As expected, “Transformers: Age of Extinction” was a huge No. 1 at North American theaters over the weekend, taking in an estimated $100 million and prompting Rockette kicks from Paramount Pictures. The movie industry’s broader reaction was more muted pending a final box-office tally; Sunday estimates have a way of declining a bit on Monday, when actual grosses are reported and headline writers have moved on.
不出所料，《变形金刚：绝迹重生》(Transformers: Age of Extinction)周末在北美影院雄踞票房首位，约为一亿美元，令派拉蒙影业极为兴奋。在等待最终票房统计期间，电影业界的普遍反应则要缓和一些；周日，人们预计票房在周一会有所下跌，届时会得出真正的票房总收入，头条写手们的注意力也会转移。
But even if the North American opening for “Age of Extinction” ultimately dips below the magic $100 million mark, this robot extravaganza from Michael Bay will still have achieved something momentous: For the first time, a Hollywood movie delivered roughly the same big total in China as it did in North America. “Age of Extinction,” which cost Paramount at least $325 million to make and market, sold $90 million in tickets in China over its first three days, by far the best result on record for any Hollywood film in that fast-growing market. (To compare, the last “Transformers” movie, released in 2011, opened to less than half of that amount there.) Imax theaters in particular turned out crowds; the large-format exhibition company said that ticket sales in China for “Age of Extinction” beat those for “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” its previous record holder, by more than two to one.
但就算《绝迹重生》在北美首映的票房低于有魔力的一亿美元大关，迈克尔·贝(Michael Bay)带来的这部机器人大片仍然取得了某些重大成就：它是第一部在中国的票房总收入与在北美差不多的好莱坞电影。派拉蒙在《绝迹重生》上至少花费了3.25亿美元的制作和市场推广费用，在中国的票房三天内达到9000万美元（约6亿人民币），在这个飞速增长的市场里创下了好莱坞电影迄今为止的最高票房纪录（作为对比，2011年发行的上一部《变形金刚》系列电影刚开始上映时票房还不到这个数字的一半）。Imax这种大屏幕放映的影院特别吸引观众；Imax公司说，《绝迹重生》在中国的票房销售超过了上个纪录保持者《霍比特人：史矛革之战》(The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug)，是后者的两倍还多。
“This is a huge turning point for the Hollywood-China dynamic,” said Phil Contrino, chief analyst of BoxOffice.com. “It levels the playing field between the two markets.” “Age of Extinction,” which took in an additional $111.3 million from other foreign markets, received disastrous reviews from critics, many of whom complained of an overlong running time of 166 minutes. But ticket buyers gave it an A-minus grade in CinemaScore exit polls, boding well for word of mouth. No other film opened in wide release against the movie, the fourth installment of a franchise that has now taken in more than $3 billion globally.
“这是好莱坞-中国时代的一个巨大转折点，”BoxOffice.com的首席分析师菲尔·康特里诺(Phil Contrino)说，“它令两个市场公平竞争。”《绝迹重生》在其他国外市场也获得了1.113亿美元的票房收入，评论家对它恶评无数，许多人都抱怨166分钟时间太漫长了。但买票看电影的人在CinemaScore的观后投票中为它打出了A-的分数，预示着该片会有良好的口碑。这个系列大片的第四部在首映期间就获得如此广泛的发行，这是前所未有的。这个系列在全球的票房已经达到30亿美元。