Box Office Report: Transformers has biggest opening of the year in Australia and around the world

Well we all knew Transformer: Age of Extinction would open big, but did we know it would open this big? The fourth film in Michael Bay’s action franchise took $8.8 million in its Australian opening weekend, giving it the biggest Aussie opening of the year by overtaking May’s X-Men: Days of Future Past. The film also had the biggest US opening of the year, taking US$100 million, beating out Captain America: The Winter Soldier (US$95 million). The films worldwide total for the weekend was a whopping US$300 million, all but guaranteeing that Age of Extinction will crack the $1 billion mark in worldwide takings, especially since it is still yet to open in a large number of countries. Looks like the Transformers films aren’t going away any time soon!

It was all about Transformers this weekend, but sequels 22 Jump Street and How to Train Your Dragon 2 continued to do well, taking $5.56 million and $2.49 million respectively. Both films have received a much more positive response from critics and audiences than Transformers though, so it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect them to have slightly stronger legs than the robot pic.

In a likely attempt to avoid being smothered by Transformers, there aren’t any massive releases this coming week, but there is a bit of clever counter-programming. Animated sequel Rio 2 is set to hit theatres on Thursday, three years after the original. While not necessarily considered a modern classic, the first Rio made almost US$500 million worldwide, so a sequel was inevitable. Rio 2 looks like a solid choice for parents if they’re looking for something to entertain their kids. That’s if they’ve already seen How to Train Your Dragon 2, of course. Mature viewers may want to check out Clint Eastwood’s adaptation of the Broadway smash Jersey Boys, which chronicles the rise of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Reviews have been mixed, but fans of the band or the show should find something to like, and Eastwood usually provides something worth seeing. Read our Jersey Boys review here.

All figures from The Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia and Box Office Mojo.

Rio 2 and Jersey Boys open in cinemas around the country on Thursday July 3rd.

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