Paramount Accused of Boosting Box Office Number for Transformers: Age of Extinction
- Chad Arias
- Jul 02, 2014 11:14 AM EDT
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There's no doubt that Paramount's Transformers: Age of Extinction opened with a box office bang, but just how big of a bang is being called into question by other studio executives.
Paramount claims that after its opening weekend totals, Transformers: Age of Extinction racked up $100.38 million, making it the year's first $100 million opening weekend movie.
The competition however, aren't buying it, calling it an "overestimate."
Most box office reports have the film grossing somewhere in the $97.5 million to $99 million range.
The allegations are being made in "off the record" comments from Paramount's competition.
No executive has yet to put their name on the rumors that have surfaced.
An anonymous distribution head at a major studio told reporters, "I don't get it. Is it just arrogance? What is the point of inflating your box-office numbers? So they can claim the first $100M movie opening of the year? Oh please, who cares? It's a great opening anyway."
Another studio head commented off the record, "I don't care what they report, if they want to lie, go ahead. I'd like to lie and say we did better than numbers than we did, but I can't."
There is no question that the Transformers saga has become one of the biggest moneymakers in recent Hollywood history, grossing more than $2 billion worldwide.
Fans don't seem to be tiring of the mechanized violence and amazingly intricate design details.
Transformers went through a character shakeup, with Shia Labeouf kicked to the curb and Mark Wahlberg added into the staring role.
Studios always hold their breath when replacing lead roles, but unlike most films, Transformers was able to shift the story to focus on Wahlberg's character. With the opening weekend numbers, it's safe to say that fans enjoy Wahlberg just as much as LaBeouf.
In April of this year, Paramount announced that Transformers: Age of Extinction would be the first in a new Transformers trilogy.
Mark Wahlberg has signed on for the remaining two films. It is unclear if Transformers director Michael Bay will continue in his current role for the remaining films, but Transformers 5 is slated to be released in the summer of 2016.
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