Yuck, that upper lip looks horrible.

lips aren't soo bad

To her defense, from what i could see in those short Transformers 3 snippets she seems to have a more likeable persona than "look-how-hot-i-am" Megan Fox.

Well, in Megan's defence, there were some scenes in both Transformers movies where she looked quite plain and beatiful...especially when she ties up her hair and gets her hands dirty.

It's that closeup shot with that dark mascara and red lips which screams "look how hot i am". But the poor girl can't help it, don't hate her because she's beatiful.

Why are people still talking about Booby Box? That's all she ever was.

Part of the blame lies on the director/screenplay, true.

I wonder if Carly will get her hands dirty in this movie, in the cartoons she was pretty practical and got Spike (i.e. Sam) out of a lot of situations.

Interesting article about the growth of foreign BO...


http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-c ... 4484.story

June 25, 2011
Reporting from Los Angeles and Moscow— On a hot summer night this week in a historic Moscow square, a delegation of Hollywood celebrities headed by director Michael Bay and actor Shia LaBeouf marched past the 33-foot tall Alexander Pushkin monument and up the green carpeted stairs to the movie theater, a drab Soviet-era cube of concrete and glass.

In a poorly air-conditioned auditorium filled well beyond its 2,000-seat capacity, the Hollywood contingent went on stage to introduce the opening film of the 33rd Moscow International Film Festival: Paramount Pictures' "Transformers: Dark of the Moon," the latest in the series of critically pummeled but wildly popular extravaganzas featuring giant battling robots, fiery explosions and scantily clad young actresses.

If the festival, conceived as a showcase for films extolling the Soviet Union, seemed an unlikely marketing venue for Hollywood's quintessential summer event movie, it actually reflects how emerging markets that were a backwater for the American film industry only a decade ago have become its primary growth engine.

"Ten years ago Russia had only a few dozen screens, and now it is enjoying such enormous growth that we think it's fitting to have the opening of one of the biggest franchises in the industry there," Paramount Chairman Brad Grey said in an interview. "Russia is just one of several new markets opening up that are driving most of the increase in demand for our movies."

Box-office growth in countries such as Russia, Brazil and China (Europe and Japan have long been fertile ground for American movies) comes as theater attendance in the U.S. and Canada has flattened and once-lucrative DVD sales have plummeted.

Overseas ticket buyers now account for nearly 70% of Hollywood's box-office revenue, and it's quite possible for a movie to flop in the U.S. yet still be a hit because of its international appeal. For example, the Johnny Depp-Angelina Jolie thriller "The Tourist" earned only $68 million domestically after its December debut. But the movie, directed by a German, filmed in Venice and Paris, featuring a largely British supporting cast and remade from a popular French film, did a healthy $211 million overseas.

"We have to make up for the shortfall in DVD spending somehow, and the principal way we are doing it now is international," said Michael Lynton, chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment.

The trend has changed how Hollywood does business, including deciding which movies get made, where they are filmed, who gets cast and how they are marketed.

In the expanding global marketplace, the sensibilities of moviegoers in Shanghai and St. Petersburg count as much as — if not more than — those in St. Louis and Studio City.

In Sony Pictures' "The Green Hornet," for example, executives tapped Taiwanese pop star Jay Chou to play the Hornet's sidekick despite his lack of Hollywood experience and limited English. He and co-star Cameron Diaz, who is popular in Europe, provided balance to star Seth Rogen, who didn't have a strong track record overseas.

"When it comes to casting decisions … we certainly take into account how well the character will play in international markets," said Neal Moritz, a producer of "Green Hornet."

Another movie Moritz produced, "Fast Five," takes place in Brazil, "not only because it was right for the movie, but because it was right for the international marketplace," he said.

The film had its world premiere in Rio de Janeiro and has grossed $21 million in the country, twice as much as 2009's "Fast & Furious."

In some cases, it's just a matter of branding. The film sold to Americans last fall as "Battle: Los Angeles" was called "World Invasion: Battle Los Angeles" in most of the world. This summer's "Captain America: The First Avenger" will be known simply as "The First Avenger" in Russia and South Korea.

In Disney-Pixar's just-released animated feature "Cars 2," which is set in several international locations, "there was originally a Russian villain, but there was concern about that," said Nathan Stanton, story supervisor on the film. The bad-guy car character was changed to a monocle-wearing German.

Animated family films like "Cars 2" and "Rio," as well as 3D, special-effects-laden spectacles with easy-to-follow stories like the "Transformers" sequel, are typical of the kind of movies that play well overseas, particularly in emerging markets. Live-action comedies and dramas, meanwhile, tend not to translate well, a key reason studios are making fewer of them.

"The movies that work overseas tend to be big action films, the type that don't require viewers to necessarily pick up on the nuances of the language or culture," said Lynton.

Kirill Razlogov, the Moscow film festival's program director, said he scheduled the "Transformers" premiere to boost the festival's international profile and doesn't really consider it an American film. "There is nothing American in 'Transformers,' and it is far more like a Japanese video game than a U.S. movie," he said.

Bay said Moscow was the ideal stage for the launch of his latest movie.

Special 11 PM screenings scheduled here in Hong Kong for June 28. Any other places having advanced screenings?

Singapore and Malaysia have had screenings for June 28 from a month back since the advance bookings started. Interestingly these midnight screenings are only in 3D.

In Australia, showings start at midnight on the Wednesday at 12:01am. I have not seen any Tuesday advance previews.

This movie will easily have the largest screen count or sessions per theatre this year.

Midnights are starting to fill up here in Australia, it's now up to 75% (with 4 hours to go), definately a slow burner in terms of advance ticket sales.

I don't think it'll get the opening weekend record here (and definately not the 4-Day opening record since it's opening on a Wednesday).

What is the opening weekend record?

Late night shows are about 5-50% full here in Hong Kong. Most are about 15-30% full. We really don't believe in watching movies at midnight here.

New Moon currently has the regular 4-Day opening weekend record here in Australia. HP6 has the 5-Day record (which Transformers 3 will need to try and beat). ROTK has the straight out 3-Day record.


1) The Twilight Saga: New Moon - $16,099,648 (US$14.5m - 530 SC)
2) Harry Potter 7-1: DH - $15,293,557 (610 SC)
3) Harry Potter 6: HBP - $14,330,931 (4-Day or $18,705,212/ US$14.4m/ 1.8m adms. 5-Day - 510 SC)
4) Lord Of The Rings: TTT - $14,115,394 (US$7,918,875 - 424 SC)
5) Transformers 2: Revenge Of The Fallen - $13,647,361 (or $16,294,847 5-Day - 457 SC)
6) Star Wars 3: ROTS - $13,359,734 (incl. $1.2m midnights - US$10,446,272 - 535 SC) or US$11,210,696 by Mon
7) The Simpsons Movie - $13,228,926 (442 SC)
8) Shrek 2 - $13,159,869 (US$9,720,795 or $13,646,848 incl. Tas p/v - 437 SC) or US$10,344,499 by Mon
9) The Twilight: Eclipse - $12,990,707 (US$10.7m or 13,006,412 incl. p/v - 536 SC)
10) Harry Potter 5: OOTP - $12,871,680 (or $16,973,961 5-Day - 500 SC)

11) Lord Of The Rings: ROTK - $12,731,703 (US$9,464,748 3-Day - 453 SC)
12) Harry Potter 4: GOF - $12,355,237 (US$9,217,025 - 552 SC)
13) Pirates Of The Caribbean 3: At World’s End - $12,074,242 (606 SC)
14) Star Wars 2: AOTC - $11,967,380 (US$6.5m - 457 SC)
15) Avatar - $11,962,308 (or $12,895,497 incl. Wed p/v 5pm - 588 SC)
16) Harry Potter 3: POA - $11,935,745 (US$8.6m or $12,274,543 incl. Tas p/v - 452 SC) or $14,799,004/ $15,137,801 by Mon*
17) The Dark Knight - $11,779,716 (4-Day or $14,057,430 5-Day - 472 SC)
18) The Hangover: Part II - $11,286,995 (424 SC)
19) Pirates Of The Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest - $11,215,765 (489 SC)
20) The Matrix Reloaded - $11,092,773 (US$7,224,680 3-Day - 480 SC)

Opening Day matinees are about 30-40% full, the true test is how it performs at night.

Egypt

10PM showing of Tuesday - 85% full

It's around 6pm here on Wednesday Opening Day, and most of the early night sessions (say around 6:30pm) are about 50%-90% Full. Which is quite good though i'm not sure if it's as explosive as The Hangover 2.

It's still a Wednesday which has traditionally and generally been a stay at home day for people, that's why you tend to have the big TV shows on on Wednesday....people will go out more towards the end of the week.

It'll be interesting to see what the opening day figure is like tomorrow. The previous two pics have had good opening days but nothing explosive like Harry Potter or Twilight.

Isn't that some kind of chicken and egg thing?

Perhaps, though i'm generalising by a great deal of course. If a big movie is out and you want to see it, then you'll see it whenever

Night sessions are starting to come up to full steam, most 8:30pm sessions are now at least 80% Full and there's still another 1hr to go.

TF3 looks to do well overseas, SK poster says TF3 is heading towards a 25 million 5-day weekend and should end up well well above TF2 43 million.

http://boxofficemojo.com/forums/viewtop ... start=2250

That would be a huge start and its sure to beat the 2nd release in just 2 weeks, Massive. Looks like we can expect big things from Asia again this time around. It'll like end up at #1 foreign release in most markets there.

IN the same thread Katy from korea said its getting bad WOM so mediocre legs is a lock. I remember AWE opened to 20M and finished with 31M.

are you sure that does not seem theoretically possible...


Well it opened to around 16.7 million and got that.


imo TF2 had bad buzz as well so imo it should end up near the same result and likley higher.