'Revenge of the Fallen' Has Transforming Effect on Viacom, Hasbro and GM

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen from Viacom's Paramount (VIA) and Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks Studio is already breaking some major records, making it likely to be the biggest film of the year.

It opened in over 4,200 U.S. theaters Wednesday, bringing in an estimated $55 million at the box office, $16 million of which was from post-midnight shows early Wednesday morning, the best opening day ever for a Wednesday release.

Those numbers put this highly-anticipated sequel on track to beat Spider-Man 2's $152.4 million record for a Wednesday to Friday opening.

If the film has similar staying power as the original film in the franchise, despite less positive reviews, we're looking at another $700 million global hit.

A blockbuster performance will benefit Paramount, which has the second-largest studio marketshare so far this year, and also its co-producer, Hasbro (HAS). Yes, that's right, the movie is based on the toy franchise and the toy maker is a producer on the film -- you'll see it's logo before the title of the movie. After the first film Transformers-related toys generated $482 million for Hasbro; that's 12.6 percent of its 2007 net revenue. That's the first time in the past three years that just one product line has generated more than a tenth of Hasbro's net sales. Stifel Nicolas analyst Drew Crum projects that this new movie will generate more than $550 million in sales for the toymaker this year.

General Motors (GMGMQ.PK) cars are the stars of the film. There's the classic Chevy Camaro, the fantasy concept Pontiac Solstice, giant GMC trucks, and the sporty compact Chevy Volts. It's these GM brands that transform into the good guy Autobots to fight the evil robots and save the world. That's some pretty good casting and exposure for General Motors, which could use all the help it can get as it goes through its bankruptcy restructuring process. GM reportedly didn't have to pay for the placement, though it did have to cover the cost the 67 vehicles that were used, 52 of which were special prototypes. Now GM is hoping to cash in on the buzz: it's running ads that promote its role in the film and its "Transform your Ride" incentive program. GM is also promoting its cars Autobot alter-egos online.

Paramount could use the good news. Just a week ago it was making headlines for firing some of its top brass and reorganizing its management team. It fired the number two and three executives at the studio and is making Adam Goodman, a former DreamWorks executive president of Paramount's film group. This is the latest impact of the separation of DreamWorks and Paramount, though of course this movie is one of their joint ventures. The now separate studios will continue to work together, and not just on Transformers sequels. Speaking of ongoing partnerships, Hasbro and Paramount have another big movie coming out later this summer: G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.