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Wkd Box Office • 09/20-22/24 • CBS Kids in Dead Heat With Kids WB (Transformers $25M DOM)

Gentlemen

Gentlemen

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Oct 25, 2017
10,124


It has been a while since I've thought about it but I'm pretty sure the ABC saturday morning block was my go to. You just couldn't beat having Duck Tales in your programming lineup. I realize it's cheating to retroactively give a property now owned by viacom to CBS Kids, and I'm pretty certain the both cartoons ran on local stations before they were devoured by megacorporations (I think it was either local channel 5 or 11 in LA?), but I just wanted an excuse to dredge up childhood memories of waking up way too early on saturday to watch every cartoon I could stand until the ones I didn't like come on so I could start my actual weekend. All rise for the national anthem.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vI0UcUxzrQ

Estimates have Transformers just barely making it to first place, so I'll stick with that ordering. Beetlejuicier and horror counterprogramming are hanging on pretty well, even if it doesn't look like Lionsgate can even make low budget psychological horror work. Overall post-COVID September is still in its rebuilding phase, I personally wanted Transformers One land bigger than this as from all accounts it's an *excellent* film but it does seem to be missing some of the intangibles that drove audiences to Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Trades are giving it room to leg out but with schools fully back I'm less optimistic. New theatrical animation is a weekend away.

Looking forward folks will have plenty of time to pore over the charred crater left behind by Megalopolis while the rest of us wait to see if Joker Deux can get some prerelease buzz going. Who you got winning the post-summer race?

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Holding strong is Warner Bros' third weekend of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice at $25M, -51%. The numbers say everything in terms of the staying power of that Tim Burton-directed Jenna Ortega, Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder movie. As we told you yesterday, by Sunday, the sequel is gonna pass the domestic of Shang-Chi ($224.5M).
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Lionsgate's tire fire continues following the bombing of Borderlands, The Crow and last weekend's lowest Dave Bautista opening, The Killer's Game, with Never Let Go. And there's another dud next weekend in the studio's handling of Francis Ford Coppola's $120M epic Megalopolis, bound for a $5M opening (however, the studio isn't on the hook for marketing on that one, and they're walking away with at least a $3M-$5M distribution fee, I'm told, even if the Adam Driver, Shia LaBeouf, Aubrey Plaza movie tanks).
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VARIETY SEZ:

"Transformers One" doesn't seem primed for a breakout start after earning $9.56 million from 3,978 locations across Friday and preview screenings. That puts the animated prequel, co-produced by Paramount Animation and Hasbro Entertainment, on track for a $26.3 million opening weekend in North America, pacing behind industry projections for a $30 million-plus debut.
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Whether "Transformers One" can keep a strong engine running in the weeks ahead will be the ultimate measurement of its success. Paramount was able to leg out a salvageable performance for another family-oriented feature this summer, with the original special-effects caper "IF" finishing with $111 million domestic after a muted $33 million opening. The studio will look for staying power here too.
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(Click image for full chart)

Worldwide Updates:









Weekend Box Office Archive (Updated 2023-05-07) and Appendix


 
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NotLiquid

NotLiquid

One Winged Slayer
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Oct 25, 2017
36,146
Transformers deserves so, so much more. I want to say the audience really let this movie down but that first trailer did them no favors.
 
shintoki

shintoki

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Oct 25, 2017
16,390
NotLiquid said:
Transformers deserves so, so much more. I want to say the audience really let this movie down but that first trailer did them no favors.
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For something that is potentially over 100mil budget. It really looks like one of those Nickelodeon movies that come in around 50mil.

Tobor said:
"Megalopolis, bound for a $5M opening"

I'll take the under.
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Big ask, but do the free Atom tickets count towards its gross?
 
NotLiquid

NotLiquid

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
36,146
shintoki said:
For something that is potentially over 100mil budget. It really looks like one of those Nickelodeon movies that come in around 50mil.
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The budget was reported to be $75M, so I don't think they broke the bank on it or anything, and the animation is largely solid. Much like Mutant Mayhem I imagine it's predominantly meant to be a solid merch driver.
 
EraldoCoil

EraldoCoil

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,667
Cali
Watched transformers this weekend.

Shit deserves so much more! Fantastic movie with amazing animation. Really hope WoM keeps it going my Son and I def want a sequel.

By far my favorite animated movie since Into the Spiderverse.
 
Cipher Peon

Cipher Peon

One Winged Slayer
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Oct 25, 2017
8,664
I haven't been in a theater in weeks but I kinda regret not seeing The Substance immediately. Seems interesting. Not surprised about how Transformers did, the trailers were dire. To me the movie looked as bad as the Michael Bay movies oof 💀

But I will be there for Megalopolis, I can't wait haha
 
Violence Jack

Violence Jack

Drive-in Mutant
Member
Oct 25, 2017
45,227
Lionsgate deserves all the Ls with their AI partnership announcement.

And for once, no stupid GOP/Christian films in the top 5.

Really hoping that Transformers has some great legs. The art style likely turned people off of it, but it's the best TF movie since Bumblebee and the 1986 film.
 
Aiqops

Aiqops

Member
Aug 3, 2021
16,845
I don't even have any problems with the artstyle or am burned by the Bayformers verse, cause I still enjoyed pretty much all of them. It's just that I don't go to the theater anymore outside of super rare exceptions. This year it was Dune Part 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine.
 
Starphanluke

Starphanluke

▲ Legend ▲
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Nov 15, 2017
7,788
Bummed for Transformers, but it's not the end of the world. After TWR next weekend, the runway is wide open until November. Hopefully it can hold on, while also driving solid merch sales.

Sequel is unlikely though. I'm glad that while the movie absolutely could have had sequels, it is still a satisfying standalone movie. In the end, I'm just glad it got made and great.

The marketing team that worked on it needs a makeover.

Saucycarpdog said:
The animation didn't either.

Looks like one of the TV shows.
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People keep saying this and it isn't close to being true. You can just say "I don't like the art direction." It looks much better than animated TV shows, and I'd argue the trailers don't do it justice.

Especially the faces. There are scenes in the movie that make it very obvious why the faces are designed the way they are (they have to "act.")

For my money, TFO looks waaaaay better than Inside Out 2, which was visually bland as fuck.
 
OP
OP
Gentlemen

Gentlemen

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Oct 25, 2017
10,124
Also today I learned that there's a youtube industry of people recreating and remixing saturday morning cartoon blocks, complete with ads and bumpers. 3-4 straight hours of nostalgia, sorted by year. If that's your thing. I won't link it since more traffic means a higher chance they get C&D'd. Just a gang of cartoon afficionados spreading what joy they can.
 
RyougaSaotome

RyougaSaotome

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,071
shintoki said:
Romulus is in a bit of an interesting spot for the next flick. Do you attempt to make another smaller flick or go with a bigger budget? Instinct would say yes, but when 30% of its gross is coming from China. You never know if the next even gets a release there.
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Firmly believe they need to keep these budgets reasonable. There's plenty of wiggle room with this franchise, and there really is no need to let the budgets explode.
 
Violence Jack

Violence Jack

Drive-in Mutant
Member
Oct 25, 2017
45,227
Poor non-Thor Chris Hemsworth just cannot catch a break. Thankfully, Transformers only has a $75 million budget so if it has a good hold there's a slight chance it could turn a profit.
 
Aiqops

Aiqops

Member
Aug 3, 2021
16,845
Yeah, Alien never made enough money on those movies to be a 150+ million per movie franchise. Keep the budgets reasonable.
 
ContractHolder

ContractHolder

Jack of All Streams
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Oct 25, 2017
18,377
What the heck happened Transformers One? I was not expecting an $80 million opening. And I knew the first trailer wasn't well liked.

But not that long ago we had a $40 million OW estimate and then fantastic reviews came in. How did it sink almost $20 million on good reviews?
 
Tace

Tace

Avenger
Nov 1, 2017
38,026
The Rapscallion
Sucks for transformers, but that artstyle was doing it no favors, and I don't think they marketed it as well as they could have. Ah, Romulus. The Alien movie that could
 
Johnzyboi

Johnzyboi

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Nov 10, 2018
2,760
I wonder if Transformers can catch up to Paw Patrol or if the dogs will stay king of Paramount.
 
SilverX

SilverX

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Jan 21, 2018
14,403
ContractHolder said:
What the heck happened Transformers One? I was not expecting an $80 million opening. And I knew the first trailer wasn't well liked.

But not that long ago we had a $40 million OW estimate and then fantastic reviews came in. How did it sink almost $20 million on good reviews?
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TMNT: Mutant Mayhem had way more hype and praise but only opened with about $28 million IIRC. Never even made it to $200 million worldwide when all was said and done. I believe Paramount is dropping the ball with the appeal of these animated efforts. The quality is there, but they are missing the mark with getting audiences to care about these new takes on beloved, well known franchises.
 
PanSexual_Peacock

PanSexual_Peacock

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,134
ContractHolder said:
What the heck happened Transformers One? I was not expecting an $80 million opening. And I knew the first trailer wasn't well liked.

But not that long ago we had a $40 million OW estimate and then fantastic reviews came in. How did it sink almost $20 million on good reviews?
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Paramount dropped the ball. I hardly ever blame marketing nowadays for a film underperforming, but Paramount fumbled it from the get-go. An animated Transformers probably already has limited appeal worldwide to begin with. To then market it as a kids film shows Paramount miscalculated who this franchise actually appeals to.
 
Kusagari

Kusagari

Member
Oct 25, 2017
20,041
SilverX said:
TMNT: Mutant Mayhem had way more hype and praise but only opened with about $28 million IIRC. Never even made it to $200 million worldwide when all was said and done. I believe Paramount is dropping the ball with the appeal of these animated efforts. The quality is there, but they are missing the mark with getting audiences to care about these new takes on beloved, well known franchises.
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The animation style for both Mutant Mayhem and this Transformers movie is simply not a style that is going to get mass audiences to buy in.
 
Sibersk Esto

Sibersk Esto

Changed the hierarchy of thread titles
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Oct 25, 2017
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Yeah sorry Paramount, you can't try and lean into the kid audience with Transformers in a post Bay world.
 
PanzerKraken

PanzerKraken

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Nov 1, 2017
15,586
shintoki said:
Romulus is in a bit of an interesting spot for the next flick. Do you attempt to make another smaller flick or go with a bigger budget? Instinct would say yes, but when 30% of its gross is coming from China. You never know if the next even gets a release there.
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Hollywood needs to just look at movies like this and be like... ok we don't need to go crazy on spending to make successful films. It's all about execution, and not going crazy with expecting sequels to explode. Keep your budgets in check.
 
SilverX

SilverX

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Jan 21, 2018
14,403
Kusagari said:
The animation style for both Mutant Mayhem and this Transformers movie is simply not a style that is going to get mass audiences to buy in.
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I can agree with Transformers One, it looked like a Nick Jr. take on Transformers in some aspects. But Mutant Mayhem was literally mimicking Spiderverse which are enormously successful films both critically and commercially. That doesn't necessarily mean it is what audiences want for TMNT, sometimes franchises need to stand apart rather rather than inadvertently blend in by borrowing from what is believed to be the key to instant success.

But I truly believe Paramount Animation are talented but are clueless with how to make their efforts appealing to the wider audience. Its a sad consolidation prize when films that could make way more money on their quality alone end up trying to just break even and people reassure themselves by saying "But I imagine the toys must be selling well as thats the point in these films!"
 
Lord Fanny

Lord Fanny

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Apr 25, 2020
29,058
TIL about a streaming service called Mubi. I really thought I knew them all

Edit: oh, it's also a production and distribution company
 
Imperial Bishop

Imperial Bishop

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Oct 26, 2017
36,252
Are the Extraction movies the only non-Thor success that Hemsworth has?

Also, releasing this movie in September was a mistake. It could have easily fit in May or earlier June.
 
Kusagari

Kusagari

Member
Oct 25, 2017
20,041
SilverX said:
I can agree with Transformers One, it looked like a Nick Jr. take on Transformers in some aspects. But Mutant Mayhem was literally mimicking Spiderverse which are enormously successful films both critically and commercially. That doesn't necessarily mean it is what audiences want for TMNT, sometimes franchises need to stand apart rather rather than inadvertently blend in by borrowing from what is believed to be the key to instant success.

But I truly believe Paramount Animation are talented but are clueless with how to make their efforts appealing to the wider audience. Its a sad consolidation prize when films that could make way more money on their quality alone end up trying to just break even and people reassure themselves by saying "But I imagine the toys must be selling well as thats the point in these films!"
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I think if you asked the average person which one of these two movies look more visually appealing, the answer would be almost unanimous.

Teenage-Mutant-Ninja-Turtles-Mutant-Mayhem-Review.jpeg


spiderverse_nap175.1011_lm_v2-h_2018_0.jpg


The sketchbook almost intentionally ugly art style of Mutant Mayhem is not the same thing as Spiderverse, even if it's inspired by it.
 
GoodGrief

GoodGrief

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Jan 24, 2024
1,914
Transformers One has the massive problem that even if it's good, most people probably won't believe you if you tell them. It looks like baby's first Transformers, was advertised as baby's first Transformers, and now they expect teens and childless adults to wanna go see it? Just the absolute worst play, they have a movie that (probably) appeals to all demos and managed to make it unappealing to most.

Idk why families with kids aren't going, maybe it's just the release date, maybe it's the IP, maybe even kids will look at that artstyle and go "that's lame". It'll probably hold well enough I think, unless Wild Robot completely kills it.
 
ContractHolder

ContractHolder

Jack of All Streams
Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,377
SilverX said:
TMNT: Mutant Mayhem had way more hype and praise but only opened with about $28 million IIRC. Never even made it to $200 million worldwide when all was said and done. I believe Paramount is dropping the ball with the appeal of these animated efforts. The quality is there, but they are missing the mark with getting audiences to care about these new takes on beloved, well known franchises.
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PanSexual_Peacock said:
Paramount dropped the ball. I hardly ever blame marketing nowadays for a film underperforming, but Paramount fumbled it from the get-go. An animated Transformers probably already has limited appeal worldwide to begin with. To then market it as a kids film shows Paramount miscalculated who this franchise actually appeals to.
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I get that. This was clearly a marketing fumble. But it's so strange to me that after the reviews came out, the final dropped 50% from the estimate. When the estimate already factored in reaction to trailer 1 and the animation style.
 
GoodGrief

GoodGrief

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Jan 24, 2024
1,914
ContractHolder said:
I get that. This was clearly a marketing fumble. But it's so strange to me that after the reviews came out, the final dropped 50% from the estimate. When the estimate already factored in reaction to trailer 1 and the animation style.
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When stuff like this happens, I think it's more that the estimate was off to begin with. They probably calculated a certain threshold for the franchise (Bumblebee had a $35M 5-day opening against heavy competition, Rise of the Beasts opened with $60M just last year) but that just wasn't in play for this incarnation of it.
 
SilverX

SilverX

Member
Jan 21, 2018
14,403
Kusagari said:
I think if you asked the average person which one of these two movies look more visually appealing, the answer would be almost unanimous.

Teenage-Mutant-Ninja-Turtles-Mutant-Mayhem-Review.jpeg


spiderverse_nap175.1011_lm_v2-h_2018_0.jpg


The sketchbook almost intentionally ugly art style of Mutant Mayhem is not the same thing as Spiderverse, even if it's inspired by it.
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In motion it is a LOT closer and yet the inspiration and familiarity was not enough to get the film to $200 million, even with celebrity voice talents and a 90+ RT. Transformers One is a much more tone deaf effort with appeal but I think its clear that Paramount doesn't understand these franchises and are just at the stage of "Lets make these IPs animated and hope a new generation of kids gives a shit about them" rather than greenlighting projects that pull back older fans and simultaneously attracts new ones.

ContractHolder said:
I get that. This was clearly a marketing fumble. But it's so strange to me that after the reviews came out, the final dropped 50% from the estimate. When the estimate already factored in reaction to trailer 1 and the animation style.
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The theater industry is becoming increasingly harder to predict honestly
 
JdFox17

JdFox17

Member
Oct 26, 2017
470
I personally think that initial trailer just did a lot of damage to the perception of Transformers One. It truly turned me off and the only reason I went and saw the movie Thursday is because of how much I've seen it praised in Transformers fan circles. Mutant Mayhem got great reviews last year and I hated it. So review quality wouldn't have persuaded me without hearing about just how much of a love letter it was to the franchise.

Hopefully, word will spread about how great it truly is. I don't even think the art style is that distracting once you're watching the movie itself. It looked great to me in Dolby. I see it either having good legs or getting really popular on streaming. Pre-Covid, I could have seen it leg out quite a bit. Today, I can see many just waiting until it hits VOD in three weeks or Paramount+ before Halloween.
 
KillstealWolf

KillstealWolf

One Winged Slayer
Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
17,183
Lemme go back to that first Transformers One trailer thread on here.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/tr...-brian-tyree-henry-scarlett-johansson.847497/ (Hey look, I'm in there early on as well)

The artstyle was already getting questioned in this thread, not much can be done beyond that front, but the other big complaint was tone and comedy, which seemed like an own-goal on Paramounts front as from what I hear the film isn't like that at all? (It ain't out in the UK until October so I can't clarify that yet.) Not point trying to make your product look like a bad Illumination Comedy film when people just got one of those earlier this year.

Other thing of note is people associate Tranformers with Michael Bays style now, for better or for worse, and this is going to be affected accordingly because of that. That and you also have The Wild Robot coming out next week as well. Universal carrying on their strategy of releasing a Dreamworks film right next to when another major animated film comes out, and it looks like it might pay off this time for them as the hype has been feeling a lot higher for The Wild Robot than for Transformers (Even when I asked of my big Transformers megafan friends back in April about this, they said they thought The WIld Robot looked the much better film between the two of them.)

I want to say good word of mouth can let it leg out, but yeah, Wild Robot is next week, and that's looking to be the animated bot film of choice for the general audience at this stage, and also the potential Animated Feature of the year as well for the long run market.
 
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Hero_of_the_Day

Hero_of_the_Day

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
18,385
So, is this DanielRPK person a reliable source on shit? Saw that they apparently said the Rey Star Wars movie has run into issues and filming is up in the air, with a tentative "maybe next year?"

Out of all the announced Star Wars movies that have failed to materialize, this one not coming to be would be the wildest to me, for some reason.
 
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