transformers saga was not exactly met with open arms by critics who felt the whole thing was underwhelming. As usual with Michael Bay productions, the story lines weren't considered to be strong enough and the action was excessive to the point of headache-inducing. Not to mention, newbie Rosie Huntington-Whiteley was reportedly so bad that she made Megan Fox look like Meryl Streep. Despite all of those negative reactions, the film still managed to persevere and win over audiences all over the world (its worldwide box office was $370 million!).
It was going to take a monstrous effort to remove the stench of Transformers 2 and was Dark of the Moon successful in achieving that? Perhaps not but regardless, star Shia LaBeouf and director Michael Bay have both announced that they're washing their hands clean of the whole franchise. Now, if a Transformers 4 is ever in the works, somebody else will have to try and outdo the massive success of the first three.
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