It was pretty much a foregone conclusion that this would happen, and long before Michael Bay's "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" closed out the weekend with a gross domestic box office take of slightly more than $299 million. Now it's officially official: "Fallen" has breached the $300 million mark, making it the first movie to do so in 2009.
In spite of it continuing to fare poorly with critics -- RottenTomatoes has "Fallen" at a 19% Tomatometer reading -- the ticket-buying crowds have come out in huge numbers in the two weeks since this summer's obligatory dose of Bay-hem hit theaters. The Hollywood Reporter also brings word that the movie has performed similarly overseas, bringing the rough worldwide box office right now to more than $600 million.
Wow? Yes... I think a "wow" is in order. Bay tends to draw a crowd with his spectacle-heavy summer blockbusters -- after all, who doesn't love a good explosion? -- but "Fallen" also owes much of its success to the incredible cache of the "Transformers" brand. Still, $600+ million in two weeks is nothing less than impressive.
The real test will be seeing how the giant fighting robot movie performs in the weeks to come. As the initial excitement dies down and other $300+ million shoe-ins -- like next week's "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" -- arrive, the numbers are sure to decline. How much and how fast remains to be seen, and that's where the real test will be.
Not that "Fallen" has anything to prove at this point. With $600 million in worldwide earnings -- and growing, make no mistake -- the budget has already been recouped and then some. Whatever the critics have to say, the audiences have spoken as they always do: with their open wallets and seat-filling asses.
Have you contributed to "Fallen"'s massive box office take? Do you intend to? Planning any repeat viewings?
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