Michael Bay’s fourth installment, Transformers: Age of Extinction, raked in a solid $8.75 million from evening showings on Thursday, according to studio estimates.
The summer action blockbuster was screened in about 2,990 locations throughout the U.S. starting at 9 p.m., with Imax representing $1.4 million of the total estimate.
It’s earnings ranked higher than the $8.1 million grossed for Fox’s X-Men: Days of Future Past and very close to Sony’s $8.7 million grossed for Amazing Spider-Man 2. The Paramount Pictures film, however, did fall below the $9.2 million and $10.5 million earned by Warner Bros.’ Godzilla and Walt Disney’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
While it’s a big opening number, in comparison to prior Transformers installments, Age of Extinction did open with the lowest Thursday debut. The third film in the series, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, earned $13.5 million from late-night showings, whereas the second film in 2009, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, earned the highest of all with $16.6 million from midnight showings. 2007’s Transformers was once the lowest total earnings out of the group, making $8.8 million from its preview and midnight screenings.
Age of Extinction replaces Shia LaBeouf with Mark Wahlberg as the lead character, Cade, an automobile mechanic. The female lead character is no longer a love interest, as it was with Megan Fox and Rosie Huntington-Whitely in the previous films. This time around, teenage newcomer Nicola Peltz, portraying the role of Tessa (Cade’s daughter), will play the female lead.
“This Transformers is really about the emotional connection between father and daughter,” said Paramount’s chief marketing officer, Josh Greenstein. “Some of our goals in marketing the film was to showcase Michael’s incredible work not just on a visual level but on an emotional one.”
The release of the hit action film, featuring Optimus Prime, BumbleBee, and other autobots, will extend to approximately 4,200 locations domestically this weekend, 353 of which are IMAX. Analysts predict that the film will open with $100 million, and may possibly become the first film to premiere with nine figures this year.
