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UPDATE: Variety is now reporting a $60.6 million dollar first day
Despite pretty much universally poor reviews (The Guardian described it as “like watching paint dry while getting hit over the head with a frying pan”), Michael Bay’s Transformers sequel earned $55 60.6 million in a single day. On a Wednesday. For comparison, consider that Watchmen made $55.7 mil in its entire first weekend.
Transformers ROTF [which stands for "Revenge of the Fallen," though I keep reading it as "Rolling Over Table Farting"] easily scored the best opening day ever for a Wednesday release at the domestic box office. Previous record-holder was “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” which grossed $44.2 million in its first day.
[NEW] “Transformer 2’s” opening day haul also is the second best of all time after “The Dark Knight,” which grossed $67.2 million on its first day in release (a Friday).
“Transformers 2,” playing in more than 4,200 theaters in the U.S., has a strong shot at eclipsing the $152.4 million earned by “Spider-Man 2″ in its first five days. That film opened on the same Wednesday in 2004. The opening day haul in the U.S. included $16 million in midnight runs, the best run ever for a film released on a Wednesday. And it’s the third-best of all time after “The Dark Knight” ($18.5 million) and “Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith” ($16.9 million). [Variety]
Before he begins work on Transformers 3, Michael Bay said he plans to use some of his money to travel the world in a unicorn-shaped zeppelin, bringing explosions to underprivileged children. Then he made a crass joke about “record opening” and giggled for 10 minutes.
RELATED ASYLUM POLL: Who’s hotter, Megan Fox or Kim Kardashian?
(These are not the dorks you’re looking for…)
The last Indiana Jones movie had one of the stupidest plots ever conceived and the action scenes looked like they were shot at the make-your-own-video booth at the mall. Oh, but it made $786.6 million dollars, at least 750 of which from people leaving the theater going, “‘To the space between the space’? That was retarded.’” Yadda yadda yadda, of course they’re making another one. As Shia LaBeoueouwf tells the BBC…
“Steven [Spielberg] just said that he cracked the story on it before I left and I think they’re gearing that up,” LaBeouf said. Last summer’s blockbuster was made for about $185 million and earned $786.6 million worldwide. It was the second-highest earner of 2008, behind just The Dark Knight.
To pretend these guys are out there searching for an elusive plot to this movie like it’s Jack the Ripper on the loose is just insulting. If anyone offered script notes on the last one it would’ve just been “Dude, are you effing serious?” written on the cover in red sharpie. The true story is that George Lucas is on his ranch dunking 10-year-olds in oil and then rolling them in giant piles of money while Spielberg shoots at them for fun. Spielberg f*cking hates kids. True story. He calls them “the least dangerous game.”
We’ve known for a while that Oliver Stone was doing a sequel to Wall Street (1987), but now Nikki Finke has details.
I’m told that screenwriter Allan Loeb (21, Things We Lost In The Fire) will hand in his second draft to Fox later this week. I heard Loeb’s first draft was “so great” that Stone didn’t feel the need to touch it.
That’s interesting, considering 21 was a cliché-ridden hunk of sh*t.
I’m told Wall Street 2’s story spans from June 2008 through the federal bailout. “We wanted to see some perspective in the same way that the original dealt with insider trading,” a source explains to me. Michael Douglas reprises his Best Actor Oscar-winning role as Gordon Gekko. […] As the movie begins, it’s 21 years later and Mr. Greed Is Good has finished serving his prison sentence. He finds himself on the fringe of the financial community. (”Kinda like Jim Cramer or Mike Milken after their disgrace,” an insider tells me.) Gekko is cautioning Wall Street that the “end is coming” — but nobody is listening. So Gordon is obsessed with trying to repair his ruptured relationship with his daughter.
So, kinda like The Wrestler with hair gel instead of steroids.
Enter Shia LaBeouf [DON'T MIND IF I DO. -Ed.], who was reported in negotiations and I can now state is set to co-star. Shia is a young Wall Street trader who’s engaged to be married to Gekko’s estranged daughter. Shia wants to be a major player, but his mentor unexpectedly kills himself, and Shia thinks a stock-shorting worldwide hedge fund manager is responsible. Shia seeks revenge on this villain, to be played by No Country For Old Men Supporting Actor-winner Javier Bardem. So Shia goes to Gordon saying, “I need your help”, and makes a Faustian deal with Gekko who in return wants Shia’s help getting back with the daughter. From then on, it’s “antagonism” for everyone, my insider says.
Weird, Antagonism for Everyone is the title of my autobiography. I also have it tattooed on my cock. (*adjusts reading glasses*)
So Shia LaBeouf directed this music video, for a guy named “Cage”, who’s apparently a more hipstery, less talented version of Eminem.
The actor has been a long-time supporter of Cage, and back in 2007 he told Vanity Fair that he was going to be directing a feature film based on the rapper’s life. According to Cage’s bio, he was “Born to a heroin-addicted father and a distant mother, he battled drug addiction and was institutionalized for 18 months, where he became a test subject for Prozac and tried several times to end his life before discovering hip-hop as a vehicle to express his inner-torment.” [via Cinematical]
Oh hey, sorry I didn’t see you there. Don’t mind me, I was just making fart sounds with my mouth. Anyway, the cool thing about directing music videos is that you can film literally anything. Cats masturbating? Midget drinking milk? Sure, why not. Intercut that with some concert footage and you’re good to go. Wow, you can direct music videos? Amazing! Next you’ll tell me you can DJ!
