Transformers: A Pivotal Picture for Paramount

Who would have thought that a film based on popular shape-shifting robot toys from Hasbro would become one of the most-anticipated pictures of the summer (probably the same people who believed that an antiquated ride at Disney could be made into one of the biggest grossing movie franchise's in history). But that's exactly what's happened with Paramount/DreamWork's Transformers, directed by Michael Bay, who has never met an explosion he didn't like. Tracking has the movie, which opens today, making between $100-150 million in its first 6 and a half days and because of those numbers, and it's been deemed a marketing success that lives up to the status of an "event picture."

Paramount/DW promotion plan pretty much followed what's become summer action picture tentpole blueprint, according to the LA Times. They showed footage at last summer's Comic-Con convention before taking a darker approach to its marketing in an attempt to establish it as an invasion tale. They held back on materials with footage that showed the robots transforming, not only to to create anticipation, but because it took a long time to get the special effects ready. They also employed what the studio calls "subversive" tactics to stoke online interest--14 "anonymous" viral videos released on YouTube that were based on the idea that transformers really exist. They also built a fake government website (SectorSeven.org) made to look like it contained secret info about the robots. The URL for the site was hidden in a single frame of the teaser trailer and the marketing team had an office pool on how long it would take fans to discover it (The result? 37 seconds).

But it could be that the marketing was too good at making Transformers appeal to kids and adults alike. The studio found itself under fire this past week from the Campaign for a Commercial-Free childhood, which complained to the FTC that ads and toys from the PG-13 movie were being aimed at kids as young as two.

And as the Wall Street Journal points out, Transformers can be viewed as a pivotal picture for Paramount. It's success would help erase any doubt that it made the right decision when acquiring DreamWorks for $1.6 billion. Transformers was relatively cheap to make ($150 million, compared to Spider-Man 3 and Pirates 3, which were made for around $300) and has the potential to be a big earner for Paramount, which has been struggling to find a blockbuster hit (i.e. a new franchise) for quite sometime. In fact, it's been DreamWorks smaller pics that have been driving the once-ailing studio-- Norbit, Blades of Glory and Disturbia, floating Paramount while it put its slate in order. But as Paramount Chief Executive Brad Grey points out, next year's offering include new Indiana Jones andStar Trek movies. He says that "whatever hiccups and bumps" they've experienced trying to integrate DW have passed, adding that their acquisition "has performed brilliantly."

[Photo: TRANSFORMERS, Optimus Prime, 2007. Paramount/courtesy Everett Collection.]