Jul 6 - 8 weekend Boxoffice - Transformers is Blockbuster

[Minnesota]

"Transformers" tops box office, topples record
Sunday July 8 2:44 PM ET

"Transformers," the big-budget movie about alien robots battling on Earth, raked in $67.6 million at box offices over the weekend to land at No. 1 and bring its seven-day total to a record $152.6 million, according to studio estimates on Sunday.

Computer-animated "Ratatouille," about a cuisine-loving rat who longs to be a chef in Paris, fell one notch from last week to come in No. 2 with $29 million, boosting its 10-day total to $109.1 million, and action adventure "Live Free or Die Hard," starring Bruce Willis, was No. 3 with $17.4 million.

"Transformers" is based on the 1980s toys that shift shape from cars and planes to become alien Autobots and Decepticons warring against each other here on Earth.

The toys have built a loyal fan base of mostly boys and young men, and they turned out in droves for the movie. But curiously, the film's co-producers at Paramount Pictures and Dreamworks said the second-biggest group of supporters was mothers, who recommended the movie almost unanimously.

"We knew we had hard-core fans who wanted to come, (but) literally every one of the (major audience) groups turned out," said Rob Moore, president of worldwide marketing and distribution at Paramount.

... more

Moms, in particular, "see the movie and see the spirit with which it is done -- the fun of it," Moore added.

"Transformers" debuted in a limited number of theaters on Monday and began a widespread release on Tuesday in the United States and Canada ahead of the U.S. Independence Day Holiday.

TRANSFORMING THE CHARTS

Throughout the week, Paramount trumpeted the film's ability to topple records. The opening-day haul of $27.5 million was the highest Tuesday ever, and $29.1 million on Wednesday was the most cash for an Independence Day.

Paramount said the estimated $152.6 million marked a best for the initial seven days of release for any movie that was not a sequel. It beat 2002's original "Spider-Man," which scored an opening seven-day haul of more than $151 million.

"Ratatouille" also performed well over the holiday since last weekend's initial, three-day haul of $47 million fell short of some box office watchers' expectations

.

At $109 million, the movie is now about $8 million shy of where last summer's Disney-Pixar film, "Cars," was at the same point, and is quickly closing in on "Cars" pace, said Chuck Viane, who heads domestic distribution at the Disney studio.

Willis' explosion-filled "Live Free or Die Hard" boosted its 10-day total to $84.1 million for Twentieth Century Fox.

Besides "Transformers," the only other new movie to open wide this week was Warner Bros. comedy "License to Wed," starring Robin Williams. It proved to be a mild performer with $10.4 million in its first weekend to land at No. 4 on charts. It has taken in $17.8 million since its Tuesday debut.

Rounding out the top five was Universal Pictures' religious comedy "Evan Almighty" with $8.1 million for the weekend and an overall total of $78.1 million.

Michael Moore's documentary about U.S. health care, "Sicko," landed in the No. 9 slot this weekend with $3.6 million and now has a total of $11.5 million.

source: http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/news/va/20070708/118393104500.html


Weekend Box Office Actuals (U.S.)
Jul 6 - 8 weekend

This Wk.    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98

Last Wk.    - 1 2 - 3 4 6 5 9 7 8 10 11 12 13 14 15 19 17 16 22 20 24 21 18 26 23 - 27 38 33 30 29 - 31 34 39 35 32 48 41 36 40 - 37 46 45 44 62 43 42 51 49 54 52 - 75 56 47 67 65 57 53 59 69 55 64 61 93 72 63 60 71 - 66 87 90 - 73 70 103 100 79 - 88 101 98 104 - 96 78 85 - 95 97 94

Title Transformers Ratatouille Live Free or Die Hard License to Wed Evan Almighty 1408 Knocked Up Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer Sicko Ocean's Thirteen Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End Evening Shrek the Third Surf's Up Nancy Drew A Mighty Heart La Vie en Rose Once Waitress Spider-Man 3 Disturbia Wild Hogs You Kill Me Paris Je T'aime Mr. Brooks Deep Sea 3D Blades of Glory Rescue Dawn The Invisible Broken English Golden Door Hot Fuzz Meet the Robinsons Joshua 28 Weeks Later Wild Safari 3D: A South African Adventure Fracture Paprika 300 Gypsy Caravan The Lives of Others Black Book Roving Mars Introducing the Dwights Away From Her Eagle vs. Shark Lady Chatterley Firehouse Dog Vitus The Namesake The Valet Manufactured Landscapes After the Wedding Black Sheep Le Doulos Fido Into Great Silence Crazy Love Gracie Ten Canoes Colma: The Musical Angel-A Day Watch The Wind That Shakes the Barley Jindabyne Ghosts of Cite Soleil Kickin' It Old Skool Killer of Sheep Macbeth Avenue Montaigne Private Fears In Public Places Brooklyn Rules Chalk Allegro In Between Days Offside Aliens of the Deep The Treatment Unconscious One to Another The TV Set Zoo The Ex Dynamite Warrior Sweet Land The Wendell Baker Story The Host Boy Culture El Topo Air Guitar Nation Show Business Bamako Private Property Red Road Czech Dream Triad Election

Weekend Gross          $70,502,384 $29,014,293 $17,730,149 $10,422,258 $8,719,135 $7,088,979 $5,222,680 $4,239,993 $3,600,179 $3,525,366 $3,008,962 $2,374,904 $1,537,841 $991,175 $912,495 $647,288 $608,884 $439,648 $387,020 $303,553 $302,010 $250,034 $246,501 $206,052 $145,780 $142,455 $140,803 $110,326 $80,376 $75,390 $70,928 $68,566 $51,675 $51,233 $43,474 $41,950 $40,812 $40,519 $36,337 $34,953 $33,172 $31,585 $28,662 $27,734 $23,576 $22,168 $19,806 $17,404 $15,906 $15,369 $14,903 $12,412 $11,485 $11,001 $10,346 $10,343 $10,031 $9,249 $9,177 $7,424 $7,014 $6,358 $5,426 $5,320 $4,513 $4,433 $3,855 $3,749 $3,729 $3,626 $3,389 $2,730 $2,459 $2,403 $2,208 $2,007 $1,793 $1,772 $1,735 $1,485 $1,190 $1,132 $1,120 $1,082 $1,061 $1,044 $902 $898 $668 $500 $475 $449 $373 $364 $332 $208

Cumulative                $155,405,412 $109,531,598 $84,424,123 $17,838,076 $78,706,785 $53,738,325 $132,089,425 $123,881,586 $11,452,560 $109,145,316 $301,725,691 $8,378,433 $316,740,255 $56,042,318 $23,247,916 $8,404,897 $6,030,711 $4,563,755 $17,447,571 $334,344,283 $79,305,519 $167,402,930 $828,994 $4,176,797 $28,019,651 $29,358,239 $118,153,533 $167,872 $20,436,987 $231,821 $601,816 $23,472,882 $96,697,389 $51,233 $28,472,453 $13,987,504 $38,932,038 $642,641 $210,592,590 $98,882 $10,814,343 $4,296,532 $7,646,975 $43,085 $4,501,383 $142,513 $107,689 $13,881,654 $28,098 $13,527,279 $1,851,432 $72,153 $1,526,359 $46,212 $29,484 $298,110 $736,067 $246,890 $2,941,659 $97,657 $28,066 $138,857 $397,442 $1,829,142 $354,715 $17,997 $4,500,147 $315,900 $5,417 $2,035,818 $125,722 $398,420 $187,445 $5,854 $14,483 $175,399 $8,919,984 $68,972 $57,404 $9,635 $263,531 $69,032 $3,091,922 $1,082 $1,706,325 $127,144 $2,201,412 $212,770 $70,279 $69,223 $115,255 $102,334 $40,498 $153,432 $10,688 $50,561

Theaters 4011 3940 3411 2604 3460 2631 2213 2618 702 2102 1869 979 1421 1458 1124 651 162 132 227 310 283 284 63 103 218 35 234 6 151 16 28 140 71 6 98 10 104 33 70 14 25 30 8 4 38 17 4 36 7 21 21 3 11 8 1 4 8 11 21 4 2 10 10 11 11 1 10 3 1 6 4 5 1 1 1 7 2 1 3 1 1 2 10 3 1 1 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Source: http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/boxoffice/

[mrbasehart]

Transformers franchise, here we come! 

[J-Proof]

That's the beauty of the subject! There's no limit to how many they /could/ do, and this first one, amazing as it was, was ALL intro.....

[Pak-Man]

So the big question: Is it over, or will Simpsons snatch the crown from Transformers? On the one hand, many people feel the Simpsons is past its prime, but on the other hand, I think most of those people are curious enough about the movie to shell out for tickets. Should be interesting.. :^)

[Minnesota]

Simpson's should be a modest hit, probably 50 million opening weekend ... hope I'm wrong though, how cool would it be to have it make twice that!

[Rude]

...

I think Transformers is going to crash here soon... and i base that opinion on absolutely nothing, other than the fact that i have no desire to rush out and see it myself. But with such a huge opening "weekend" it's gotta' flatline a lot sooner than other films, simply because most the people who want to see it have already seen it. Unless there's a huge percent of people who plan on seeing this movie over and over again in the theater... it's got a lot of catching-up to do with Spiderman 3 and Pirates.

-Rude

[J-Proof]

Well, the next release of Transformers will definitely be gigantic. After the DVD sales and word-of-mouth that is sure to spread over the next two-and-a-half to three years, the Transformers sequels will steal all of Spider-Man's luster just like Spider-Man stole it from Harry Potter.