Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Global Box Office Opening Weekend Numbers Are In
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is off to a strong start at the international box office. The latest installment of Paramount's ongoing Transformers film series, which is undergoing a kind of soft reboot, earned $110 million from 68 international markets in its first few days, including $40 million from China alone, the second-best opening weekend of the year in the country thus far. Combined with the $60.5 million it earned in North America, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts will claim an opening weekend total of $170 million at the global box office against an estimated $200 million production budget. The film's international appeal is crucial to its success since, according to Variety, past Transformers movies have taken as much as 70% of their total box office gross from overseas markets.
Specific markers from international results are mixed. Ticket sales for Transformers: Rise of the Beasts internationally are pacing behind those of its most recent predecessor, Bumblebee, by more than 30%. However, the film did post franchise records in Indonesia, Peru, and Argentina. The film's biggest international hauls come from China, Mexico with $7.3 million, Indonesia's $5.3 million, Peru's $5 million, and South Korea's $4.4 million. The film won't open in Japan until August.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts brings Beast Wars: Transformers to the big screen
Where past Transformers movies, particularly Bumblebee, drew from the original The Transformers cartoon, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts brings in concepts from its sequel, the computer-animated Beasts Wars: Transformers, which has a cult following among the Transformers faithful. That includes the debut of the Maximals, heroic Transformers who can change into animal forms.
"We introduce a lot of new heroes and villains in this film that are going to blow the minds of diehard fans," franchise producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura explained in production materials for the film. "It's chock full of robots we haven't seen in a movie before. That's one of the great things about Transformers: The lore is based on what happened back on Cybertron, which gives us a lot of leeway to explore the universe at large. So in this movie, we're bringing in the Maximals for the very first time."
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts reviews
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts has received mixed reviews from critics, earning it a "rotten" critics score on the popular review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes, though it carries a much strong audience score. ComicBook.com's Liam Crowley enjoyed the film and awarded it a 4-out-of-5 review score. He writes:
"Transformers has always been about spectacle, and Rise of the Beasts delivers on all accounts. The action is pulse-pounding. The relationships are heartfelt. The threat is palpable and, most importantly, it leaves the franchise in the most intriguing position it has been in in years. The summer movie season has been in full throttle for just over a month, and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts sends that popcorn blockbuster momentum into full gear."
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, which premieres on June 9th, is the seventh movie in the live-action Transformers franchise. Inspired by the fan-favorite reboot of the series, the iconic Beast Wars, the movie is a globetrotting adventure set in the 1990s complete with an era-specific soundtrack. Peter Cullen returns to voice Optimus Prime in the new movie, appearing alongside other Autobots and Decepticons including Bumblebee and Pete Davidson as Mirage. Other factions from the Transformers franchise like the Maximals, Predacons, and Terrorcons will also appear, with Ron Perlman set to voice the gorilla-inspired Optimus Primal. Directed by Creed II's Steven Caple Jr. the film stars Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback on the human side with Oscar-winner Michelle Yeoh voicing the Maximal Airazor.