Robotech ADR Director/ Voice Actor Richard Epcar has just taped a coke commerical. He plays the father! Here it is.              

DeadlineHollywoodDaily.com has the latest.

The Fourth Of July 5-day holiday blasted off at the North American box office Wednesday with something for everyone: families, fanboys, and adults fed up there's been almost nothing for them in movie theaters. Fox's Ice Age 3-D: Dawn of the Dinosaurs opened very promisingly with $14 million from 3,993 venues. (Rival studios had been claiming the pic wasn't tracking well with young boys, and that's why 20th felt the need to sneak it recently.) With the public clearly not tiring of 3-D toons, my box office gurus predict the threequel can come close to $60M for the full 5-day holiday even though Saturday's grosses on the 4th will be weak for every movie. That Ice Age 3 beat Transformers 2 on opening day is "significant," one Fox exec told me. "Doubt we'll win the weekend though, since Saturday is a dead day." The 3-day weekend estimate is around $45M.

The toon should stay neck and neck all weekend with the $60M expected over the 5-day holiday and $45M for the 3-day weekend from Paramount's Tranformers 2: Revenge Of The Fallen which took in $11 million Wednesday from its still gigantic release into 4,234 dates. That's only -19% from its Tuesday haul of $13.5M, but a big -82% from its record-smashing opening day a week ago. The actioner's domestic cume is now $239M. Combined with $221M from international, that's a new worldwide total of a staggering $460+M.

I've seen Ice Age 3 and it is very good (very funny too...the Joke with Sid and the OX was brilliant.) great family entertainment. It also appears TF2 is doing very well as we are on a Tuesday and it is sitll grossing over $10 million USD per-day. I'll keep you posted.

The Robotech Convention Tour once again makes its annual stop at North America's largest anime event on July 3rd & 4th! Check out the article!

DeadlineHollyDaily.com has the scoop.

I'm told that Monday's haul was $14.8 million for Transformers 2: Revenge Of The Fallen for a new $214.9M domestic cume. Internationally, it made $14M foreign Monday for a new $204M overseas cume. Worldwide, the total is now a whopping $419M. 

This very cool photoshop and essay comes from Robert A. Hahn. (Special thanks to all of my readers who sent this in)

Billy Mays is one of America's best pictchmen...if dont believe me, just mention Oxy-Clean or Mighty Putty and you know exactly what they are. He said it the best when the projects are Billy tested...watch this video.

Rest in peace Billy...

I saw TF2 on late Sunday afternoon at a suburban IMAX showing. The theatre was 80% full and had a 53% male to 47% female split. The audience loved the movie and many said they were going to see it agian. The LA Times has an article today about TF2 making $201 Million USD in five days and taks with director Michael Bay about this.

Since it arrived early Wednesday just past midnight, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" sold more tickets in its first five days -- an estimated $201.2 million -- than any other movie in Hollywood history except one: last year's "The Dark Knight" (which grossed $203.8 million in its first five days and went on to earn $533.3 million at the domestic box office). By the end of this week, "Transformers" likely will surpass "Up" and "Star Trek" to become this summer's most-attended release.

"I think they reviewed the wrong movie. They just don't understand the movie and its audience. It's silly fun," Bay said over the weekend of the many "Transformers" critical detractors. "I am convinced that they are born with the anti-fun gene. The reviews are just so vicious. A lot of them are more personal than anything else."

His film's strong debut cements Bay's reputation as one of the town's most consistently commercial directors. A colorful personality who drives fast cars, dates knockout models, wears his shirts unbuttoned and is infamously demanding on and off his movie sets, the boyish Bay possesses one of the highest average theatrical grosses among Hollywood's best-known directors. 
 

Let the good times roll..

From DeadlineHollywoodDaily.com

Sources tell me Paramount's Transformers 2: Revenge Of The Fallen is looking like it took in $39.5 Saturday and $36.7M Friday from 4,234 theaters. The studio is now estimating its 3-day weekend cume is bigger than expected: $115M vs $90M previously anticipated despite lousy reviews. But execs say the robot sequel will "only" get to $200M for the 5-day opening total. Which means the rock'em, sock'em pic isn't expected to gun down the 5-day opening record of $203.8M set by last summer's The Dark Knight.

With exit polls showing a 91% of audiences enjoying  "this movie as much or better than the first". It looks like Paramount is going to make a killing on TF2. It's going to be interesting to watch the midweek numbers as we go into the July 4th weekend.

With Transformers doing so well at the box office Variety was able to sit down with director Michael Bay for a interview. Now the interview is hard core industry but its quite insightful in to what went on. Here is a excerpt that caught my eye.

Michael Bay on the set of Transformers 2

BFD: Considering your development on this movie was interrupted by the writer’s strike and you risked being shut down any moment by shooting after the expiration of the SAG contract, what was the hardest thing about making “Transformers: The Fallen?”

Bay: That could have been the hardest thing. With an impending strike, we had 12 pages of a treatment. I worked very closely with the writers, great collaborators, who suddenly went on strike. I said, “We’re going to start prepping this movie at full force, scout places I think are going to be in this movie and try and put this together as best we could.” There might be an actor’s strike, but I told the studio we’re going to shoot this on June 2, come hell or high water. We took a gamble that the writers would come back from the strike in time and we just made it. At one point, we were the only movie shooting in the country. But I had to gamble. I have a loyal crew and my job gives 2,000 to 2,500 people jobs. It was scary because so many people were out of work and you hear your crew say, “Wow, I might have to move out of my house.” You feel responsible.

Go read the whole thing! Even if you do not work in the industry its worth it.

36 Million in one day...

Paramount is going to be awash in energon when this weekend is over...

From Variety.com

Paramount-DreamWorks' action-sequel "Transformers: The Revenge of the Fallen" continued to dominate the box office Friday raking in $36.7 million and raising its running domestic cume to $125.9 million over three days.

While "Revenge of the Fallen" is heading for a five-day worldwide B.O. record, box office observers have estimated that its domestic haul over the same frame could be north of $190 million. "Dark Knight" holds the five-day opening domestic B.O. record with $203.8 million. Directed by Michael Bay who also helmed the first "Transformers," "Revenge of the Fallen" is currently playing at 4,234 theaters, 169 of which are Imax.

Titles for femme auds proved to be solid counterprogramming to "Revenge of the Fallen" as Disney's Sandra Bullock-Ryan Reynolds romantic comedy "The Proposal" took second with $6.1 million and Warner Bros.-New Line release "My Sister's Keeper"starring Cameron Diaz bowed in fourth with $5.1 million on 2,606. Through eight days, "The Proposal" has collected close to $57 million off 3,058, more than double the B.O. that Bullock's highest grossing romantic comedy, 2000's "Miss Congeniality," cleared over the same frame.

Warner Bros.' "The Hangover" slotted third with $5.3 million, down 37% on 3,525 for a running cume in its fourth Friday of $171.3 million.

Disney-Pixar's "Up" nabbed fifth with $3.9 million, down 35% on 3,487 for a running B.O. in its fifth Friday of $241.1 million.

Focus Features' limited release of the Sam Mendes pic "Away We Go" took the tenth spot yesterday with $507,000, seeing a jump in its Friday-to-Friday B.O. of 104% after upping its theater count from 132 to 495. Current B.O. stands at $2.9 million.

Summit Entertainment reaped a boffo opening theater average of $11,132 from Kathryn Bigelow's Iraq actioner "The Hurt Locker" which minted $44,528 from four Gotham and Los Angeles sites.

Miramax's period piece "Cheri" directed by Stephen Frears and starring Michelle Pfeiffer grossed $111,000 off 76 engagements. Pic marks the second time since 1988's "Dangerous Liaisons" that the actress and British helmer have worked together.

Sony Classics' Woody Allen comedy "Whatever Works" saw a 27% spike in its second Friday with $98,000 from 35 engagements for an eight-day cume of $477,164.

 

Several people have e-mailed me telling me they have seen the movie several times. I have seen it, I liked the film but it does have some flaws, however, they are not impacting the film at the boxoffice. There is talk the film might beat The Dark Night 203 million 5 day total. Lets see what happens.

You can find out all the news on this here.