The spooky comedy sequel “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” held onto the number one spot at the box office for a third consecutive weekend. It added another $26 million domestically, bringing its total earnings in North America to $225 million. Globally, the film has made $329.7 million. However, the new animated “Transformers” film opened lower than industry projections.
“Transformers One,” the first “Transformers” theatrical film since 1986, opened with $25 million domestically. Analysts had estimated it would make between $30-$40 million in its debut. Internationally, it took in an additional $14 million for a worldwide opening of $39 million total. The $75 million production fell short of projections.
Despite lower-than-expected earnings, “Transformers One” won strong praise from critics and audiences. Review site Rotten Tomatoes shows an impressive 89% rating from critics and an even higher 98% audience score. One reviewer called it “in-depth” look at the robots before they could transform. The film provides the voices of stars like Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, and Scarlett Johansson. Large-format IMAX screens contributed $3 million globally, with $2 million of that coming from domestic theaters.
Box office analyst David A. Gross said the debut was “lukewarm” compared to live action “Transformers” films, which have earned over $5 billion total. He noted it’s expected that an animated adaption in a live action series would make less initially. However, if good reviews bolster word-of-mouth, the film may yet find success in coming weeks.
Meanwhile, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” continued impressing with an added $542,000 from IMAX screens in its third weekend. Its IMAX total has reached $19.1 million globally, notable since the original film made just $75 million in the 1980s. New releases like survival thriller “Never Let Go” with Halle Berry opened fourth with $4.5 million, while body horror satire “The Substance” starring Demi Moore debuted sixth with $3.1 million.
Overall box office revenues are lagging past years, down 11.9% from 2023 and 25.7% from 2019 at this point. However, analyst Paul Dergarabedian remains optimistic large upcoming films can boost the market. In coming weeks, all eyes will be on whether good reviews spur “Transformers One” momentum and extend “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’s” box office run.
