Transformers: Dark of the Moon box office: Michael Bay’s panned mega-budget mega-hit trailing equally panned predecessor
*July 1–4 weekend box office: Featuring Shia LaBeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley (replacing Megan Fox), and Josh Duhamel, the third entry in Michael Bay’s critically excoriated big-screen franchise, the mega-budget 3D actioner Transformers: Dark of the Moon – a.k.a. Transformers 3 – grossed $115.9 million from 4,088 North American (U.S. and Canada only) theaters over the four-day July 4 weekend according to final studio figures found at boxofficemojo.com.
*Domestic total of this DreamWorks/Paramount release after six days (including $13.5 million from Tuesday late-night screenings at 2,700 3D locations): $180.7 million.
Earlier last week, pundits had been expecting $195 million; following the Tuesday previews, expectations plummeted to $175 million. If one is to believe Paramount, the studio was expecting $155–$165 million in the first six days.
*For comparison’s sake: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the widely lambasted second installment in the Transformers franchise, earned $214.9 million (about $225 million today) in its first six days in late June 2009 – without the assistance of late-night sneak previews, revenue-boosting 3D ticket prices, or the Fourth of July holiday.
*Here’s another comparison: In its first six days out (June 30–July 5), Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2, starring Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst, took in $180.1 million back in 2004 – without factoring in inflation and without 3D surcharges.
An aside: A couple of months ago The Terminator director James Cameron (more or less) lamented that doomsday-ish computer networ Skynet had not come to life on April 11, as found in the television series inspired by Cameron’s 1984 feature – but that global warming was humankind’s very real existential threat.
While ignoring the ever-worsening climate change crisis, Paramount might have used that date to release something like Transformers 3. However, the studio obviously had other, more pressing box office considerations.
Sturdier legs than Revenge of the Fallen?
*Now, claims that Dark of the Moon is holding up better than Revenge of the Fallen give a warped view of the two movies’ box office performances: Revenge of the Fallen’s Day 6, for instance, was a non-holiday Monday. That helps to explain its 54 percent drop-off rate relative to the day before – vs. Dark of the Moon’s 41 percent drop on July 4. In fact, once one factors in inflation and 3D surcharges, on Day 6 Revenge of the Fallen likely sold almost as many tickets as Dark of the Moon. (3D premiums can add up to 40 percent to the price of movie tickets.)
*There’s more: Some pundits are claiming that Dark of the Moon – which collected 60 percent of its domestic take from 3D locations – is proof that 3D is here to stay at least for some types of movies. That could be. However, one should remember that no less than 70 percent of the theaters screening Transformers 3 are 3D-equipped. In that context, the 60 percent share looks far less impressive.
Lastly, Transformers 3 or no, this year’s Fourth of July weekend revenues were down an estimated 4.5 percent compared to last year, when the two big titles were David Slade’s romantic fantasy/adventure The Twilight Saga: Eclipse and M. Night Shyamalan’s fantasy adventure The Last Airbender.
Dark of the Moon cast
Also in the Transformers: Dark of the Moon cast: Patrick Dempsey, Tyrese Gibson, Oscar winner Frances McDormand (Fargo, 1996), two-time nominee John Malkovich (Places in the Heart, 1984; In the Line of Fire, 1993), John Turturro, Alan Tudyk, and Ken Jeong.
In addition to the voices of Hugo Weaving, Robert Foxworth, Peter Cullen, and Star Trek veteran Leonard Nimoy as Sentinel Prime.
July 1 evening:
More comparisons: including previews, Dark of the Moon has grossed $162.1 million after five days. Without 3D surcharges, in 2009 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen collected $200.1 million (about $209.5 million today). In 2007, the original Transformers pulled in $133.3 million (about $148.5 million today), including previews. In other words, Dark of the Moon has sold way fewer tickets than Revenge of the Fallen, and is behind the original Transformers as well in number of tickets sold.
Also worth noting: Dark of the Moon has had the biggest opening weekend of 2011, having surpassed Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides’ $90.2 million.
Dark of the Moon cost a reported $195 million, in addition to marketing/distribution expenses.
Overseas, Dark of the Moon has grossed $210 million, behind only On Stranger Tides among 2011 releases. The top two markets were South Korea ($28 million; a local record) and Russia ($22 million). As per Box Office Mojo, in addition to South Korea Transformers 3 broke opening-weekend records in Hong Kong, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Peru and Panama. It’s unclear whether those are attendance records or box office records; if the latter, they haven’t been adjusted for inflation, exchange-rate fluctuations.
The biggest Wednesday ever (not accounting for inflation) belongs to David Slade’s The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner. Next in line are Revenge of the Fallen, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and Spider-Man 2.
Transformers: Dark of the Moon actors Shia LaBeouf, Josh Duhamel play supporting roles to explosions
April 2011 post re: trailer: Michael Bay directs Transformers 3, which, according to a number of scientific studies, can be seriously harmful to movie audiences’ brain cells. Other studies suggest Bay’s latest may well become the biggest summer 2011 hit, which says a lot about the brain cells of movie audiences everywhere.
Apart from eye-popping visual effects and ear-popping sound effects, what else do the Transformers: Dark of the Moon trailers have to offer?
John Turturro and Academy Award winner Frances McDormand (Fargo, 1996) delivering stilted lines in stilted fashion; Shia LaBeouf, Josh Duhamel, and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley looking like they’re all in dire need of a bath; and a basic look and feel that should remind viewers of Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds: Monsters rising from the depths of the earth, destructive rays from up above, buildings collapsing, and so on. (Spielberg is one of Dark of the Moon’s executive producers.)
Written by Ehren Kruger – someone actually writes these things – the Transformers 3 plot deals with Autobots out to avenge the critical drubbing earned by Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. There’s some kind of machinery on the Moon that will help them control movie critics’ brains or some such, and in all likelihood lead to one more Transformers installment within the next two or three years.
But here’s wondering: How many more times can the filmmakers and visual-effects artists and technicians make a series of deafening explosions worth two hours of one’s life and the shelling out of $30 (including soda, popcorn, parking)?
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon Box Office: Trailing Predecessor” notes
Josh Duhamel and Shia LaBeouf Transformers: Dark of the Moon images: Mark Fellman | Paramount Pictures.
*last modified in June 2026.