The Latest on the 'Transformers' Franchise and Everyone Involved, From Michael Bay to Spielberg & Bruckheimer

Happy Tuesday, folks!

I’m back!

I treated myself to an actual vacation last week, as I had to recharge my batteries and get the creative juices flowing again. I’ll need my energy, as it’s poised to be a busy month here at The InSneider, where the future of comic book movies hangs in the balance between the dual releases of James Gunn’s Superman and Marvel’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

The jury is still out on Fantastic Four, but the verdict is decidedly mixed on Superman, which had the usual junketeers raving, as they’re wont to do. But there are some legitimate gripes out there, and some justified concern if you read between the lines — if there are lines to read between. I know some folks who saw the movie and didn’t say anything, and their silence speaks volumes — not just about the movie, but about today’s corrupt system of access journalism.

Meanwhile, The Daily Beast critic Nick Schager accidentally broke the review embargo last week — surely an innocent mistake from an editor or web intern — and set off a firestorm online. Variety’s Peter Debruge offered his two cents early in the middle of his Heads of State review, while Showbiz411’s Roger Friedman also posted his review early, making one wonder why Warner Bros. even bothered with a global embargo in the first place. Naturally, the studio is already crowing about the comic book movie’s Rotten Tomatoes score — as if WBD isn’t a minority owner of Fandango and thus, Rotten Tomatoes itself.

Leaving the Man of Steel aside, “look up” at Jurassic World Rebirth ruling the box office. The sequel posted a five-day opening of $318 million worldwide, including $147 million domestic. I wonder how many people bought a ticket just to check out the teaser for Christopher Nolan’s new film, The Odyssey, which hits theaters next summer. The teaser leaked online, and as someone interested in “rumor and gossip,” I couldn’t help but watch it. I thought it looked great, and can’t wait to see what Nolan cooks up with his A-list cast and how he adapts the classic source material.

Elsewhere, F1 continues to perform well, particularly overseas, where it has grossed nearly $200 million, though Brad Pitt’s racing movie is saddled with a hefty price tag of $250 million. Disney’s live-action Lilo & Stitch movie cost less than half of that, and it’s bearing down on the billion-dollar mark. Its global haul stands at $973 million, beating WB’s A Minecraft Movie ($954 million and making it the year’s highest-grossing Hollywood movie. That figure represents just half of what Chinese blockbuster Ne Zha 2 has grossed worldwide — an astounding $1.8 billion.

Speaking of astounding, Pixar’s Elio still hasn’t crossed the $100 million mark worldwide after three full weekends in release. That’s even crazier than the numbers Lilo & Stitch is putting up.

Finally, 28 Years Later hit $125 million worldwide this weekend, but Sony likely had higher hopes for this confused horror sequel, which was perhaps too ambitious for its own good. Then again, Sony’s remake of the slasher movie I Know What You Did Last Summer looks like a return to the basics, and it’s merely tracking to open to $10 million, which is pretty soft for a legacy sequel. It’s been a tough summer for Sony, which also saw its Karate Kid legacy sequel take a crane kick to the face at the box office.

This week, there has been a lot of chatter about the studios being upset with AMC Theatres regarding the chain’s 30+ minute preshow of trailers and ads.

I tend to see most movies at AMC since I’m a member of the chain’s A-List program, but I do like being able to show up late, which is an inevitability in Los Angeles, where traffic is simultaneously predictable and unpredictable.

Personally, I wish theater chains kept things to 15 minutes, though I wouldn’t mind a long pre-show if studios refrained from posting trailers online and saved them for theaters, which would get audiences more excited to go to the movies and more incentive to show up on time.

They don’t show up on time because they’ve already seen all the trailers online.

Once again, this problem is about the studios shooting themselves in the foot. They need to post trailers online after two weeks in theaters. Sure, theatrical piracy may become an even worse issue than it already is, but there’s a compromise to be made here between theaters and studios, who have to play an active role in that compromise.

Tonight, you’ll read about the latest updates regarding the Transformers franchise, as well as all the moves its filmmakers have been making lately, from directors like Michael Bay and Steven Caple Jr. to producers Steven Spielberg and Jerry Bruckheimer.

I’ve also got a little scoop about a reunion between Dinner in America star Kyle Gallner and filmmaker Adam Rehmaier, and lit manager Matt Rosen’s hilarious guide to “A Year in the Life of a Generationally Wealthy Junior Executive in Hollywood.”

There are also items about the Lucasfilm news that’s been going around regarding Indiana Jones and Season 2 of Obi-Wan, Jennifer Aniston’s new Apple TV+ series, the latest additions to Michael B. Jordan’s remake of The Thomas Crown Affair, the hot director who has signed on to Hot Wheels, the official title of Denis Villeneuve’s latest Dune sequel, a series based on One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, a ton of casting news, and a look at Lord & Miller’s new movie Project Hail Mary starring Ryan Gosling.

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