So, earlier in the week, I discussed Michael Bay and his freak-out with Viacom, Inc. (NYSE: VIA) over the marketing quality on his latest film, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Turns out Mike had nothing to worry about.

This film is doing great. At the time of this writing, the film was estimated to have grossed over $60 million on its opening day, which was this past Wednesday. Now, I hate talking about the breaking of this record and that record. Hollywood loves to point out that Movie X achieved the highest gross for a film released on a cloudy day in late September when the moon was full and a new supernova was spotted in the constellation of Cygnus. I'd rather talk about how much profit was achieved, and how much return on capital was recorded (too bad media companies don't have to reveal such data). Nevertheless, I'll give Viacom and Fallen credit. It apparently scored the biggest Wednesday opening ever, and it should theoretically have a great weekend, assuming word of mouth is good. So far, I've only heard superlative things about this particular piece of celluloid, and I know of one person who immediately consulted her cell phone to schedule a time to see the picture with her friends when she heard how awesome it was.

Now, here is an interesting little spat. Michael Bay, according to The Hollywood Reporter, is upset with Viacom (NYSE: VIA). Why? Well, there's a movie coming out this week called Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. It's the sequel to the big summer hit from a couple years back that brought the Transformers brand into the multiplex culture. Bay directed both projects. And he apparently has taken a tantrum, a little baby-like tantrum, over the marketing of the new film.

The Reporter article, which talks about the TMZ.com post that brought an email Bay wrote in May to the world's attention, says that Bay believes the quality of the marketing support so far on the second Transformers is way below par. He feels no buzz equity surrounding the movie. He doesn't think that an appropriate zeitgeist of support has been synthetically manufactured by the powers that be at Paramount. And he wonders if it might have to do with money: "I cannot figure if this is a cash issue with your company?" Further, he proffers: "Right now we are not an event. We are just a sequel, which is different."

If Viacom's (NYSE: VIA) first-quarter earnings were a sweeps program, it probably wouldn't achieve a high rating. That's because the plot of the press release's narrative centered on one depressing theme: decline.

Let's begin at the top. Sales decreased 8% (you're about to switch the channel already, I know). Operating income was down by 22%. And adjusted income decreased 34%. Income at the media division was down 9%, and the loss in the film department nearly doubled!

But, hey, profits beat estimates, at least. According to Bloomberg, Viacom was only supposed to do around 25 cents per share. In fact, shares of Viacom rallied over 5% in the after-hours session Thursday on the news.

It was a great Valentine's Day weekend for Time Warner (NYSE: TWX). According to Boxofficemojo, the remake of Friday the 13th took the top spot, hacking up over $40 million at domestic theaters for the three-day weekend as of early estimates. Even if those estimates change a little, the horror flick is staying put in first place. Michael Bay was the producer on this film, and he brought his slick sensibility to the sick classic.

And, of course, he made sure that Jason Voorhees was prominently featured in the project, even though the supernatural serial killer wasn't the antagonist in the original source material. That was a good decision (although I do sometimes wonder what it would have been like if Bay had stayed true to the original and just used Jason's mother as the killer), considering that Jason is the heart of the brand equity of this franchise. I'll tell you, when I saw the early numbers reported at the beginning of the weekend, I was amazed at how good the business was for Friday. Every marketing cylinder was hit on this one.

Last week I blogged about the premiere of the long-awaited Transformers movie and how Susan Linn, a psychologist who co-founded the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, said the movie was improperly marketed towards children.

While Ms. Lind's complaint fell on deaf ears, Transformers rocked the box-office this week with $67.6M in the box office in its first weekend and $152.5M worldwide since its opening one-week ago today – beating the original Spider-Man with the biggest first-week revenues for a non-sequel.

The Wall Street Journal believes the Transformers debut, which research firm Merriman Curhan Ford & Co said was nearly twice as strong as the studio's expectations; has a strong chance of hitting $300M in domestic ticket sales.

Could this summer hit become a franchise?

Viacom, Inc. (NYSE: VIA)'s Paramount has been without a new franchise in nearly a decade. With key cast members Shia LaBeouf and others already optioned for another movie, will Transformers be their first? The answer has to be yes: Transformers 2 is slated for 2009, according to IMDB.com. Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura is already in talks with director Michael Bay, who kept the movie down to a $150M price-tag, half the cost of Pirates and Spider-Man sequels.

Paramount has gone without a franchise for ten years and now has the opportunity to have three by 2008. The other potentials: The Spiderwick Chronicles, directed by Mark Waters, and a new version of Star Trek directed by J.J. Abrams, although that's already an established brand name. Sadly, neither of these directors compares to Michael Bay and his re-creation of the Transformers, but the potential for a franchise is there.

While Transformers fans will wait in agony over the next two years for a sequel, Viacom's Paramount looks to be sitting pretty with dreams of being in franchise heaven. Keep an eye on the big screen to find out if Paramount's dreams come ever true.