Please, Transformers, don’t learn the wrong box office lessons from Transformers One

Transformers One It underperformed at the box office, but this shouldn’t be the franchise’s main conclusion in the animated film. As a standalone animated story, Transformers One took the long-running franchise in a new direction and was unlike any before it Transformers films. The difference in creative approach was generally well received and Transformers OneReviews were positive, and it was seen as a refreshing change of pace for the franchise. This reception led to a new critical score of 89% and an even more impressive audience score of 98% in Rotten tomatoes.

However, Transformers OneThe box office was less successful. THE worldwide box office total was $128.9 million and a domestic opening weekend of $24.9 million (through Mojo Box Office). This is by far the franchise’s worst global box office performance since 2007, with the previous low held by Transformers: Rise of the Beasts at US$438.9 million. Transformers One also had the second worst domestic box office since 2007, narrowly surpassing Beedebut of US$21.6 million. These financial difficulties have led to concerns about how the franchise will move forward after Transformers One.

Transformers One’s box office no longer guarantees more animated sequels

Sequence setup may not be paid

Megatron (Brian Tyree Henry) forming the Deceptions, Optimus Prime (Chris Hemsworth) restoring the Autobots’ powers, and the Quintessons being warned against returning to Cybertron are compelling ways to Transformers One it set up a sequel and paved the way for more animated episodes. Unfortunately, the film’s poor box office performance doesn’t guarantee these sequels will happen. For Paramount, the narrative merits of further exploring the origins of Optimus Prime and Megatron are not worth the money the film lost.

Transformers OneThe $75 million budget was significantly lower than its live-action predecessors, all of which cost well over $100 million, and some even exceeded $200 million. However, Transformers OneThe lower budget does not negate the animated film’s inability to break even at the box officemuch less make a profit. This may impede any decision to continue Transformers Onestory, with producers looking to take the franchise in a different direction. The film’s performance is also notable in a year that saw many animated blockbusters, including Inside Out 2, Despicable Me 4and The Wild Robot.

Transformers Could Return to Bay’s Version of the Franchise After Recent Struggles

Michael Bay’s Transformers films have generally done well at the box office

Since Transformers OneMichael Bay’s storytelling hasn’t translated into box office success, the franchise may evolve into a more Michael Bay-like approach. Transformers films. Although Bay’s films were not popular with critics, they all received dismal critical scores in Rotten tomatoesthey tended to perform well at the box office. Transformers: Dark of the Moon and Transformers: Age of Extinction both have earned more than $1 billion worldwide. Until Transformers: The Last Knightwhat it was The Bay’s worst-performing installment of the franchise, it still grossed $605.4 million globally.

Rise of the Beasts‘finishing configuring a Transformers and GI Joe crossover, and the franchise may choose to focus on this project instead of Transformers One sequelae. Even if Bay doesn’t return to direct the crossover, the project could lean into his cinematic style given his past box office success and the mainstream appeal of his films. However, this would be a mistake, as the franchise was already seeing diminishing returns under Bay when The Last Knight earned US$605.4 million after Age of Extinction earned US$1.10 billion.

Transformers needs more movies like Transformers One, not less

Transformers One fixed many of the mistakes of the previous films

Regardless of box office results, Transformers OneThe overwhelmingly positive reception proves that the franchise needs more films like the animated prequel. Transformers One remembered that the Transformers are the heart of the franchise and not the human characters. By being set entirely on Cybertron, the story was able to explore the fascinating wonders and intricacies of the Transformers’ home planet, rather than only being shown briefly in flashbacks. As exciting as Cybertron’s opening flashback sequence was BeeIt was rewarding to spend much more time there Transformers One.

Transformers One It had lots of humor and action and was rated PG for the whole family. At the same time, it was a moving and tragic story about the philosophical and practical divide that formed between two close friends, which provided an emotional depth and stakes that were largely absent in the previous films. Focusing on Transformers, a story set on Cybertron, humor, lively action, PG rating and the emotional quality of the story are beneficial elements for the future. Transformers films. They should not be left aside just because of Transformers Onebox office numbers.

A Transformers One sequel could help the franchise recover at the box office

Several factors would help a sequel perform better financially

Now this the public is invested in Transformers Onethe story and know what to expecta sequel is much more likely to perform better at the box office. From the first Transformers film released in 2007, audiences generally know what to expect from the new Transformers movies, although Bee took a slightly different approach. Between these expectations and Rise of the Beasts launching just a year before Transformers Oneaudiences may not have been prepared or aware of the new direction the franchise was trying.

The marketing campaign would need to be stronger for a sequel, as Transformers OneMarketing was limited. It mainly showed the humor of the film and didn’t highlight much of the film’s many other strengths. With a stronger marketing campaign, more awareness, and more buy-in to what the franchise is doing now, better box office results are likely to emerge. The recent success of Inside Out 2, Despicable Me 4and The Wild Robot makes it clear that animated films still have full capacity to thrive at the box office.

Transformers One2011 sequels performing much better at the box office could help the franchise recover financially from the losses that occurred during the original film’s theatrical run. Choosing to do nothing with the story afterwards Transformers Onethe ending of would be a missed opportunity, especially considering all the narrative paths that are now in play. There is a lot that still needs to happen, as the conflict between the Autobots, the Decepticons and the Quintessons on Cybertron is far from resolved and needs to be explored further in Transformers One sequelae.

Sources: Rotten tomatoes, Mojo Box Office