Michael Bay’s Transformers 4: The Age of Extinction, topped the box office this weekend grossing $100 million in North America, making it the biggest debut for a movie this year, according to studio estimates Sunday. In additional, Age of Extinction (which is the fourth film in the Transformers series), grossed $201 million overseas from 37 international territories, specifically making $90 million in China, where it was partially filmed and co-produced.
Age of Extinction opened topping the previous entry in the series, Dark of the Moon, which took in $97.9 million during its opening weekend in 2011. But it failed to top the $108.9 million opening of the second film, 2009’s Revenge of the Fallen.
Age of Extinction stars Mark Wahlberg and Nicola Peltz as a human father-daughter duo who help the shape-shifting extraterrestrial robots. Based on the Hasbro toy franchise of the same name, besides a switch in the male lead from Shia LaBeouf (who starred in the first three installments in the series) to Mark Wahlberg, the sequel also introduces the popular Transformers characters based on the likenesses of dinosaurs.
"I think putting Mark Wahlberg front and center accomplished what we wanted to do, and that's re-energize the franchise," Paramount vice chairman Rob Moore said. "He appeals to audiences, both critically and as an action star."
Here’s this weekend’s Box Office top 5:
1) Transformers – $100 Mill
2) 22 Jump Street – $15.4 Mill
3) How to train Your Dragon 2 – $13.1 Mill
4) Think Like a Man Too – $10.4 Mill
5) Maleficent – $8.2 Mill
