ROTTEN TOMATOES: Box Office: Michael Bay Haters Rejoice

Box Office: Michael Bay Haters Rejoice - The Island Sinks

by Senh Duong | July 23, 2005

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.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory again took the top spot this Friday with an estimated $9M, a 57% dropoff from the previous Friday. It will likely finish the weekend with $27-29M. Wedding Crashers held up very well with an estimated $7.7M, a 27% dropoff. For the weekend, it will gross between $23-25M.

The other wide debuts this weekend - Bad News Bears, Devil's Rejects, and Hustle & Flow - did $4.2M, $3.1M, and $2.7M respectively. Bad News Bears will likely finish the weekend with $13-15M, Devil's Rejects with $12-13M, and Hustle & Flow with $8-9M.

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(1-20 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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Senh Duong 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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