This weekend Transformers 3 opened with the largest-ever July 4th holiday weekend box office taking in the US ($162m) and the third largest global debut in history ($372m). In the same weekend Pirates 4 broke $1bn globally.
Now I won’t lament the death of cinema here but I will say – that’s nuts!
Transformers 1 worked – maybe it was the combination of Megan Fox + motorcycle and Shia Labeouf’s perfectly sculpted hair – but Transformers 2 was widely regarded as a turkey. So why, then, have so many people come out for the 3rd installment?
Pirates 4 has had the worst reviews of the series to date, yet in 6 short weeks it has generated more money than it would take to buy Aston Martin outright.
I can only put it down to escapism. There’s so much doom and gloom that we need 2 hours of mindless entertainment. Something which we will pay good money for, as you’re unlikely to walk away with much change from £50 for a family trip to the Cinema.
Personally I am waiting for the 2011 remake of the Frank Capra masterpiece ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’, which has the working title of ‘I survived today’.
James Clifton
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