“Rise of Cobra” at $133.8M going into the weekend.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

The summer movie season is over and the box office has definitely cooled down.

As of Thursday, September 4, 2009, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra has earned $133,821,730 domestically and $131,726,913 internationally.  This means that the first-ever live-action venture for the G.I. Joe team has pulled in $265,548,643 as of yesterday in total.  (Source: BoxOfficeMojo.com)

How does this put the film in the standings for 2009?

Both in the US and international market the film ranks 14th in overall gross for the year, putting it ahead of Terminator Salvation, Watchmen, and the much-hyped Angels & Demons.  It also means that the film is behind such box office hits as Transformers 2, The Hangover (surprise hit of the year), Star Trek, and even Wolverine: Origins.

The film has made money, that’s for certain.  With a hefty production budget of $175M it hasn’t made the same cash that Transformers 2 did– as RoC had half the opening weekend Michael Bay’s overly-loud sequel did.  However, word of mouth for the film has been good – despite the trouncing that it took from film critics who were denied an early preview.

Will we have an officially green-lit and announced sequel by the end of the year?  Time will tell but with the film apparently hitting on DVD December 7, 2009 just in time for the Christmas season it only seems likely that RoC will continue to earn revenue for both Paramount and Hasbro.  (Note: this DVD release date has not yet been officially announced by Paramount for the US market.)

Either way, the film wasn’t the bomb it was predicted to be and has ushered in a whole new era for the G.I. Joe franchise – pulling in new and old fans alike.

And now you know…