Factoring in late-night screenings last Monday, "Transformers" had amassed $153 million by Sunday night, one of the best starts for a non-sequel property in recent memory. You know what that means, don't you? No, not sequels, although there'll assuredly be a "Transformers 2: Mission to Darfur" (if only). It means every toy you ever entertained squishy feelings of nostalgia for has now been green-lighted for production as of Monday morning. "Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots"? It's doubtless on its way, with The Rock and Tony Jaa getting first look at the script. "Operation"? It'll be a torture-porn horror movie a la "Hostel". "Bratz"? Oh, wait, that one's opening in August.
This also means that Michael Bay has newfound respect in Hollywood, and I say that with the heaviest of hearts.
"Transformers" played on 7,600 screens in 4,011 theaters, and the doubling-up accounted for the film's high $16K per-theater-average. "Ratatouille" was in almost as many theaters but not on as many screens, so it's PTA was a comparatively lower $7,000. The rat-tale held up fairly well its second weekend out, with $29 million bringing the total gross over the $100 million mark, but it's looking to be less of a box-office monster than other Pixar movies. (Who cares? It's still great.)
"License to Wed"? $10 mill, about average for a bad Robin Williams comedy these days. "RV" made $16 million when it opened last year, but in a lot more theaters.
Two smaller entries to keep an eye on: "Rescue Dawn" (Werner Herzog directing Christian Bale) made a very strong $17K per theater at six houses, and creepy-kid chiller "Joshua," a Sundance hit, had an $8,000 PTA in the same number of venues. Both open in the Boston area this week ("Rescue" is terrific, and a lot of people like "Joshua," too, even if I'm not one of them.)
Here's the Box Office Mojo chart, and Leonard Klady's column.
