Optimus Prime and Megatron are back in the animated film Transformers One from Paramount and Hasbro. The film surprisingly received positive reviews from the critics and it was praised for its story, animation, and voice acting. However, the positive word-of-mouth seems to not reach audiences, as the film continues to underperform at the box office.
The initial predictions suggested that it would easily gross over $30 million in its opening weekend. However, the film’s first-day collection, including Wednesday and Thursday night previews, could only add up to $9.6 million. The film fell behind the predicted numbers, debuting at $24.6 million.
Did Transformers One Bomb at the Box Office?
Despite great reviews after its release, the box office of Transformers One is far from meeting the budget. Paramount had high expectations from one of its long-running franchises, but the film couldn’t just hit the numbers during its opening weekend. The $24.6 million opening came second behind Beetlejuice Beetlejuice‘s $25.9 million, which happened to be the third weekend for Tim Burton’s sequel (via THR).
According to Box Office Mojo, the film’s latest numbers show the box office numbers to be at $43.8 million worldwide. This comprises of its $29.8 million in domestic and $14 million in international markets. The budget of the film is estimated to be $75 million, but another source cites it as high as $147 million (via Animation Magazine).
The numbers aren’t terrible for the film to be declared a bomb, but they aren’t looking good for the film’s final gross either. The film looks to bounce back on its second weekend and looks for a dream comeback like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which earned $190.2 million at the domestic box office after a $12.6 million opening.
The budget is on the higher side for this animated flick mainly due to the star-studded voice cast. Marvel stars Chris Hemsworth and Scarlett Johansson star as Optimus Prime and Elita-1, while Bryan Tyree Henry plays Megatron. Other stars include Keegan Michael-Key, Steve Buscemi, Laurence Fishburne, and Jon Hamm.
What Happened To The Transformers One Box Office Despite Its Finest Efforts?
While director Josh Cooley and the cast put in their best efforts to make a decent watch, Paramount & Hasbro dropped the ball with the film’s marketing. When the first look and trailer of the film were released, long-time fans of the Transformers franchise were not at all impressed. The lighthearted nature portrayed in the trailers was not at all consistent with the tone that fans were used to.
It was a poor attempt from the film to market it as a kid-friendly film, hoping to get families to watch it in theaters. The plan backfired as the hype among fans died down quickly. While the film was nothing like what the trailer had portrayed it to be, the promotions might have already done the damage.
The film came a year after Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, which although a better film than Michael Bay‘s films, was a step down from Bumblebee. Fans were hit with the “Transformers fatigue” and were apparently not interested in watching another film about Autobots and Decepticons.
Speaking about Bumblebee, the highest-rated film in the franchise was not able to perform at the box office like its predecessors. One of the major reasons was its Christmas release, unlike the summer release of the previous films. Transformers One may have committed the same mistake with its less-than-colorful September release.
The film was sadly released alongside Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, which is performing extremely well at the box office despite its ‘okay’ reviews. The most troubling news for the Chris Hemsworth film is Chris Sanders’ animated film The Wild Robot. Both films are about to go head-to-head this weekend, with many fans clearly favoring the latter.
Can Transformers One Make A Comeback With Word-Of-Mouth Alone?
The Popcornmeter (or the Audience score) for the film on Rotten Tomatoes suggests that people love the film. From over 1000 verified ratings, the film has earned a great score of 98%. The Tomatometer score is also promising at 89% from 138 reviews. The film is undoubtedly building a reputation for itself.
Fans even went on to suggest that animation would be the optimal medium for the franchise’s future. But that future might entirely depend on whether filmgoers would actually listen to these reviews and decide to watch the film.
That being said, it would only be fair to point out some of the negative comments about the film’s animation. Not all fans and critics were impressed with the visual style of the film, with some calling it “visually off-putting” (via Cartoon Brew) and “mostly hideous” (via The Guardian).
Transformers One is now playing in theaters.
