A headline can tell the entire story. But not in this case. How well did “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” perform at the box office when it opened Wednesday? Different news outlets put a different spin on the answer. “‘Transformers: Dark of the Moon’ scores year’s biggest opening day with $37.3 mil,” read the headline on Entertainment Weekly’s Inside Movies blog, while Box Office Mojo titled its piece “‘Transformers’ Suboptimal on Wednesday.”
Both headlines were accurate. “Transformers” did beat the year’s record set earlier this summer by “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” the fourth film in that franchise. It earned $34.9 million when it opened May 20.
That might make the take more impressive, but keep in mind that second headline. The first “Transformers” film made just $27.9 million its first day when it opened in 2007. But the sequel, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” opened in 2009 to an incredible $62 million in a single day. And the latest film gave viewers the option of seeing it in 3D. That means higher ticket prices — and so more people might have actually seen the first film on its first day.
The Michael Bay film is still likely to make its production budget of $195 million back in less than two weeks. Few flicks opened this holiday weekend against what was assumed to be an unbeatable sequel with a ready audience. So perhaps other filmmakers are asking if they made the right call in deciding not to compete with it on a weekend many moviegoers will be looking to beat the heat.
Speaking of “Pirates of the Caribbean,” many fans don’t realize the franchise was based on a Disney theme park attraction. Yes, the ride came before the movie. Disney likes a winning formula when it sees one, so the studio is now developing not one but two films from its theme park properties. Just announced is “The Hill,” based on the Matterhorn ride, which opened in Disney’s Fantasyland section in 1959, after Walt took a trip to Switzerland and decided to add a tobogganlike ride. No director or cast have been announced yet.
There are people in place for another park picture, though. “Iron Man” director Jon Favreau will be at the helm of “Magic Kingdom.” It’s set entirely in the theme park, and has more potential than any other film of such provenance: It’s being written by Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Michael Chabon.
If you’d like to see The Examiner’s movie critic in person, you’re in luck. I’ll be on the panel of the annual summer series sponsored by the Ethics and Public Policy Center and the Hudson Institute — D.C.’s think tanks like to have a little fun in the summer, too. EPPC scholar and film critic James Bowman will present each Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. a film on this year’s subject of the afterlife. This Tuesday features the 1944 film “Between Two Worlds,” while screening in future weeks are the 1947 Powell and Pressburger film “Stairway to Heaven” (also known as “A Matter of Life and Death), Albert Brooks’ “Defending Your Life,” and Japanese drama “After Life.” A panel discussion follows the films, which are held at the Hudson Institute and include free pizza and popcorn. Register at eppc.org.
Kelly Jane Torrance is The Washington Examiner’s movie critic. She can be reached at [email protected].
