Paramount rolled out its fifthTransformersmovie this weekend, and while it came out on top at the box office, it did so with the lowest opening in franchise history.Transformers: The Last Knightwon its firstbox office weekendwith an estimated $45.3 million. Its five-day opening, after debuting on Wednesday, June 21, comes in at $69 million, which itself is just below the $70.5 million three day opening for the firstTransformersmovie, which opened in theaters almost exactly 10 years ago.
Box Office Mojoreports that the fifthTransformers movieearned a solid $11,133 per-screen average from 4,069 theaters, but much like its predecessors, the movie suffered with critics, earning just a 15% rating from the critics at Rotten Tomatoes. Still, this entire franchise has proven to be “critic-proof, with each movie earning a “Rotten” rating, while it has also proven its mettle in the overseas market. The movie has performed much better in international markets, earning $196.2 million, for a worldwide total of $265.2 million, from a $217 million budget. Still, the domestic opening shows how this is certainly a franchise on the decline.
This franchise shows not only how unpredictable audiences can be, but how front-loaded the industry has become in the past decade. TheTransformersfranchise kicked off 10 years ago with the firstTransformersmovie, which turned young starsShia LaBeoufand Megan Fox into household names. The movie opened well, with $70.5 million, which would represent just 22.1% of its domestic gross of $319.2 million, which was the third-highest grossing movie of 2007, behindShrek the Third($322.7 million) andSpider-Man 3($337.5 million). The 2009 sequelTransformers: Revenge of the Fallenopened much bigger, with a $108.9 million debut (27.1% of domestic gross), en route to a $402.1 million domestic tally, second highest of 2009, behindAvatar($749.7 million) and $836.3 million worldwide.
Two years later in 2011, the nextTransformersmovie,Transformers: Dark of the Moon, slipped just a bit, at least domestically, opening with $97.8 million (27.8% of domestic total) en route to $352.3 million domestically but a whopping $1.1 billion worldwide, thanks to the emergence of China as a global box office powerhouse. That movie earned $165.1 million from China alone, whereas the first two movies earned $103 million from China combined. That trend would continue with the last installment, 2014’sTransformers: Age of Extinction, which opened with $100 million (40.8% of its domestic total), with $245.4 million domestic and $1.1 billion worldwide, thanks to a whopping $320 million from China alone. The Chinese market will also be integral to the success ofTransformers: The Last Knight, and we reported last week that it posted a hugeChinese opening dayof $45.1 million.
The top 10 is rounded out byCars 3($25.175 million),Wonder Woman($25.175 million),47 Meters Down$7.4 million),All Eyez on Me($5.85 million),The Mummy$5.83 million),Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales($5.2 million),Rough Night($4.7 million),Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie($4.2 million) andGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2($3 million). Also opening in limited release is Lionsgate’sThe Big Sick, which opened strong with $435,000 from just five theaters for a $87,000 per-screen average. Focus Features’The Beguiledremake also opened strong with $240,545 from four theaters for a $60,136, Vertical Entertainment’sAlien Arrival, which will debut alongside Neon’sThe Bad Batch, Indican’sA Beginner’s Guide to Snuff, while Neon’sThe Bad Batchopened with $91,074 from 30 theaters for a middling $3,036 per-screen average and the Abramorama documentaryFood Evolutionearned $3,311 from one theater. No box office data was given for another Abramorama documentary,F(l)ag Football, Arc Entertainment’sThe Operative, Strand’sThe Ornithologist, Screen Media’sRippedand Yash Raj’sTubelight.
Looking ahead to next weekend, Sony Pictures will roll outBaby Driveron Wednesday, June 28, with the Universal animated sequelDespicable Me 3, Warner Bros.' comedyThe Houseand The Weinstein Company’sAmityville: The Awakeningarriving in theaters Friday June 30 to close out the month. Also arriving in limited release is Sony Pictures Classics'13 Minutes, Neon’s documentaryThe B-Side: Elsa Dorfman’s Portrait Photography, Gunpowder & Sky’s comedyThe Little Hoursand Strand’s documentary’sThe Skyjacker’s Tale. Take a look at the box office estimates for the weekend of June 23, and check back on Tuesday for next week’s predictions.
