Transformers One’s box office numbers are in for the all-important first weeks of its theatrical run. The feature-length project, which is an animated prequel, is the ninth theatrical installment in the franchise and only the second to be animated after the 1986 offering The Transformers: The Movie, which was the first to be released in theaters after the franchise launched as a toy line and animated series several years earlier. The new movie was written by Eric Pearson, Andrew Barrer, and Gabriel Ferrari, and was directed by Josh Cooley, who also provides the voice for Cybertronian High Guard seeker Skywarp.
The Transformers One cast includes a variety of stars who have not appeared in the franchise before, though many of them are voicing characters who have had a presence in previous installments. This includes Chris Hemsworth as Optimus Prime (who was previously voiced by Peter Cullen in the live-action movies and many other Transformers projects), Brian Tyree Henry as Megatron (who was previously voiced by Hugo Weaving and Frank Welker in the movies), and Keegan-Michael Key as Bumblebee. They star alongside Scarlett Johansson as Elita-1, Steve Buscemi as Starscream, Laurence Fishburne as Alpha Trion, and Jon Hamm as Sentinel Prime.
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Transformers One’s Total Box Office (So Far)
The Movie Ranks Below Several 2024 Animated Hits
Per Box Office Mojo, at the time of writing the Transformers One release has earned $39.7 million in North America. This makes it the 32nd highest-grossing movie of 2024 so far at the domestic box office, just behind the M. Night Shyamalan thriller Trap ($42.7 million) and ahead of the new DreamWorks release The Wild Robot ($38 million). So far, the only animated movies that have outgrossed either title are Inside Out 2 ($652.9 million), Despicable Me 4 ($360.8 million), Kung Fu Panda 4 ($193.6 million), The Garfield Movie ($91.9 million), and 2023’s Migration ($73.2 million this year).
Migration was released late in the year in 2023 and has grossed a cumulative total of $127.3 million at the domestic box office over the entirety of its run.
At the worldwide box office, Transformers One has so far grossed $72.5 million. Overall, this makes it the 33rd highest-grossing movie of the year on the global chart, also behind Trap ($82.7 million), though the movie it is ahead of is the French smash The Count of Monte Cristo ($71.9 million). All the movies above it on the domestic chart rank higher worldwide as well – particularly Inside Out 2, which is the highest-grossing animated film of all time – with the addition of Japan’s Detective Conan: The Million-Dollar Pentagram ($108.2 million) and Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle ($100.4 million).
Transformers One’s Opening Weekend Box Office
The Movie’s Debut Was Lukewarm Across All Markets
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During its domestic opening weekend, Transformers One debuted with a total of $24.6 million. While this is somewhat underwhelming given the movie’s budget, which is estimated to be between $75 and $147 million, it is about par with the disappointing debut of Pixar’s Elemental. That 2023 title, which came with a whopping $200 million price tag, only opened to $29.6 million but eventually legged out to a $496.4 million total at the global box office, more than doubling its production budget.
Elemental eventually became the tenth highest-grossing movie of 2023 worldwide and the third highest-grossing animated release behind Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse ($690.5 million) at No. 6 and The Super Mario Bros. Movie ($1.36 billion) at No. 2.
Worldwide, its opening weekend saw international markets adding an additional $14 million for a cumulative $39 million global debut. So far, it has consistently had lower grosses internationally than at the domestic box office, which is unusual for a Transformers release, as that has never been the case for a live-action installment in the franchise. However, it only opened in 50 international markets, which Deadline reports is “only 40% of the overseas footprint,” so as more markets open its international grosses may catch up and exceed its domestic gross.
How Transformers One’s Box Office Compares To Other Transformers Movies
The Movie Remains At The Lower End Of The Scale
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Despite Transformers One reviews giving the movie the second-highest Rotten Tomatoes score of the franchise with 89%, behind Bumblebee’s 90%, it actually earned the third-lowest opening weekend of all nine movies, also behind Bumblebee ($21.6 million) as well as the original 1986 animated movie ($1.8 million). With the exception of the original movie, which is an outlier that did not have a robust international release, it is also the lowest-grossing of them all at the time of writing. Below, see how the 2024 title compares to the opening weekends and worldwide totals of every other theatrical Transformers movie:
Title Opening Weekend Worldwide Total The Transformers: The Movie (1986) $1.8 million $5.9 million Transformers (2007) $70.5 million $709.7 million Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) $108.9 million $836.3 million Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) $97.8 million $1.12 billion Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014) $100 million $1.10 billion Transformers: The Last Knight (2017) $44.7 million $605.4 million Bumblebee (2018) $21.6 million $467.9 million Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023) $61 million $438.9 million Transformers One (2024) $24.6 million TBD
Of all the Transformers movies released after the turn of the millennium, it is so far the only one not to have passed the $100 million milestone worldwide. It remains to be seen how high it can climb by the time it reaches the end of its theatrical run. However, even if it follows the lead of Elemental, it will likely not pass the half-billion mark, which means it will likely remain one of the three lowest-grossing installments in the contemporary theatrical branch of the long-running franchise.
What Transformers One’s Box Office Means For The Franchise
The Movie’s Budget Could Protect It From Diminishing Returns
Custom image by Brennan Klein
As an animated feature being released after more than a decade of live-action installments, Transformers One is something of a unique move for the franchise. It is both a bold swing, as they have not attempted a theatrical animated feature in nearly 40 years, and a return to form, as the small screen projects in the franchise have all been animated so the format is still familiar. However, its opening weekend and overall box office performance do seem to reflect the diminishing returns that have plagued the theatrical arm of the franchise since the 2017 release of The Last Knight.
[ Transformers One ] is cheaper than every previous contemporary installment but Bumblebee .
However, in and of itself, the movie has a chance at turning a profit. Even at the higher range of the estimated Transformers One budget, it is cheaper than every previous contemporary installment but Bumblebee. Because a movie typically needs to earn two-and-a-half times its budget, this could place its break-even point around $367.5 million, which may be well within its reach by the end of its run. While its gross would still be lower than previous outings at $400 million, it could still be considered a success by that measure.
Source: Box Office Mojo & Deadline