Transformers One’s underwhelming commercial performance continues theTransformersfranchise’s gradual decline at the box office after seven years of financial disappointments.Transformers Onemarks the first time an animatedTransformersfilm has been released in theaters since the series’ inaugural feature adaptation,The Transformers: The Movie, was released in 1986. The new animated movie is one of several projects to come out of the writers’ room that Paramount set up with the aim of turningTransformersinto a Marvel-style cinematic universe, but that initiative still has yet to deliver a Marvel-sized box office success.
WithToy Story 4director Josh Cooley at the helm and a star-studded voice cast including Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, and Laurence Fishburne,Transformers Oneseemed to have everything going for it. It was a throwback to the old-school ‘80s cartoon and the original hard sci-fi approach to the franchise. With mostly positive reviews from critics and a relatively modest budget behind it, it should’ve been a hit. But it ended up being the latest in a long line ofbox office disappointments for theTransformersmovie franchise.
Transformers One Is The Fourth Consecutive Transformers Movie To Decline At The Box Office
Since Transformers: Age Of Extinction, Each New Film Has Made Less Than The Last One
The box office underperformance ofTransformers Onecontinues a disappointing trend within theTransformersfranchise that’s been seven years in the making. Ever sinceTransformers: Age of Extinction, every successiveTransformersmovie has grossed less than the previous one (viaThe Numbers).Michael Bay’s originalTransformersmoviefrom 2007 started the franchise on solid ground with a worldwide gross of $708,272,592. His first sequel, 2009’sRevenge of the Fallen, despite receiving much worse reviews, grossed even more with a global haul of $836,519,699, which set the series up for a bright future.
In 2011, the franchise broke the billion-dollar barrier with what is still its highest-grossing entry,Transformers: Dark of the Moon, which grossed $1,123,794,079. The next one, 2014’sAge of Extinction, suffered a slight drop-off, but it still crossed the billion-dollar threshold. It brought in around $19 million less than its predecessor for a worldwide total of $1,104,054,072. The franchise really started to go downhill with its next installment,2017’sThe Last Knight, which grossed $602,893,340. It still managed to make a profit on its $217 million production budget, butit was an almost 50% drop from the previous film’s numbers.
$708,272,592
$836,519,699
$1,123,794,079
$1,104,054,072
$602,893,340
$464,731,819
$439,241,749
Transformers One
$127,824,330
After the underperformance ofThe Last Knight, Paramount began to move away from Bay-eraTransformersand hoped to bring the franchise back to its roots with the lighthearted, ‘80s-set spin-offBumblebeein 2018. But despite receiving better reviews than any previousTransformersmovie — with many critics deeming it to be the first live-actionTransformersfilm that was actually a genuinely good movie —Bumblebeestill grossed less thanThe Last Knight, with a global total of $464,731,819. It had a significantly lower budget at $102 million, but it was still a far cry from the franchise’s blockbuster glory days.
After that, Paramount went back to sprawling, chaotic, Bay-style, world-is-at-stakeTransformersmovies with 2023’sRise of the Beasts, which was met with mixed reviews.Rise of the Beastsgrossed just $439,241,749, which wasn’t a huge drop-off fromBumblebee, but was still considered a disappointment— especially consideringit cost almost twice as much asBumblebeeto produce, with a budget of $195 million. A year later,Paramount has releasedTransformers One, which has grossed just $127,824,330, making itthe lowest-grossingTransformersmoviesince the original 1986 animation, which grossed a paltry $5,849,647.
Why Transformers Movies Have Been Struggling At The Box Office
There Are A Few Reasons For This: Franchise Fatigue, Negative Reviews, Stiff Competition
There are a couple of reasons why theTransformersfranchise has been struggling at the box office for the past few movies. The excuse of franchise fatigue is often thrown around when Marvel movies underperform at the box office, but hits likeDeadpool & WolverineandGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3have consistently proven that wrong. In the case ofTransformers,franchise fatigue might actually be the case. Audiences had their fun with the first few movies, butwhenThe Last Knightcame along with the same old routine, they realized they’d had their fill of these shapeshifting cyborgs.
Transformers One Box Office: Totals, Worldwide, Opening Explained
How much money has Transformers One made at the domestic and worldwide box office, and how does it compare to the rest of the movies in the franchise?
There’s a wide range of characters and genres explored in the Marvel Cinematic Universe — one movie could be a semi-grounded heist film, the next could be a space adventure — but there are only so many ways to spin alien robots that turn into cars.TheTransformersmovies have never received positive reviews, but that didn’t stop people from turning out forRevenge of the FallenorDark of the Moon.It could be that, in recent years, the market has become absurdly saturated, so audiences have a lot more options to choose from.
Transformers One Was Always Unlikely To Match The Live-Action Films At The Box Office
There’s A Common Misconception That Animation Is Just For Kids
While its underwhelming gross of $127 million is certainly a surprise, since it’s an animated film,Transformers Onewas always expected to gross less than its live-action counterparts. There’s a common misconception that animation is just for children, so a lot of adult viewers with disposable income tend to avoid them in theaters (unless they have kids to entertain).The marketing seemed to lean into this expectation, as the trailers were targeted specifically at younger viewers, so it was never going to live up to the live-action films at the box office.
Even the Spider-Verse movies, which have been hailed as masterpieces and cultural landmarks, have both failed to make anywhere near as much as the worst-reviewed live-action Spider-Man films.
Other animated movies have been successful this year —Inside Out 2andDespicable Me 4are two ofthe highest-grossing films of 2024— but they came from franchises that have always been aimed at kids.The Wild Robot, which outgrossedTransformers One, is adapted from a popular children’s book series. WithTransformers One,theTransformersfranchise was essentially going after a whole new audiencethan before. Even theSpider-Versemovies, which have been hailed as masterpieces and cultural landmarks, have both failed to make anywhere near as much as the worst-reviewed live-actionSpider-Manfilms.
What Transformers One’s Box Office Performance Means For The Future
Transformers One Probably Won’t Get A Sequel
The box office disappointment ofTransformers Oneprobably means it won’t get a sequel. The same thing probably happened with the plannedRise of the Beastssequel after that movie similarly underperformed at the box office.Blue Beetle’s Ángel Manuel Soto is working on a standaloneTransformersmovie andtheG.I. Joecrossover is definitely happening, soit won’t stop the franchise dead. But it could cause Paramount to rethink its plans for the series’ future.
Cast
Transformers One is an animated action-adventure movie that marks the first animated feature-length film for the series in decades. The film will be a prequel to the franchise, and will tell the story of Optimus Prime and Megatron in their early years, how they met, and a closer look at the war on their home planet, Cybertron.
