Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
The summer season has its first real battle for the top as Transformers: Rise of the Beasts attempts to fend off last week’s crowning release, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
The “Transformers” sequel topped the gas with $25 million on opening day, a figure that includes $8.8 million in Thursday’s previews. The film is expected to gross approximately $60 million over the three-day run, which would be on the high end of weekend estimates.
Rise of the Beasts represents Paramount’s attempt to recalibrate the Transformers franchise for future longevity. The first three live-action films, directed by Michael Bay, each grossed more than $300 million in North America, while the three-part Dark of the Moon and its sequel Age of Extinction each grossed over $1 billion worldwide made dollars. But Bay’s most recent production, 2017’s Transformers: The Last Knight, saw lower earnings, finishing at $130 million in the US and $605 million worldwide — almost half of the $1.1 billion in ticket sales achieved by Age of Extinction. Paramount released the spin-off “Bumblebee” in 2018, which was produced on a comparatively smaller budget and grossed $467 million worldwide.
Rise of the Beasts appears to be on the mend, with an opening higher than the $44 million that The Last Knight grossed on its debut. But cloaked robots don’t come cheap; The film will need staying power to justify a production budget of around $200 million. Paramount plays primarily overseas, where more than 70% of ticket sales for the franchise’s three most recent games have been made. The new edition has grossed $43.3 million in 68 international markets to date.
Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback star in Rise of the Beasts. The freedom-fighting CGI gas guzzlers are voiced by Pete Davidson, Ron Perlman, Michelle Yeoh, Liza Koshy, Peter Dinklage and longtime Optimus Prime voice actor Peter Cullen. Creed II director Steven Caple Jr. was given the keys to the ride. Set in the 90’s, the adventure introduces viewers to Maximals and Terrorcons – two ancient Transformers factions that can transform into robotic beasts.
This “Transformers” entry was never a critical favorite of the franchise, but it didn’t receive a particularly positive reception from the press, earning an approval rating of 32% from top critics on review website Rotten Tomatoes. However, Variety senior film critic Owen Gleiberman was very positive, writing, “The robots felt more real to me as characters than they usually do.” Audiences are delighted, as is the A- grade in the first round of ticket buyers to cinema score shows.
While Rise of the Beasts is topping the forecasts for now, it’s still too early to tell if it can snag the top spot of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse on the domestic charts. The animated adventure from Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation is currently forecasting gross revenues of $55.8 million for its second release, down about 53% from the $120.5 million it premiered last weekend.
The Spider-Verse sequel has been a box office hit since it had the biggest domestic opening day of the year ($51.7 million). The interdimensional adventure not only debuted like a premier summer blockbuster, it holds up even better than one — comic book adaptations tend to be big at the box office due to outsized fan demand. A roughly 53% drop over the second weekend would be an impressive achievement for Spider-Verse, which has garnered some of the year’s strongest reviews.
Across the Spider-Verse will take its North American earnings to over $200 million on Saturday. In just eight days of release, the film has already surpassed the $190 million final gross of its 2018 predecessor, Into the Spider-Verse — and it’s showing no signs of slowing down.
Three Disney releases round out the top five positions on the domestic charts. The company’s live-action remake of The Little Mermaid grossed $6.8 million as of Friday, down about 43% from the previous release. While the water musical hasn’t fared as well overseas, it’s set to boost its domestic earnings to over $225 million by the weekend. It’s a hair’s breadth behind 2019’s “Aladdin” remake, which grossed $230 million in the first 17 days of its domestic release and ended up grossing $355 million.
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is expected to take fourth place after making $2 million on Friday, down 32% from its last appearance. After opening in early May, the defending champion of the interstellar trilogy has shown some staying power, trying to boost its domestic sales to $335 million by Sunday.
“The Boogeyman,” a horror release from 20th Century Studios, is in fifth place. The under-the-bed thriller grossed $2.1 million on Friday, taking its domestic earnings to over $20 million.