The Energon Pub

We reported earlier today that the Transformers Movie is currently number one at the Japanese box office. Japan is not the only place in Asia where the film is enjoying great success. According to Variety.com, the Transformers Movie is biggest film in Malaysian box office history and the biggest non-sequel film in Singapore.

"“Transformers” has become the biggest grosser in Malaysian box office history after taking 17.6 million ringgits ($5.2 million) in five weeks.
According to United Intl. Pictures, helmer Michael Bay’s actioner beat “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” and “The Simpsons Movie” to secure the No. 1 spot. It has stayed on top for three frames since its debut and took the all-time B.O. crown from “Spider-Man 3.”

According to UIP, “Transformers” is also the biggest nonsequel film in Singapore."

damn right for all the haters out there

That is quite impressive, those are some top $ Earning films Transformers has edged out in Malaysia.

It will be interesting to see the boxofficemojo stats for this week.

My friends have family in these countries, I'm glad they got my warnings to watch it unlike those UK slackers!

News just keeps getting better. Way to go Asian fandom!

This is good news, and bad news.

Good news: Better than expected profits.

Bad news: The sequel will have one hell of a job trying to top it. (Or even coming close to second place with it.)

Perhaps it's a little too big.

i don't think the sequel will have any problem topping it. Let's face it, sequels are where the money is. X-Men was outgrossed by X2, then X2 was outgrossed by X3. Same with Star Wars, TESB, and ROTJ. FF4 sequel made more than the original. That's why they have the "non-sequel" qualifier now. What this is telling us is that Paramount/Dreamworks now realizes they have a movie they can sink $300 mill into production and effects for and STILL make a killing in profits. The more likely the $300M budget is, the more likely we'll see LOTS more robots in disguise. Not only that, but this is a franchise that has enough diverse story lines that it could put Star Trek to shame! I mean, "Transformers: Wreckers"; "Transformers: The Voyage Home"; "Transformers: COming of the Chaosbringer"; "Transformers: Nebulos"; the potential here is staggering and I'm sure the muckmucks at DW/Para are seeing dollar signs that transform into robots in their dreams.

First-Aid wrote:i don't think the sequel will have any problem topping it. Let's face it, sequels are where the money is. X-Men was outgrossed by X2, then X2 was outgrossed by X3. Same with Star Wars, TESB, and ROTJ. FF4 sequel made more than the original. That's why they have the "non-sequel" qualifier now. What this is telling us is that Paramount/Dreamworks now realizes they have a movie they can sink $300 mill into production and effects for and STILL make a killing in profits. The more likely the $300M budget is, the more likely we'll see LOTS more robots in disguise. Not only that, but this is a franchise that has enough diverse story lines that it could put Star Trek to shame! I mean, "Transformers: Wreckers"; "Transformers: The Voyage Home"; "Transformers: COming of the Chaosbringer"; "Transformers: Nebulos"; the potential here is staggering and I'm sure the muckmucks at DW/Para are seeing dollar signs that transform into robots in their dreams.

The world of movies is a very, very fickle industry. What's hot and big one minute, is insignificant and cold the next.

Quality over quantity is still what we should demand. Just because they can sink $300 million into the sequel, doesn't absolutely mean they should. They could put of that work into it, but if it's anything like Spider-Man 2, it'll be pure crap just to cash in.

Granted, I realize that S-M2 was a box office success, and not a disaster by any means, but that doesn't mean it was a very good movie. With repeated viewings, it became more and more terrible. Fortunately, TransFormers doesn't suffer from this...in fact, repeated viewings make the movie even better.

I just hope they have $300 million in quality to go along with the hefty price tag.

Freaking awesome!!!

I am proud to be a Malaysian...

[quote="Autobot032"][quote="First-Aid"]
Granted, I realize that S-M2 was a box office success, and not a disaster by any means, but that doesn't mean it was a very good movie. With repeated viewings, it became more and more terrible.
quote]
how is that so

*the 'O rly?' owl appears*

It was even better the second time I watched it! I love it.

My big worry is that, the movie was a first for many people in terms of exposure to Transformers, as well as put the death knell on naysayers who said it couldn't be done. It was action, action, action all the way, and ended up with the mandatory robot versus robot deathmatches.

What will they do to top that off; come up with something new and fresh for the sequel so that people come out of it feeling as amazed as they did the first? Action? There is a limit to what you can do doing the robot versus robot fight thing. More plot and better acting? There are already people who complain that the first movie had too much of the humans and they wanted to see more of the robots.

It's going to be tough; I for one am waiting with bated breath.

On the original post: you know a movie is good when three or even four weeks after release, some theaters were still packed. I believe if it wasn't for timetable obligations to give other movies a slot, it would've grossed even more in Asia. We love Transformers here!

TRANSFORMERS have actually been the longest running show in Malaysia since its launch on 28 June 2007 and it will be playing(i think) till the end of September. Millons have wacth the show and i heard it had a better rating than Harry Potter and The Simpsons movie.. YEAH!!

I personally think the sequel will be more sucessfull in both country