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TRANSFORMERS ... Do GIANT ROBOTS Spell GIANT BOX OFFICE Success?

Wednesday, July 2, 2014


 
 
 
Michael Bay and super producer, Steven Spielberg teamed up a few years ago to bring us a movie about transforming toys to the big screen. Bay, who was well known for his action movies such as Bad Boys and other Jerry Bruckheimer movies, was more than suited for the part and fans rejoiced as they saw a combination of action, hot babes and CGI robots like no one had ever seen before.
 
This weekend saw the release of Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014) and while the critics tore the movie apart, the global box office blew records away as it hit around $300 million! Not to mention the fact that domestically in the U.S. the movie raked in a more than impressive $100 million in 3 days for it's opening weekend!
 
So my question to you is how much money can giant robot bring in through the box-office and how much have they brought in? All indications are that Bay has wello created yet another hit and even breathing new life into the series by changing the lead character to one played by fan favourite, Mark Wahlberg. Here are the breakdowns of the previous movies, have a look and see for yourself:
 
 
TRANSFORMERS (2007) 

 
WORLDWIDE GROSS $709,709,780
PRODUCTION BUDGET $150 MILLION
 
TRANSFORMERS PLOT
Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, narrates the collapse of the Transformers' home world, Cybertron. It was rendered uninhabitable by war between the Autobots and the Decepticons. Led by Megatron, the Decepticons are searching for the AllSpark so they could use it to take over the universe. The Autobots want to find the AllSpark so they can use it to rebuild Cybertron and end the war. Megatron managed to locate the AllSpark on Earth, but crash-landed in the Arctic Circle and froze in the ice. After stumbling upon his frozen body in 1897, explorer Captain Archibald Witwicky accidentally activated Megatron's navigational system and his eyeglasses were imprinted with the coordinates of the AllSpark's location, an incident that left him blind and mentally unstable. Sector 7, a secret government organization created by President Herbert Hoover, discovered the AllSpark in the Colorado River and built the Hoover Dam around it to mask its energy emissions. The still-frozen Megatron was moved into this facility and was used to advance human technology through reverse engineering.
In the present day, the Decepticon known as Blackout attacks a U.S. military base in Qatar in order to find the location of Megatron and the AllSpark. He tries to hack into the files of the computer base but is stopped when the base commander cuts the computer hard lines. Captain William Lennox and his team manage to escape from the base and search for help. Back in the United States, Captain Witwicky's descendant Sam Witwicky buys his first car, which turns out to be the Autobot scout Bumblebee, who tries to help him woo his crush Mikaela Banes. Later, Sam catches a glimpse of Bumblebee's true form when he signals the other Autobots.
On Air Force One, another Decepticon named Frenzy infiltrates the plane and tries to hack into the network again, only this time is more successful until he is stopped by the U.S. intelligence operatives before he can retrieve the file information. Frenzy is then picked up by his partner Barricade, and they pursue Sam after discovering he has the glasses with the AllSpark's coordinates. Witwicky is rescued by Bumblebee, and Mikaela also learns of the Transformers' existence. Bumblebee fights Barricade and manages to subdue him while Sam and Mikaela decapitate Frenzy although he still survives and disguises himself as Mikaela's phone.

Meanwhile, Scorponok, who was sent by Blackout, fights Captain Lennox and his team, killing one of them and injuring another. During the battle, Scorponok is forced to retreat when he gets injured by sabot rounds fired on him by the U.S. Air Force. Lennox and his team then return to the United States and report their findings on the Decepticons to the Pentagon.

Sam and Mikaela soon meet Optimus Prime and his other Autobot partners Jazz, Ironhide, and Ratchet. They explain their origins to the two humans and insist on the urgency to get to the AllSpark first before the Decepticons, knowing that the Decepticons plan to use it to turn all of Earth's technologies into a new army of Decepticons and render humans extinct. The Autobots bring the two humans back to Sam's house to find the glasses, and they nearly reveal their existence to Sam's parents by accident. However, Sector 7 agent Seymour Simmons and his team find Sam and take his family away to a classified location after learning Sam came into contact with the Autobots. Optimus and the Autobots try to rescue Witwicky and Banes, however they fail and Bumblebee ends up getting captured along with Witwicky and Banes. The Autobots, however, retrieve the glasses and use them to find the AllSpark's location so they can destroy it before the Decepticons use it. Sam and Mikaela are taken to Hoover Dam, along with Maggie Madsen and Glen Whitmann, two hackers who were captured by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for trying to decipher the information Frenzy stole while working in the Pentagon.

Frenzy, who was transported to the dam while in disguise, finds the AllSpark and contacts the other Decepticons, Starscream, Bonecrusher, Brawl, Barricade, and Blackout. Starscream attacks the dam and Frenzy frees Megatron from his frozen prison, where he joins his cohorts into pursuing Sam and the Autobots. Bumblebee shrinks the cube to a reasonable size so they can escape with it. They then arrive at Mission City, where a large battle ensues. Working together, the Autobots and human soldiers defeat Bonecrusher, Blackout, and Brawl. However, Bumblebee is crippled, and Jazz is killed by Megatron. When Megatron begins to gain the upper hand in the fight, Optimus urges Sam to put the AllSpark in his chest, which will destroy them both. Instead, Witwicky inserts the cube into Megatron's chest, which kills him and destroys the AllSpark.

In the aftermath, the dead Transformer bodies are dumped into the Laurentian Abyss in the Atlantic Ocean to be hidden, the government orders the closure of Sector 7, and the Witwicky family is released from custody. Sam and Mikaela soon start a new relationship, and Optimus says that the Autobots' fates have given them a new home, Earth, and sends a message calling out all surviving Autobots to join them. In a mid-credits scene, Starscream escapes into space, processing the events of the second movie.
 
 
TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN (2009)
 
WORLDWIDE GROSS $836,303,693
PRODUCTION BUDGET $200 MILLION
 
TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN PLOT
Thousands of years ago, the 7 Primes traveled the galaxy to create Energon with sun-absorbing machines called Sun Harvesters. The Primes followed a law that no sun can be destroyed if it has life on one of its planets; however, one of them deceives the others by building an army and by breaking the law by setting up a Harvester on Earth in 17,000 B.C. after defeating ancient humans. The Primes come to Earth and defeat and imprison him before he can harvest the Earth's sun. The rest of the Primes Dynasty name him The Fallen, and sacrifice themselves to hide the "Matrix of Leadership", the key to start the Harvester.

Two years after Megatron's destruction, the Autobots have joined the U.S. military to create the Nonbiological Extraterrestrial Species Treaty (NEST), an elite, classified military task force working with the Autobots hunting down Decepticon resistance, with Major William Lennox (Josh Duhamel) and his squad as the human part of NEST. During a mission in Shanghai, Optimus Prime learns of The Fallen's return, but is unfamiliar with the name. They chase the two remaining Decepticons, Sideways and Demolisher through the Shanghai streets, puncturing a bridge. National Security Advisor Theodore Galloway (John Benjamin Hickey) chastises the task force for their destructive tactics and reminds them of the location of Megatron's corpse in the Laurentian Abyss and the surviving Allspark shard retrieved by Optimus. Soundwave, the Decepticons' communications officer, eavesdrops on the conversation and sends Ravage to retrieve the shard from NEST's base. Soundwave later hacks into a military satellite.

Meanwhile, Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) prepares to attend college, leaving his girlfriend Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox) and guardian Bumblebee behind. Packing his things, he discovers another Allspark shard in his old T-shirt he wore on the day when he destroyed Megatron. The shard channels its knowledge into his mind, causing him to see Cybertronian symbols and bringing the kitchen appliances to life before Bumblebee kills them. He gives the shard to Mikaela, and when the Decepticon Wheelie tries to steal it, Mikaela locks him in a toolbox. At college, Sam meets his roommate, Leo Spitz (Ramón Rodríguez), who runs a conspiracy website regarding the Transformers. Sam's hallucinations get worse, attracting the attention of fellow student Alice (Isabel Lucas), who is really a shapeshifting Pretender Decepticon. Ravage, Scalpel, and the Constructicons resurrect Megatron using the retrieved shard and they kill one of their own to provide parts for him, who then proceeds to chastise Starscream for abandoning him on Earth previously. He then reunites with The Fallen, the founder and master of all Decepticons. The Fallen orders Megatron to capture Sam and kill Optimus, who is the last surviving descendant of the Primes and the only Transformer who can kill him.

Sam, Mikaela, and Leo are targeted by the Decepticons. They kill Alice, but are captured by Megatron, Starscream, and Grindor, who attempt to take out Sam's brain. Optimus and Bumblebee arrive to rescue them. Optimus engages Megatron in a nearby forest, nearly overwhelming him before the other Decepticons intervene. After Optimus kills Grindor by ripping his head to pieces, Megatron takes advantage of the confusion to stab and kill Optimus. Sam and his friends retreat while the Autobots fight off the Decepticons. Megatron and Starscream head to the top of a building to have a quick meeting, in which Megatron tortures his second-in-command for their failures, but decides that his master should arrive now. Hearing this, Soundwave orders all the Decepticons to mobilize. Now pleased at the fact that no one can stop him, The Fallen uses Earth's telecommunications to ask for Sam in return for mankind's survival, making Sam an international fugitive. Sam, Mikaela, Leo, Bumblebee, and twins Skids and Mudflap enlist the help of ex-Sector 7 Agent Seymore Simmons (John Turturro). Simmons reveals that the Transformers visited Earth eons ago and the most ancient, known as Seekers, live in secret. With help from Wheelie, they track down the elderly Decepticon Jetfire, who defected to the Autobots years ago, tired of fighting, and he and Wheelie change sides and join the Autobots. Jetfire teleports the group to Egypt and explains The Fallen's history before sending them off to find the Tomb of the Primes to revive Optimus. Simmons contacts NEST, telling them to bring Optimus and the other Autobots to Egypt.

Sam's group finds the tomb hidden in Petra, but the Matrix crumbles to dust in Sam's hands. Undeterred, Sam places the Matrix's remains in his sock. NEST and the Autobots land, but are cut off from the Pentagon thanks to Starscream. The Decepticons attack, including Constructicon Devastator (who is made up of smaller Decepticons) who demolishes one of the Pyramids of Giza, unearthing the Sun Harvester, which was hidden inside the pyramid. He is then killed by a railgun attack summoned by Simmons. Sam's parents, who were kidnapped by the Decepticons, are used as bargaining chips with Sam to try to obtain the Matrix, but the trap fails when Bumblebee rescues them, killing the Decepticons Rampage and Ravage in the process. Jetfire arrives to join the fight and is severely wounded by Scorponok, but is still able to kill him. Chief Master Sergeant Robert Epps (Tyrese Gibson) summons an airstrike which kills most of the Decepticons; however Megatron manages to shoot and seriously injure Sam. While fighting for life, Sam has a vision, in which he meets the Primes, who tell him the Matrix is not found but earned, and that he has earned the right to bear it. They then revive Sam and restore the Matrix, which Sam then uses to resurrect Optimus.

The Fallen appears and steals the Matrix so that he can start the Sun Harvester. A dying Jetfire sacrifices himself and relinquishes his parts to Optimus, allowing the latter to gain new powers, including flight. Optimus uses his new powers to knock The Fallen and Megatron off the pyramid and destroy the Sun Harvester. Optimus then engages The Fallen in a duel, in which he seems to gain the upper hand until Megatron intervenes. Optimus forces Megatron's hand-cannon to fire into his own face, cuts off his arm, and sends him flying through a wall with a reverse blast from the jet thrusters taken from Jetfire. Megatron, wounded, calls for Starscream in agony. The Fallen re-engages Optimus, ripping off parts of his armor and seriously wounding him with his spear, but Optimus rips the spear from the Fallen's grasp and tears off part of the outer shell on his face. The Fallen dies after his spark is ripped from his chest by Optimus. As Megatron escapes with Starscream, the Autobots and their allies return to the United States.
 
 
 
TRANSFORMERS: DARK SIDE OF THE MOON (2011)
WORLDWIDE GROSS $1,123,794,079
PRODUCTION BUDGET $195 MILLION
 
 TRANSFORMERS: DARK SIDE OF THE MOON PLOT
In 1961, the Ark, a Cybertronian spacecraft carrying an invention capable of ending the war between the benevolent Autobots and the malevolent Decepticons, crash lands on the dark side of Earth's Moon. The crash is detected on Earth by NASA, and President John F. Kennedy authorizes a mission to put a man on the Moon as a cover for investigating the craft. In 1969, the crew of Apollo 11 lands on the Moon.

In the present, the Autobots assist the United States military in preventing conflicts around the globe. During a mission to Chernobyl to investigate suspected alien technology, Optimus Prime finds an engine part from the Ark, discovering that it had survived its journey from Cybertron. The Autobots are attacked by Shockwave, who manages to escape. After learning of the top-secret mission to the Moon, the Autobots travel there to explore the Ark. They discover a comatose Sentinel Prime – Optimus' predecessor as leader of the Autobots – and the Pillars he created as a means of establishing a Space Bridge between two points to teleport matter. After returning to Earth, Optimus uses the energy of the Matrix of Leadership to revive Sentinel Prime.

Meanwhile, Sam Witwicky is frustrated that he is unable to work with the Autobots or find a job. He also becomes envious of the close relationship between his new girlfriend, Carly Spencer, and her boss Dylan Gould. After finding work, Sam is provided information by his eccentric co-worker Jerry Wang about the Ark, before Jerry is assassinated by the Decepticon Laserbeak. Sam contacts the now-independently wealthy Seymour Simmons, and together they learn that the Decepticons and their leader, Megatron, are murdering people connected to the American and Russian space missions to the Ark. They locate two surviving Russian cosmonauts, who reveal satellite photos of hundreds of Pillars being stockpiled on the Moon. Sam realizes that the Decepticons raided the Ark long before the Autobots' mission and intentionally left Sentinel and five Pillars behind to lure the Autobots into a trap – Sentinel being the key to activating the Pillars and the Decepticons lacking the means to revive him. The Autobots rush to return Sentinel to their base for protection, but Sentinel betrays them and kills the Autobot Ironhide, revealing he had made a deal with Megatron to ensure the survival of the Cybertronian race.

Sentinel uses the Pillars to transport hundreds of concealed Decepticons from the Moon to Earth. Carly is captured by Gould, who is revealed to be in the service of the Decepticons. The Autobots are exiled from Earth at the demand of the Decepticons to avoid war, but as their ship leaves Earth it is destroyed by Megatron's second-in-command, Starscream, supposedly killing the Autobots. The Decepticons, led by Megatron and Sentinel, seize Chicago as their agents place Pillars around the world. Gould reveals to Carly that the Decepticons plan to transport their home world of Cybertron to the Solar System, then to enslave humanity and use Earth's resources to rebuild their world. Sam teams with U.S. Air Force Chief Robert Epps to go into Chicago to save Carly, but they are nearly killed by Decepticon forces before the Autobots intervene, revealing they concealed themselves during the launch of their ship to convince the Decepticons they were destroyed, as well as to prove to the humans that the Decepticons were untrustworthy.

Working together, the Autobots and human soldiers manage to rescue Carly and kill Laserbeak, Starscream, Soundwave, Barricade, Shockwave, and the Driller, with Optimus using Shockwave's arm-cannon to blast the Control Pillar, disabling the Space Bridge. Sam confronts Gould as he reactivates the Control Pillar, and knocks Gould into the Pillar, killing him. Bumblebee and Ratchet arrive and destroy the Control Pillar, permanently disabling the Bridge and causing the partially transported Cybertron to implode. Optimus and Sentinel fight while Carly convinces Megatron that he will be replaced as leader of the Decepticons by Sentinel. Sentinel severs Optimus' right arm, and is about to execute him when Megatron intervenes, incapacitating Sentinel. Megatron asks Optimus for a truce, having the desire to become the one in charge of the Decepticons again. Optimus refuses and attacks Megatron, decapitating and killing him. Sentinel pleads for his life, but Optimus executes him too for betraying his own principles. With the Decepticons defeated, Carly and Sam are reunited and the Autobots accept that, with Cybertron gone for good, Earth is now their home.
 
NOW LET'S DO THE MATH SHALL WE:
 
TRANSFORMERS
$709,709,780
TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN
$836,303,693
TRANSFORMERS: DARK SIDE OF THE MOON
$1,123,794,079
 
TRANSFORMERS FRANCHISE TOTAL WORLDWIDE GROSS
$2,669,807,552
 
So you can see why it would be extremely profitable for Hollywood to try and continue the franchise and I'm guessing with the continued success as can be seen currently with Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014), we can only expect to see many more of these movies coming our way and as long as we the audience enjoy the mayhem and destruction in these movies, we will continue to see giant robots in our theatres and Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg behind these epic movies.

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