Actor promotes “Age of Extinction” at CinemaCon 2014 in Las Vegas, goes overboard

Mar 27, 2014 16:31 GMT  ·  By
Mark Wahlberg promotes “Transformers” at CinemaCon 2014, says it’s the “most iconic franchise” ever
   Mark Wahlberg promotes “Transformers” at CinemaCon 2014, says it’s the “most iconic franchise” ever

It could be that Mark Wahlberg bumped his head on the set of the upcoming “Transformers” installment, “Age of Extinction,” because the other night at CinemaCon 2014 in Las Vegas, he said the craziest thing about it.

The actor, who comes to replace Shia LaBeouf as lead in the new Michael Bay film, showed up on the panel to promote it and showed uncharacteristically large amounts of enthusiasm for the “Transformers” franchise.

“This will be the biggest movie of 2014,” he “beamed” at the audience, as per Variety. “I feel like it’s the most iconic franchise in movie history,” Mark added.

I’m sure I speak for many when I say that, as much love as I have for Mark, he’s taking this a bit too far. I even understand that he’s so eager to do right by Michael Bay that he called his “Transformers” role the most important of his career so far at one point, but this is really taking the cake.

Perhaps Wahlberg has heard of a little project called “Star Wars”? Or “Star Trek”? “James Bond”? “Scarface”? “Indiana Jones”? Speaking strictly in terms of social and cultural impact (not just of popularity), at this point, even “Twilight” is more iconic than “Transformers” and that’s no shade for the latter.

Michael Bay delivered solid popcorn entertainment with the first three movies and, yes, they were a big hit with the public, which translated into huge box office success – but that doesn’t make them “iconic,” it only makes them bankable. For “iconic,” Mark should revisit them in 15 years’ time and see where they are and how they fare.

“Age of Extinction” will be out this year and will stand apart from the previous 3 films with LaBeouf.