"Transformers" broke another record on its second day of release as it grossed $29.1 million to become the largest grossing July 4 film in history. That follows the $27.9 million it garnered on its Tuesday opener, which was also a record.
The question is "does it mean much?" That's yet to be determined. A lot will depend on how it performs in its weekend opener against "Live Free or Die Hard" and "Ratatouille."
The release date is a smart move, similar to "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. When Disney (DIS) knew they wouldn't be able to beat the Spider-Man 3 opening record, they decided to go for a 4-day weekend record by opening a day earlier at the last moment. All for the purpose of getting some bragging rights that the film needed.
This was the same strategy for Transformers. July 4 has a history of performing good for companies when it's located in the middle of the week. Paramount (VIA-B) hopes that breaking a couple of records in its opening days will give it some extra push in the next couple of weeks.
This weekend will be the decider on whether it has longer legs or drew its big audience on the front end. If it drops by around 55 percent, we'll probably see this movie fizzle fast. If it's able to hold stronger than that, it could bring some real blockbuster numbers. It's a challenge this summer as the big movies haven't been able to hold their audiences the second time around.
What's good about it financially was there was some discipline in making it, keeping production costs at around $150 million, far below the usual special effects reliant production. So even if numbers aren't as strong over the long haul, they will do good from a profit point of view, which in the end is really all that matters for Paramount.
Probably even more important will be the money made from the action figures which have remained pretty popular for a couple of decades.
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