By Scott Mendelson

HollywoodNews.com: This was a weekend where two films gave the strongest evidence yet that there may be some kind of ‘slump’ in domestic box office while a third stood as a firm ‘It’s the movie, stupid!’ rebuttal. The two main wide releases, heavily marketed sequels to exceptionally popular originals, opened at levels far below their predecessors. The top film of the weekend was Sherlock Homes: A Game of Shadows (review), which debuted with a seemingly solid $40 million. But the sequel opened 36% lower than the first Sherlock Holmes opened with over Christmas weekend two years ago ($62 million). That’s a pretty big drop, especially when it wasn’t exactly contending with the $75 million-grossing second weekend of Avatar this time around. I’ve long been of the opinion that the pre-Christmas weekend is among the strongest to open a film, as you can parlay your opening weekend into two full weeks of ‘school vacation’ time and get some occasionally incredible legs (essay). The film cost $125 million, which is a touch more than the $90 million original, but still not a case of overspending on a sequel. It remains to see whether this frankly shockingly depressed opening is a case of moviegoers not having an interest in the continuing adventures of this variation on Sherlock Holmes or whether it’s merely a case of it not being appointment viewing. Also not helping matters was the blogosphere obsessing about a seven-minute Dark Knight Rises prologue (which actually kinda stunk) that was playing in 40 IMAX theaters showing Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol while ignoring the actual Dark Knight Rises trailer (which is officially offline until I presume Monday morning) that was attached to all prints of Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.

The marketing certainly did not help make this one ‘appointment viewing’, as it basically promised more of the same, but with lots of gunfire this time (teaser and trailer)! Casting a character actor (Jared Harris) as arch-villain Professor Moriarty may have been the right artistic choice, but it was possibly fatal to the PR campaign, as it left the film without a new hook to sell the sequel (imagine a wholly different marketing strategy based around Brat Pitt or Daniel Day Lewis as Moriarty ala Health Ledger as The Joker in The Dark Knight). Best case scenario, Guy Ritchie’s period action-adventure may merely be a victim of ‘not-right away’ syndrome. As Christmas weekend begins, it will still be, along with Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol (more on that below) the likely ‘let’s take the whole family to a movie’ choice. It’s not a cartoon (Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked or The Adventures of Tintin), a somewhat saccharine-looking family film (We Bought A Zoo), an R-rated thriller (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo), a cheap-looking PG-13 rated horror film (The Darkest Hour), or a long somber drama (War Horse). Yes, Christmas weekend is going to be a little crowded, which means even if it does pass muster as ‘the general choice for large families, it’s going to have to fend off several potent competitors. And with Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol getting the headlines due to its massive limited-release numbers and its likely terrific word of mouth, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows faces an uphill, if not impossible, battle to match the $209 million domestic total of the first film. If it plays like Tron Legacy, which opened with $44 million on this weekend last year, it gets to $156 million. But this has been a year where sequels somewhat under-perform compared to their predecessors domestically only to absolutely kill overseas (Kung Fu Panda 2, Pirates of the Caribbean 4, Transformers 3, Cars 2, etc), so that could very well happen here too.

The next big debut was Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, the third entry in the franchise. While Alvin and the Chipmunks opened with $44 million on this very weekend in 2007 and Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel opened with $48 million over Christmas weekend two years ago, this third entry could only muster $23.5 million. The problem may be the same as Sherlock Holmes 2, as there was no ‘new hook’ this time around. The sequel had the debut of the Chipettes and the ‘money shot’ of them singing Beyonce’s “Single Ladies”. This third entry had no such ‘new’ component, and so perhaps family audiences chose to sample one of the 10,000 other family films in release. To be fair, the opening was still larger than the $17 million debut of Yogi Bear on this weekend last year which slowly made it to $100 million. As I said, Christmas legs are unlike any other, where even films opening with $9 million can make it to $90 million (The Emperor’s New Groove). A 6.0x weekend-to-final multiplier (ala Yogi Bear) would give the film a $143 million domestic total, along with Fox’s seemingly unbeatable foreign muscle. This certainly won’t touch the $200 million+ domestic totals of the first two, but no one is going to lose money on this $80 million-budgeted entry either.

The real story this weekend was the scorching IMAX debut of Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol (review). Paramount and IMAX tried something very new this weekend, debuting the film on 425 IMAX screens five days before its national release. And the film earned $13.6 million on those IMAX screens, for a massive $32,000 per-screen average, or the eighth-largest such average for a somewhat wide-release in history. Yes, it’s the biggest IMAX weekend in history as well. The film was heavily advertised as having around thirty minutes of footage actually shot on IMAX cameras (ala The Dark Knight and about ten minutes of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen) and Paramount knew that they had the goods with Brad Bird’s live-action directorial debut. The film opens wide on December 21st, and now it has the good press of this terrific debut and lots of uber-positive word of mouth to help (notice that 3.3x weekend multiplier!) convince audiences perhaps indifferent about another Mission: Impossible film (series retrospective) or weary of Tom Cruise’s public relations issues. I don’t know how the film’s IMAX screen count will be affected by the debut on Wednesday of The Adventures of Tintin (review), but I will say that you should absolutely try to see this on an IMAX screen, even a ‘mini-IMAX’ if you can this season. It’s one of the best and most relentlessly entertaining and eye-popping action pictures in recent years.

For the record, the Dark Knight Rises prologue only played on about 10% of the Mission Impossible 4 screens this weekend. So let’s all please stop giving full credit to an eight-minute preview that played on 40 out of 400 screens for the massively successful 400 screen debut of one of the year’s most purely entertaining movies. With 3D on the decline as an appealing tool for franchise pictures (both Sherlock Holmes 2 and Alvin and the Chipmunks 3 were originally announced as being in 3D, but both went out as 2D), this was arguably an opening shot in IMAX’s bid to reclaim superiority (essay). How much of a game-changer this will be depends on how big the regular opening weekend is. If the opening weekend seems relatively unaffected or arguably boosted by supurb word of mouth, we could see IMAX sneak-openings become somewhat regular. Warner Bros will be watching this very closely. If not for The Dark Knight Rises (which arguably wants a shot at the Fri-Sun record), then for Superman Man of Steel. Heck, if Sony thinks it has the goods, we could see Amazing Spider-Man opening a few days early as well. Furthermore, even if M:I4 has a lower opening weekend but still does good longterm business, this (idealistically) could see a move away from the whole ‘opening weekend is everything’ mentality. Paramount took a major risk this weekend, basically doing a platform release on a major would-be blockbuster, and it will be very interesting to see how it pays off over the long haul.

The only limited release debut of note was Roman Polanksi’s Carnage (review). It opened with $85,000 on five screens, for a $17,000+ per-screen average. It’s not a terrible debut, but the would-be Oscar hopeful is going to have to compete with the other Oscar bait, as well as the wide release of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo for those precious adult dollars. One of the best films of the year, Young Adult (review/essay/interview) tragically crashed in its wide-release debut. It pulled a solid $40,000 per-screen debut on eight screens last weekend, but the somewhat disorganized ad campaign (which was probably afraid to scare off viewers with its somewhat unique protagonist) didn’t help, as the Charlize Theron vehicle (which she surely deserves an Oscar nomination for) earned just $3.6 million for the weekend on 986 screens. The other Oscar bait are burning up the limited release charts (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy earned another $582,000 while The Artist earned another $286,000) while regular moviegoers struggle to find a theater actually showing said movies before the end of the year. In wider-release Oscar bait news, The Descendants is still pulling in fine business, as the film nears $30 million right as Clooney’s other film, The Ides of March, tops $40 million.

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While speaking on a Monday morning conference call, Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner said that the toy company is “in active discussions” with “Transformers” studio Paramount, Bay and producer Steven Spielberg about reuniting for a fourth movie, and added that he’d love to be able to share news in the next quarter, THR reports.

That’s inevitable. The surprise is Bay, who has made back-to-back “Transformers” movies since 2007 and has expressed a desire to do something smaller and totally different. But for the right price, could Bay be brought back into the fold? And would that be a good idea? After the full-throttle devastation in Chicago, does Bay have anything else to bring to the “Transformers” table, or would a fresh voice actually benefit the series?

I think it’s safe to say that LaBeouf is finished. And the series certainly can survive with new human counterparts, so long as Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and the rest of the beloved Autobots are on screen.

If a “Transformers” sequel gets a greenlight, don’t expect to see it in theaters until at least Summer 2013. Oddly enough, Paramount doesn’t have a tentpole on the calendar for that season. Could Bay be heading into pre-production on “Transformers 4” in order to fill that void?

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HollywoodNews.com: IMAX and Paramount Pictures announced today that Transformers: Dark of the Moon, the third film in the blockbuster Transformers franchise, is returning to 246 IMAX® domestic locations for an extended two-week run from Friday, Aug. 26 through Thursday, Sept. 8. During those two weeks, the 3-D film will play simultaneously with other films in the IMAX network.

Since its launch on June 29, Transformers: Dark of the Moon has grossed $1,095 billion globally, with $59.6 million generated from IMAX theatres globally.

“The fans have spoken and we are excited to bring Transformers: Dark of the Moon back to IMAX theatres,” said Greg Foster, IMAX Chairman and President of Filmed Entertainment. “The film has been a remarkable success and we are thrilled to offer fans in North America another chance to experience the latest chapter in this history making franchise.”

Transformers: Dark of the Moon: An IMAX 3D Experience has been digitally re-mastered into the image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience® with proprietary IMAX DMR® (Digital Re-mastering) technology for presentation in IMAX 3D. The crystal-clear images, coupled with IMAX’s customized theatre geometry and powerful digital audio, create a unique immersive environment that will make audiences feel as if they are in the movie.

About Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Shia LaBeouf returns as Sam Witwicky in Transformers: Dark of the Moon. When a mysterious event from Earth’s past erupts into the present day it threatens to bring a war to Earth so big that the Transformers alone will not be able to save us.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon is the third film in the Transformers franchise and the first shot in 3D. It is directed by Michael Bay, written by Ehren Kruger and produced by Don Murphy & Tom DeSanto, Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Ian Bryce. The executive producers are Steven Spielberg, Michael Bay, Brian Goldner and Mark Vahradian. The film has been rated PG-13.

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“We are grateful for the extraordinary work of Michael Bay and his film-making team, executive producer Steven Spielberg, and everyone at Paramount around the globe who played a part in helping make this latest Transformers one of the 10 highest grossing films worldwide of all time,” Paramount chairman-CEO Brad Gray said.

Oddly enough, “Transformers” becomes the third film this summer to reach the billion-dollar mark after “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” and the final “Harry Potter” film. That’s why sequel talk already has swirled around Disney’s “Pirates” franchise, with Johnny Depp contemplating another go-round in Capt. Jack Sparrow’s boots. (“Potter,” of course, is finished, so Warner has to put that cash cow out to pasture.)

“Transformers,” on the other hand, has not had much sequel talk just yet … quite the opposite. While promoting “Dark of the Moon,” Shia LaBeouf told anyone who would listen that he was finished with the franchise, while Bay has stayed mum.

Could these numbers help Paramount to convince Bay to return? Producer Don Murphy has gone on record saying another “Transformers” trilogy is possible (even likely). Will another director be at the helm, a la James Cameron walking away from the “Terminator” franchise? Or could Bay hop back in the saddle with new actors in his leads? So long as there’s giant robots, audiences will turn out. Right?

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HollywoodNews.com: The Autobots and Decepticons ruled the box office yet again, as the Middle East-occupation parable grossed another $47 million over the weekend. That was a drop of 54%, which was smaller than the 61% drop for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen which had the Fourth of July holiday weekend to theoretically bump it up.

It was a larger drop than the 47% second-weekend drop for the original Transformers on this same weekend back in 2007. In terms of actual dollars, Transformers: Dark of the Moon (review) had a larger second weekend than both prior Transformers pictures, despite opening slightly less than the second film ($180 million in six days versus $200 million in five days last time). It now has $261 million in the domestic till, with an international total that should be around or at $600 million today (which would be a record twelve days). It broke $500 million on Thursday, becoming the fastest film to do so in history (nine days).

While it opened smaller than the last picture, it relative quality (it is a more audience pleasing spectacle than the last) is allowing it to slowly catch up (Transformers 2 had $293 million at this point in its run). So far, it most resembles the 2004 July 4th contender, Spider-Man 2, which also had a $180 million six-day start and ended weekend two with $256 million (it ended up with $373 million). Barring a complete collapse or faster screen loss due to a crowded marketplace, the picture seems destined to pull about $390 million domestic while becoming the second film this year (after Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) to cross $1 billion worldwide. The big question is how it handles Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part II, which opens next weekend and could theoretically also join the $1 billion club this year.

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HollywoodNews.com: Two debuting comedies on different ends of the audience spectrum were upstaged by autobots and decepticons as the second week of Transformers: Dark Of The Moon held on to the number one slot at the boxoffice with a drop of only 52% for $47 million. That’s impressive because an opening of the size this third edition of the Transformers franchise had would be expected to take a bigger tumble in its second weekend.

In fact the 2nd film in the series, Revenge of the Fallen did just that with a 61% dive. So good reviews, good word of mouth and of course those higher 3D ticket prices are keeping this one at Bay, so to speak. Say what you will about director Michael Bay. He knows how to deliver a blockbuster. This film should easily top the first two and ultimately be the number one grossing movie of 2011. It’s already tallied $261 million domestically and is well on its way to over a billion worldwide. With next week’s 3D juggernaut, the Harry Potter finale, in the wings expect a much bigger drop but Transformers has already proved its might.

Comedy, despite what an L.A. Times article said earlier in the week, is also still king at the box office and not an endangered species, particularly the raunchy kind exhibited by Judd Apatow’s biggest grosser ever, Bridesmaids , The Hangover Part II and now this week by the very funny, extremely crude and deliciously wicked Horrible Bosses. This perfectly cast employee revenge flick makes the most of a terrific premise and took in an estimated $28 million to place second .

The very R-rated movie also scored a nice B+ Cinemascore rating and top reviews with a 75% fresh ranking at Rotten Tomatoes. And for a change it gives co-star Jennifer Aniston a chance to do something different as she plays (to the hilt) a sexually harassing dentist who wears revealing dental smocks which trying to seduce her assistant , hilariously played by Charlie Day. The entire cast which includes a seething Kevin Spacey and an almost non-recognizable Colin Farrell as well as Jasons, Bateman and Sudeikis really shine here. Perhaps it is a bit surprising that top critics have fallen for it the way they have but funny is FUNNY and Horrible Bosses delivers.

Surprisingly it took producer Brett Ratner several years to get it made but it was worth the wait for raunch lovers everywhere. When I spoke to Ratner on a panel last April that I moderated for the TCM Classic Movie Film Festival he said he’s also proud of his upcoming November thriller, Tower Heist which he hopes will turn into a franchise ala Rush Hour which he directed to great success.

One film definitely NOT destined for that kind of success is the week’s other new comedy, and I use the term loosely, Zookeeper which is from the Adam Sandler pee pee and poo poo joke factory. Sandler is also in it as the voice of the monkey but the film’s star is Kevin James who scored a big hit for Sandler’s company as Paul Blart Mall Cop. Don’t expect that kind of success either as it really isn’t wise to make a talking animal movie and basically leave the animals on the sideline, reduced to offering romantic advice to their caretaker (James).

That two hotties, Leslie Bibb and Rosario Dawson are fighting over this lug defies credibility to say the least. The film has been on the shelf for a while but somehow Sony deluded themselves into thinking this thing could fly in a prime July slot. The fact that it made $21 million (although dropping slightly from Friday to Saturday) and gathered a B+ Cinemascore ranking from non-discriminating family crowds is amazing. Critics actually got it right here by giving it a dreary 15% fresh score at RT. Don’t expect this one to last long in theatres. The animals are cute though. Too bad they did lock James in the cage and let them take over the screen. Oh well.

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HollywoodNews.com: As expected, Transformers: Dark of the Moon (review) dominated the long Fourth-of-July holiday frame this weekend. The film had a Fri-Sun debut of $97 million and thus far sits with $161 million since opening late Tuesday night. It’s expected to end its 6.25-day opening with around $180 million, with a worldwide six-day opening weekend well over $400 million. There are those who will scream “DISAPPOINTMENT!” because Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen opened with $200 million in its first five days two years ago. If $180 million in six days is disappointment, sign me up for failure anytime. The film played 62% male and 55% under-25. Oddly enough, the picture scored an A- from males and an A from females in Cinemascore polling. I’m sure pundits will find sexist explanations for that finding (“Oh, the girls just LOVED that LeBeouf goes into a war-torn Chicago to save his girlfriend.”), but I’ll just chalk it up to the fact that any woman who walks into a Transformers movie likes robot-smashing and explosions as much as the stereotypical guy. The picture sold 60% of its tickets in 3D, which is an uptick from the usual 45/55 2D advantage over the last few months. Point being, if you give teens and older audiences something worth seeing in 3D (as opposed to families with really young kids), they will make the choice to plunk down the extra $3.

Anyway, the film had a slightly slower start than Revenge of the Fallen ($42 million opening day versus $62 million opening day), but managed to catch up to the derided sequel as the weekend wore on (part 3′s Friday was just $3 million behind part 2′s Friday). The $97 million Fri-Sun opening was the biggest opening weekend of the year, and the nineteenth-biggest opening weekend ever. It’s $162 million five-day total is the seventh-biggest on record and unseats Spider-Man 2 ($152 million) as the biggest Wed-Sun haul in July 4th history. If Transformers 3 can make it to $183.6 million by tomorrow, it will have the second-biggest six-day total ever. As it is, it’s all but guaranteed a spot in the top-five. Where it goes from here is an open question as always. The 3D screens will be an endangered species as early as July 22nd, when Captain America opens in 3D and 2D. The IMAX screens are gone as of July 15th, when Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part II unfurls (also in 3D, but it will take most of its 3D screens from Green Lantern and Cars 2). While Dark of the Moon may not match the $400 million+ domestic haul of Revenge of the Fallen, the $310 million gross of the original Transformers is well within reach, and overseas numbers are already crushing previous Transformers opening records around the world. It’s too early to say whether it can reach the $1 billion club. But if Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides can parlay (sorry, pirate pun) ugly and dark 3D into a $1 billion worldwide gross (thanks foreigners…), then surely something that actually provides obvious value for your 3D dollar can make a similar run. Oh, and for those complaining that Michael Bay reused footage from The Island (so as to not reshoot a stunt that seriously injured a stuntwoman and/or use the footage of her injury in the film), Disney has done the same thing for years (CLICK).

Also opening this weekend was the Tom Hanks/Julia Roberts recession dramedy Larry Crowne. The film, distributed by Universal, opened with $13 million over the Fri-Sun portion of the weekend. Despite the star-power at play, it’s important to remember a few things. A) The film looked lousy and got bad reviews. B) The film only cost $30 million to produce, so it will be profitable. C) Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks are years (a decade?) past their peak, so we should stop expecting them to reach their late-90s box office highs, especially with a small film such as this. This is a small, character-driven film that will do decent business over the next month, as the core audience (older moviegoers – 81% were 35 and up) are not the sort to race out on opening weekend. The other wide release was Monte Carlo, a low-profile romantic comedy from Fox that opened with $7.6 million on this very crowded weekend. The film cost $20 million, so money should be made somewhere down the line.

There was lots of holdover news, so I’ll try to make it brief. Cars 2 more-or-less crashed and burned in its second weekend, dropping a shocking (especially for Pixar) 62% in weekend two. The film grossed $25 million over Fri-Sun, or about what it made on its first day last weekend. Still, the critically-lambasted sequel has $116 million in the domestic bank, with the real jackpot hopefully waiting overseas and with merchandising rights. The drop and subsequent lower-than-expected final cum is more of a morale defeat that a real one. Pixar will be fine, so let’s not judge too harshly. Despite what pundits want to think, this was not a soulless cash-grab, but a case of John Lasseter doing ‘one for me’ (he loves the old cars and old spy movies) that happens to be a merchandising cash cow. In happier animation news, Kung Fu Panda 2 held on just a little longer, ending the weekend with $157 million and (more importantly) crossing $500 million worldwide. Paramount’s Super 8 crossed the $100 million mark over the weekend and will end the holiday with $109 million (or $47 million, adjusted for 1985 nostalgia-fueled inflation).

The big news this weekend was the several benchmarks passed by Bridesmaids. It surpassed Knocked Up and Talladega Nights on Thursday to become the biggest film Judd Apatow has ever been involved in. Today, it passed Sex and the City as the biggest female-driven comedy ever. It’s now the seventh-biggest romantic comedy in history (if you want to call it a romcom… your call). At $153.7 million, it’s also the 9th-biggest R-rated comedy ever and the 22nd biggest R-rated film period. So let’s keep up the Oscar buzz for Kristen Wiig, shall we? Last weekend’s other big opener, Bad Teacher, dropped 55% but still sits at $60 million, or triple its budget. X-Men: First Class is heading towards $140 million while it has surpassed $325 million worldwide. Mr. Popper’s Penguins crossed $50 million. And, finally, Green Lantern crossed $100 million this weekend, for what little that’s worth.

That’s it for this weekend. The numbers will be updated as the four-day holiday figures arrive. Join us next weekend for the debuts of Horrible Bosses and The Zookeeper.

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Shia Labeouf and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley

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Shia Labeouf and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley in Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Shia LaBeouf is more popular than ever. Transformers: Dark of the Moon is out in theaters, and LaBeouf remains the lead role in the newest movie of the Transformers saga.

Shia Saide LaBeouf[1] (pronounced /ˈʃaɪ.ə ləˈbʌf/ shy-ə lə-buff; born June 11, 1986) is an American actor who became known among younger audiences for his part in the Disney Channel series Even Stevens and made his film debut in Holes (2003). In 2007, he starred as the leads in Disturbia and Transformers. His other films include Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010), and Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011). In 2004, he made his directorial debut with “Lets Love Hate” and later shot a music video for “I Never Knew You” by rapper Cage.

Early life
LaBeouf was born in Los Angeles, California, the only child of Shayna (née Saide) and Jeffrey Craig LaBeouf. His mother is a dancer and ballerina turned visual artist and clothing jewelry designer. His father is a Vietnam War veteran who had numerous jobs. LaBeouf’s mother is Jewish and his father is a Cajun. LaBeouf was raised in his mother’s Jewish religion and had a Bar Mitzvah, though he was also baptized.

LaBeouf has described his parents as “hippies”, his father as “tough as nails and a different breed of man”, and his upbringing as similar to a “hippy lifestyle”, stating that his parents were “pretty weird people, but they loved me and I loved them.” The actor also accompanied his father to meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous . LaBeouf has also said he was subjected to verbal and mental abuse by his father, who once pointed a gun at his son during a Vietnam War flashback.

LaBeouf says his father was “on drugs” during his childhood and was placed in drug rehabilitation for heroin addiction while LaBeouf’s mother was “trying to hold down the fort.” His parents eventually divorced, mainly due to financial problems, and LaBeouf had what he has described as a “good childhood”, growing up poor in Echo Park with his mother, who worked selling fabrics and brooches. LaBeouf’s uncle was going to adopt him at one stage because his parents could not afford to have him anymore and “they had too much pride to go on welfare or food stamps.” As a way of dealing with his parents’ divorce, he would perform for his family, mimicking his father. LaBeouf remains close to and financially supports both of his parents.

He attended 32nd Street Visual and Performing Arts Magnet in Los Angeles (LAUSD) and Alexander Hamilton High School, although he received most of his education from tutors. In an interview, LaBeouf said that, looking back on his childhood, he feels grateful and considers some of those memories scars.
When LaBeouf was 19, after a neighbor in his Studio City apartment complex had allegedly insulted his mother and rear-ended her car, LaBeouf brought a knife, and a friend for backup, to the neighbor’s apartment, which resulted in LaBeouf being assaulted by the neighbor and six of the neighbor’s friends.

Career
1996–2006: Disney career
Prior to acting, LaBeouf would practice stand-up comedy around his neighborhood as an “escape” from a hostile environment. At age ten, he began performing stand-up at comedy clubs, describing his appeal as having “disgustingly dirty” material and a “50-year-old mouth on the 10-year-old kid”. He subsequently found an agent through the Yellow Pages and was taken on, after pretending to be his own manager.

LaBeouf has said that he initially became an actor because his family was broke, not because he wanted to pursue an acting career, having originally gotten the idea from a child actor whom he met that had things he wanted. LaBeouf became known among young audiences, after playing Louis Stevens on the Disney Channel weekly program Even Stevens in the early 2000s, a role that later earned him a Daytime Emmy Award. He has said, “[he] grew up on that show” and being cast was the “best thing” that happened to him. In the next several years, he appeared in the well-received film adaption, Holes (2003), in the starring role and made his directorial debut with the short film Let’s Love Hate with Lorenzo Eduardo. He has played real-life people, including golfer Francis Ouimet and the younger version of Dito Montiel in A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006).

2007–2008: Career breakthrough
LaBeouf starred in Disturbia, a thriller released on April 13, as a teenager under house arrest who suspects that his neighbor is a serial killer, which he considered a “character-driven” role. He received positive reviews for the role, with The Buffalo News saying, he “is able to simultaneously pull off [the character's] anger, remorse and intelligence”. He hosted Saturday Night Live on April 14, and on May 10, 2008. He next played Sam Witwicky, who becomes involved in the Autobot-Decepticon war on Earth, in Transformers.

In Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) he was Indiana Jones’ greaser son Mutt Williams. His performance was met with mixed reviews with Todd Gilchrist of IGN commenting “one can’t quite help but wonder what Spielberg saw in the young actor that inspired him to cast LaBeouf”. His next film was Eagle Eye, released on September 26. His performance received mixed reviews, with Josh Bell of Las Vegas Weekly saying he “makes a credible bid for action-hero status, although his occasional stabs at emotional depth don’t really go anywhere.”

2009–present: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and beyond
In February, he directed the music video for “I Never Knew You”, a single off rapper Cage’s third album, Depart From Me. It was shot in LA and features cameos by other Definitive Jux artists. The two will also team up to make a biopic about the rapper’s life, starring LaBeouf. Of making the video, LaBeouf said, “I’m 22 and I’m directing my favorite rapper’s music video. This shit is better than riding unicorns.”

LaBeouf reprised the role of Sam Witwicky in the 2009 sequel to Transformers, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Filming for the movie began in May 2008 and ended in late 2008. Due to LaBeouf’s injury from his car accident, Bay and screen writer Roberto Orci had to rewrite the script to protect his hand throughout filming. LaBeouf said production was only delayed two days after his accident because Bay made up for it by filming second unit scenes, and LaBeouf recovered a few weeks earlier than expected, allowing him to return to the set. Near the end of filming, LaBeouf injured his eye when he hit a prop; the injury required seven stitches. He resumed filming two hours later. The movie grossed $800 million, but received mostly negative review by critics, with LaBeouf sharing a nomination for the “Worst Screen Couple of 2009″ Razzie Award with “either Megan Fox or any Transformer.”

His only 2010 movie was the Oliver Stone-directed film Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, the sequel to Wall Street (1987), playing an ambitious Wall Street trader. It became another mixed critical success for him. He reprised his role in the third Transformers film, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, which was released on June 28, 2011. He will play a bootlegger in John Hillcoat’s The Wettest County in the World.

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There’s no denying it. Shia LaBeouf is a major movie star.

Granted, LaBeouf has been savvy enough to attach himself to some big-name franchises, from the “Indiana Jones” series to Michael Bay’s “Transformers.” But he has carried films like “Eagle Eye,” and held his own alongside Carey Mulligan and Michael Douglas in Oliver Stone’s “Wall Street” sequel.

He’s putting the finishing touches on his “Transformers” trilogy with Bay this weekend, and audiences are flocking. We, truthfully, can’t wait to see his next picture, a Depression-era crime story called “The Wettest County in the World.”

Until then, we’ll let Shia have his blockbuster moment – again – as “Transformers” pulls in audience members and box office bucks. With the summer movie season in full swing, we are very pleased to announce that Shia LaBeouf has been named our “Hollywood Movie Star of the Week.”

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Fans can watch together and share across their social networks, as the red carpet event is streamed free at yhoo.it/transformerspremiere. Fans can get the chance to see some of their favorite celebrities, including the film’s director Michael Bay and stars Shia LaBeouf, Josh Duhamel, John Turturro, Tyrese Gibson, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Patrick Dempsey, Kevin Dunn, Julie White, Frances McDormand and Ken Jeong. After watching the live red carpet, fans can head to theaters as the movie opens exclusively in 3D at 9 p.m. on June 28th and everywhere beginning at midnight on June 29th.

Fans tuning in from different time zones around the globe will also have an opportunity to experience the event highlights throughout the following day, subsequent to the U.S. premiere on movies.yahoo.com.

To share this exclusive Transformers event with your friends, see the attached embed code or visit yhoo.it/transformerspremiere for more options.

TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON is directed by Michael Bay, written by Ehren Kruger and produced by Don Murphy & Tom DeSanto, Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Ian Bryce. The executive producers are Steven Spielberg, Michael Bay, Brian Goldner and Mark Vahradian. When a mysterious event from Earth’s past erupts into the present day it threatens to bring a war to Earth so big that the Transformers alone will not be able to save us. The movie stars Shia LaBeouf, Josh Duhamel, John Turturro, Tyrese Gibson, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Patrick Dempsey, Kevin Dunn, Julie White with John Malkovich and Frances McDormand. It will be released by Paramount Pictures worldwide on June 29th. © 2011 Paramount Pictures Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

HASBRO, TRANSFORMERS and all related characters are trademarks of Hasbro.
© 2011 Hasbro. All Rights Reserved.

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