In a surprising twist, the bots are put under pressure by Beetlejuice Beetlejuice at the weekend box office.
Transformers One was expected to gross at least $30-35 million in North America. Now it looks more like $26 million, putting the Paramount/Hasbro film neck and neck with Warner Bros.’ Beetlejuice To be continued, now in its third weekend.
While Transformers One As of Saturday morning, the lead was narrow, with the two films only likely to be between $500,000 and $1 million.
The unwelcome news comes despite glowing reviews, awards buzz, an A- CinemaScore and shiny exits, but Paramount and Hasbro always knew they were taking a risk by going back to the franchise’s roots and making a CGI-animated film with a family-friendly PG rating rather than a PG-13 live-action extravaganza aimed at fanboys.
Paramount has been struggling for years to relaunch the cinematic franchise based on the popular Hasbro toy series.
The film was directed by Pixar alumnus John Cooley and tells the origin story of two of the most famous Transformers, Optimus Prime and Megatron, who went from best friends to arch enemies. Chris Hemsworth and Brian Tyree Henry lend their voices to the two characters, with Keegan-Michael Key, Scarlett Johansson, Steve Buscemi, Laurence Fishburne and Jon Hamm also starring.
“Consider this a revived franchise,” wrote Frank Scheck in his review of the film for The Hollywood Reporter.
The challenge for Paramount now is to ensure Transformers One has been a long-running box office success, appealing not only to families but also to the general public. The modestly budgeted event film, which cost $75 million to produce before marketing, is also being released overseas, but the figures will not be released until Sunday.
The other two new releases of the weekend are in far worse shape. Lionsgate’s Halle Berry pic Never let go is expected to finish in fourth place with around $4 million, while Mubi’s The substancestarring Demi Moore, is expected to open with less than $3 million, placing sixth.
The numbers will be updated on Sunday.
