ROTTEN TOMATOES: Box Office: Michael Bay Haters Rejoice

Box Office: Michael Bay Haters Rejoice - The Island Sinks

by Senh Duong | July 23, 2005

Summary

Michael Bay haters (I'm not one of them) can cherish this weekend. His newest explosion-fest, The Island, bombed at the box office with an estimated $4.4M on Friday, according to Showbizdata. It took the third spot behind last Friday's chart toppers, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Wedding Crashers. For the weekend, The Island will likely gross $12-14M, making it the worst debut for a Michael Bay film. His average opening for his last five films is an explosive $36M. His last five films also have a spectacular average gross of $147M; The Island, which has a production budget of $120M, will be lucky to make a third of that. Back to Article

(1-43 of 43 posts) | Reply

Biggestgeekever writes:
on Jul 23 2005 04:08 PM

[b]WTF?!?!?!?!?[/b]
The Island in third place? How can this be?!? After the crap that is Fantastic Four gets 56 million on it's first weekend, how can the Island get a 1/4 that much?

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mr_movie_maniac writes:
on Jul 23 2005 05:02 PM

[b]My Question Exactly![/b]
You know, these days all you hear is..."it wasn't as good as I expected" or "how disappointing" But the truth is that they make these movies look so appealing in the trailers, in order for us to expect that they're going to be breath-taking. Wake up and smell the world of marketing people. (btw, I actually thought The Island wasn't all that bad....in comparison)

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Jaws2004 writes:
on Jul 23 2005 05:07 PM

Very surprising. It probably bombed because it wasn't a superhero-movie. Doesn't people like sci-fi anymore?

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the wynne writes:
on Jul 23 2005 06:25 PM

well guess I'll donate my 8 bucks next friday :P. I still think it looks alright.

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fight__club writes:
on Jul 23 2005 07:08 PM

I'am usually hyped to watch his films. Even though his films usually aren't great, they are really good entertainment. This is actually the only movie of his that I haven't really been looking foward to. The film looks okay and I will definetely watch it on DVD.

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new12play writes:
on Jul 23 2005 07:52 PM

I believe the first trailer of this movie should've been utilized even more. It was an example of what a Michael Bay movie truly is...powerful scores and stunning eye candy (plus there was no dialogue, which is a good thing...ex. Pearl Harbor). I can understand why the movie, while not a waste, is not resonating with audiences. There feels something familiar when you watch it...like you've seen it before. Even with that said, I do applaud the movie for at least attempting to be something fresh in a summer that feels recycled.

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Ophiuchus writes:
on Jul 23 2005 08:07 PM

That's because some people HAVE seen it before. The Island is virtually plagurised from an old movie called Parts: The Clonus Horror. The simularities are staggering. Coincidence? I don't know. But I heart Bay is being sued by the makers of Parts.
Gosh, there must be a lot of un-fans out there for the movie to tank this badly.

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r_curl04 writes:
on Jul 23 2005 08:35 PM

I loved The Island personally and will most deff be seeing it again.
This movie has everything I do believe that makes a summer movie perfect.

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antickpix writes:
on Jul 23 2005 09:05 PM

In reply to this comment (#824494)
Plagiarised maybe, but I doubt whether the majority of the target audience are aware of Parts: The Clonus Horror.

Sad for this film to bomb though (even though it is a MB film, it's prob one of his best, which i do admit isn't saying much) when it stars Scarlett J and Ewan McGregor..

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Elessar Oronro writes:
on Jul 23 2005 09:32 PM

The Island was great...I went proudly on Friday and enjoyed every minute. I'm one of the few people that was hoping Bay would get Superman and not Singer. It's a damn shame it wasn't a bigger hit. Scarlett is hotter than hell in this thing....and Ewan is fun as always. The sci-fi story is not forgotten amid the last 2/3 action/explosion fest that is your typical Bay film. Go see it!!!! It's gotta be better than Wedding Crashers.

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lavatory love machine writes:
on Jul 23 2005 10:26 PM

to quote kyle from south park : "if michael bay gets to keep making movies, then there's no god"
i'm for one couldn't be more pleased with his newest piece of crap failing

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therad writes:
on Jul 23 2005 10:39 PM

I think the islands just been too poorly marketed to make an imprint at the box office. I found it too be surprisingly good and much better than any of Bay's recent fare. Sure it's a product placement machine and a lot of it doesn't add up but at the end of day It hit the mark for being an easily digested ,highly entertaining piece of theatre. I feel for the guy.

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Flim Springfield writes:
on Jul 23 2005 11:49 PM

[b]Movie Execs Won't Blame Bay Though[/b]
They'll simply say it needed bigger name actors. Now, of course Ewan McGregor IS a big star because of Obi-Wan, and Scarlett Johansson is insanely hot, but they will be blamed anyways.

Why? Because Hollywood executives are morons.

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The Senhman writes:
on Jul 24 2005 12:30 AM

I think Bay was half expecting this. In his interview with Entertainment Weekly, he mentioned how the film wasn't tracking that well months before the release.

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Now it's dark writes:
on Jul 24 2005 07:43 AM

Looks like crap. Guess people figured this one out.

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CrazyGhost78 writes:
on Jul 24 2005 08:50 AM

[b]hooray![/b]
Maybe people will stop letting Bay make movies.

Ah, a man can dream.

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donna542004 writes:
on Jul 24 2005 09:11 AM

[b]The Island[/b]
I think it will do better as a DVD.
Donna A.

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alienhunter1919 writes:
on Jul 24 2005 09:57 AM

In reply to this comment (#824490)
Considering Revenge of the Sith will gross$400 million soon, yes they do.

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raulduke writes:
on Jul 24 2005 10:21 AM

Bay sucks

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ninjaandy writes:
on Jul 24 2005 12:13 PM

I think this is another example of the DVD market changing movies. People saw the preview of a movie not based on a book, comic, cartoon, TV show, action figure, or previous entry in the series, and decided to wait for DVD, because they can, and because DVDs have comparable quality, especially when you watch on a good TV.

Unless a "new" movie is one of the above, it has to be spectacular, with a huge name cast and a lot of hype, just to get average movie-goers' attention. Not to mention committing a couple hours out of their weekend and paying the increasingly exhorbitant ticket and food costs.

I think the common reasoning is, why spend time and money on something you know nothing about, that hasn't already gotten your attention in another format, and that you and your friends can see in a few months for easily $25 less?

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synergyred writes:
on Jul 24 2005 12:15 PM

They really didn't market this film that well. Look at The Fantasic Four? They have commercials everywhere, video games, TV spots, a contract with Burger King AND Toys. THe Island just didn't really get out there. The trailer has been on TV and in theaters but that's really it. I know this film can't be marketed quite like F4. It's not a superhero movie. I just feel as if they should have at least tried to get a few magazine covers or SOMETHING.

I'll end up seeing it anyway. I really don't give a damn about what critics and other people say about movies. If I see something I think looks appealing, I'll watch it. I hope I don't regret it with this one!

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South_park300 writes:
on Jul 24 2005 01:30 PM

i saw it and it really wasnt that bad. it was rather good actually. im tired of people complaining about michael bay. its really getting old. the big explosions dont even happen until the second half of the movie.
it wasnt as good as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, so I am glad that its number 1 again...although, The Island didnt deserve to bomb. most of the haters on this topic havent even seen the movie, so they have no merit at the moment.

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countrycolors1 writes:
on Jul 24 2005 01:48 PM

[b]Fantastic 4 vs. The Island....[/b]
I think the reason why Fantastic 4 did so well and The Island didn't is two-fold.

1) This summer has been filled with some really really heavy fare. Batman Begins, War of the Worlds, Revenge of the Sith, and hell, even Mr. and Mrs. Smith isn't really all that light. Fantastic 4 is a big, stupid, goofy movie that actually requires you NOT to think in order to enjoy it. I think that was a breath of fresh air for the blockbuster moviegoing public. And although it doesn't really quite do a good job of it, The Island has some very serious and weighty issues of morality at the heart of it, and I think the public's acceptance of Fantastic 4 and rejection of The Island (as well as a generally poor summer box office), is a sign that movie-goers still want their stupid movies in the summer and their good movies in the winter.

2) The second reason I think the Island bombed as opposed to Fantastic 4 is this. Fantastic 4 does not ever pretend to be anything but the stupid goofy movie that it is. The Island, at least in its opening portions, seems to pretend to be a movie of some social importance, but completely betrays the seriousness of its tone and subject matter with the second half. And I think the moviegoing public generally appreciates a sense of honesty in filmmaking, whether it's bad filmmaking or good.

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Twirlnhurl writes:
on Jul 24 2005 01:59 PM

^Very well put.

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Fangmeier69 writes:
on Jul 24 2005 02:10 PM

[b]There is a God...[/b]
HAhahahahahahahahahaha...there is justice for movie-goers and Michael Bay.
Sure, you never know what will work - but for months I heard the snickers in theatres when they showed the badly-edited trailer for The Island. For a change, people smelled this one out way ahead. Maybe they will resort to Cinderella Man-type pleading to get the public to come( It's about the future issues of our society!)
Ripping off a half-dozen other, better sci-fi films does not an auteur make. If Bay never directed again I'd be happy - he makes Tony Scott look like Michelangelo Antonioni!
( Unfortunately, he'll probably keep producing crap remakes of good horror films...)

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Jaws2004 writes:
on Jul 24 2005 03:09 PM

This movie flopped because it wasn't a sequel, remake or prequel. Well, it may be an uncredited remake of PARTS: THE CLONUS HORROR, but how many have seen that flick?

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DoubleJ writes:
on Jul 24 2005 04:07 PM

[b]PLOT LESS[/b]
The reason this movie bombed was four-fold. Before I lay it out let me tell you that I saw the movie two weeks prior to it's release. We were handed pieces of paper to critique the movie, add what we liked and didn't like. And let me tell you, when that movie was over I threw everything away. I was too disgusted by a movie that I thought might as well have had a "We've got your money now and we don't care sign."

Reason #1

The Plot simply didn't make sense. Wow, I'm a clone, let me go find myself in the real world, okay, now let's go back to the place where we started. The end. People falling off buildings from 70 stories and they are perfectly fine. How can I make that believable in my mind? The bad guy chasing Ewan and Scarlett all over town, suddenly has a change of heart that could never EVER possibly happen, W-w-w-what? Scarlett has a gun and nobody in their right mind thinks to check her? This place has completely inept security, again, how? There are enough plotholes that I could drive through them with a large SUV truck. And don't even get me started on how this plot is virtually identicle to a number of other movies previously mentioned.

Reason #2

Marketing. Now it's true, I enjoyed the PUMA jumpsuits, shoes. The cadillacs, the MSN info machine with the giant MSN and butterfly. Not to mention Scarletts integral plotline as a Calvin Klein model. Better yet, why didn't they just turn off the movie half-way through for a brief intermission and air commercials?

Reason #3

No twist, no surprise. The premise was fairly well known to the public long before the movie came out. When I watched the movie, what I saw was a beginning I already knew and the end conclusion came almost immediately. If there is one great lesson to learn for directors it's to throw in some surprises, some things we didn't see coming. If we can figure it all out from moment one and we're just watching for visual effects, we're not going to be too happy. Remember, plot is important.

Reason #4

When Ewan McGregor does not attend the premiere of a movie about to hit major release, there might be a problem with the movie! As in, it might be bad. The movie theaters that I saw were showing the Island on very few screens as well. Frankly, I'm surprised that the Island managed to do as well as it did pulling a very high 42% average of fresh reviews from rottentomatoes.com - a literally amazing feet.

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Obi-wan-jackson writes:
on Jul 24 2005 04:10 PM

[b]Michael Bay is...[/b]
......Michael Bay is a moron

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BleeD_MerCurY writes:
on Jul 24 2005 05:32 PM

"When Ewan McGregor does not attend the premiere of a movie about to hit major release, there might be a problem with the movie!"

I don't think so. Ewan went to the premieres of "Robots" and Star Wars Episode II", and both of those sucked. The Island was one of the most entertaining movies to come out this summer. The giant car chase is worth the price of admission alone. Seriously, if you can see this car chase and the car chase in 'Bad Boys II' and still say "michael bay is a moron' and 'michael bay sucks', then you're just ignorant. he's obviously a talented guy. he might not work with the best scripts, but his movies are fun, and his action sequences can not be rivaled.

i think the marketing had a lot to do with the movie flopping. us movie buffs already know what to expect from michael bay movies, but to people who don't know anything about his movies probably didn't know what to expect from this movie after the misleading trailers.

i don't think it had anything to do with the story being familiar, because hundreds of formulaic, predictable movies have been profitable in the past.

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thedudeabides7 writes:
on Jul 24 2005 07:00 PM

In reply to this comment (#824516)
I think you can be a moron and still make a flashy and over-the-top car chases. How intelligent do you have to be to say "Ok, now that blows up! Now blow up that car..."

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nogard64 writes:
on Jul 24 2005 07:31 PM

[b]crap[/b]
um whats this gonna do to the Transformer movie? OH POOPY!

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Jaws2004 writes:
on Jul 24 2005 07:37 PM

This will probably only have 1 effect on TRANSFORMERS and that is that Dreamworks will marketing the hell out of that flick. It won't flop though. C'mon! TRANSFORMERS? It will be one of the biggest box office smashes of 2007. Count on it.

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Sinizine writes:
on Jul 25 2005 12:29 AM

How can people justify this bombing because it wasn't based on something or a remake? Remakes have been the reason this box office is slumping. Marketing had little to do with it either. The only truly heavily marketed movies this summer were Fantastic Four and Star Wars. Charlei and the Chocalate factory had mediocre marketing, but still reigned this 2nd week. Batman begins wasn't heavily marketed, and while it didn't do as well as some had hoped, it didn't do 4 million. And c'mon, Wedding Crashers, an R-rated movie which limits its appeal enough, won over it again. It just means that the Island, and well as the Bad News Bears, are duds, plain and simple. The trailer for the movie gives away too much of the "story" that was supposed to be the smart portion of the movie, so all that's left are the big loud action scenes. When a movie hinges on a plot aspect the way The Island does, and still seems familiar (I remember reading a story that was similar, I haven't seen any movies with the same plot though), of course the drive to see it is limited. This move was simply Bay's attempt at seeming smart, and I think most people saw through it (even if they don;t know who Bay is, the film seems as if it is trying too hard to be a "smart action" movie).

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flashbackfl writes:
on Jul 25 2005 07:42 AM

[b]This movie was good[/b]
Anyone out there who is contemplating seeing this movie...go for it. These people on here are like snob critics...this movie was just as good as anything else out there this summer (except maybe Batman). Everyone I was with liked this movie alot. It was exciting, humorous, and just plain old good sci-fi. Plus Ewan and Scarlett had a lot of chemistry IMO. I have to admit I have never seen the other movie that many are saying it rips off....so if you have then your take may be different...but I've never even heard of that movie, and I would think the majority of people haven't, so do yourself a favor and see this movie...well worth the money and WAY better then Fantastic Four. This movie is getting a bum rap.

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Twirlnhurl writes:
on Jul 25 2005 08:39 AM

I disagree about it being better then Fantastic 4. The Island's action scenes were annoying (for anyone trying to keep track of the plot, anyway) where Fantastic 4's (all 2 of them) were at least somewhat interesting and important for the plot. Plus, dare I say it, Fantastic 4 had better characters we can identify with, where as characters in the Island are just so-so. I still do not buy that Lincon's doner would turn on him. I also don't really buy the mercenary's change of sides or several other character's decisions. In comparison, Ben Grimm changing back into the Thing is only a minor issue. Don't read this and think I loved Fantastic 4, but I did enjoy it more then the Island.

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puablo writes:
on Jul 25 2005 11:08 AM

In reply to this comment (#824516)
[b]you gotta be kidding me[/b]
do you mean the car chase in Bad Boys II with corpses everywhere? Yes I do believe that has genius written all over it... (note the heavy sarcasm)

I think The Island was a good idea, but I knew it was going to be sub-par due to the director, and the reviews confirm it. But just to show how insane the public is, the fact that Fantastic 4 made more money than the Island is completely retarded. I've seen neither, but from the trailers and from the reviews I've seen, I would just imagine that the Island would make more money tan the obvious crap of F4 that's been out for a few weeks now. I'm really surprised.

But in the same sense, it's very justified that it opened below "Chocolate" and "Crashers", both movies appeared to be far superior (and having seen both, I can say they're both great) and it's obvious the public agrees.

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Yalnif writes:
on Jul 25 2005 02:24 PM

I can't say that I'm very surprised by this. If you saw the movie polls the days/weeks before The Island came out on what movies people wanted to see, it was never really that high in the percentages. I think it only got 1% in TRL's summer movie poll.

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Prosper761 writes:
on Jul 25 2005 07:25 PM

[b]Good Movie = Good Box Office[/b]
The industry is complaining about the big b.o. slump. Are they all too stupid to see it's because there have only been 4 movies worth seeing all summer? Remakes, rip-offs and franchise sequels are obviously not what the movie-going public wants to see (especailly when they can wait a few months and rent the DVD for the whole family to watch for less than half the price of a single theater ticket). If producers would start making original, intelligent, well-written, well-directed and well-acted films again, the audiences would return. Instead, we are staying home in droves to avoid schlocky, unscary J-horror remakes and mindless action films with plots as creaky as an old boot.

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getluv writes:
on Jul 25 2005 10:34 PM

how sad. The Island should of done 40+.

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EIAC writes:
on Jul 26 2005 05:49 PM

In reply to this comment (#824500)
[b]WHOA WHOA WHOA[/b]
Ewan is not a big star because of being in those shitty star wars movies. Get your shit straight nerd.

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randal1013 writes:
on Jul 27 2005 11:36 AM

i liked the island. it's a good movie. i'm really disappointed in the reveiws it's getting here at RT.

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Jerry Bruckheimer writes:
on Jul 27 2005 11:40 AM

Hooh-ah!

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nordak writes:
on Jul 29 2005 08:15 PM

This movie was actually my biggest surprise of the summer. Sure, WOTW was cool. Batman was great. But maybe because I went into this movie expecting total crap, I left surprisingly entertained. The product placement was overly conspicuous, but Bay did a decent job of building up the first half of the movie without any gunshots or over the top explosions. The entire cast was good, and even Michael Clark Duncan's small role made a huge impact in the transition period of the movie.

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