The summer tent pole excitement continues this weekend with Paramount’s seventh Transformers film, “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” which grossed $155 million at the worldwide box office for its opening film. $100M thereof offshore.
The film represents a focused reboot by the studio of the long-aging Robots-in-disguise franchise, which has suffered from declining ticket sales in recent installments. This is the second Transformers film not directed by Michael Bay (although Bay is still producing), following 2018’s Bumblebee, and it seeks to differentiate itself by introducing the robotic animals from the Hasbro franchise. Steven Caple Jr., director of Creed II, is at the helm and stars Anthony Ramos and The Deuce of In the Heights and Dominique Fishback of Judas and the Black Messiah.
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” Sony
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is well received by Hispanic, Latino and Black viewers in the US and is certain to be in contention for first place at the top of the box office against Sony Animations “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”It’s the second weekend, both are watching $50 million and up. Spider-Verse (deadline review here) is a force to be reckoned with and putting on a strong Monday $13M and Tuesday from $15M for a running total of $148.7 million. Who says competition isn’t good for the market?
While Transformers: Rise of the Beasts opens below early estimates, which were close to $70 million a few weeks ago, the film’s three-day box office admission at 3,673 theaters will be an increase from Friday-Sunday picks “Bumblebee” and “Transformers: The” represent Last Knight, which booked $21.6 million and $44.68 million in launches, respectively. Rise of the Beasts will have access to 400 Imax theaters and 700 PLF screens, as well as 3D screenings. There’s a fan event tonight at 7 p.m., with the preview starting at 3 p.m. on Thursday
Rise of the Beasts will be released in 68 overseas markets starting with early release in Korea on Tuesday, followed by France, Italy and Indonesia today, then Germany, UK, Mexico, India and Spain through Friday. The only majors not participating this week are Australia and Japan, who join on June 22 and August 4, respectively.
China has been picky lately but is a huge market for all things Transformers and has shown some signs of improvement lately. The film is currently leading advance sales for the frame there. In the People’s Republic of China, “Rise of the Beasts” could generate $50 million of the sequel’s $100 million offshore production.
Comparing it to the previous Transformers film, the Bumblebee origin story, is a bit difficult as the goal for this film was a more comprehensive demo than the rest of the series, and while it received deserved critical acclaim (91% agreed it fresh from Rotten Tomatoes), he fared worse in the finals with $340.8 million overseas (unadjusted). Also, this was a Christmas release, while the Autobots usually come out to play in the summer.
“Bumblebee” was an anomaly among “Transformers” films among critics who traditionally loathed their crash-bang boom. Rise of the Beasts currently has a 57% Rotten on Rotten Tomatoes, which tied with the original 2007 film is the second best critical score for the franchise.
The biggest markets on Bumblebee were China, UK, Korea, Mexico and Indonesia. In unadjusted numbers, Bumblebee opened in China at $57.9 million and rose to $170.8 million. In The Last Knight, the largest offshore territories were China, Korea, Russia, Japan, and Germany (Russia, of course, plays no part in Rise of the Beasts). Also note that there is stiff competition this weekend in Korea as it is the second session for local hit The Roundup: No Way Out.
The offshore advertising campaign for the Beasts included premieres in Paris, Madrid and Luanping, China. Huge statues of Optimus Prime and Maximal leader Optimus Primal have been erected in Beijing.
In the record books, 2011’s “Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon” ($382.4 million) and 2014’s “Transformers: Age of Extinction” ($302.1 million) were the top-grossing worldwide openings for Transformers films, with gross receipts not adjusted for inflation or currency fluctuations.