Who ever thought that fans would be rooting for a Transformers movie to make money, and that a film from the franchise would ever be an underdog after nearly a decade of being juggernauts at the box office. Breaking down the statistics surrounding the film, it sure seems as though Bumblebee is a win for both Paramount and a fans, easily making a case for a sequel.
According to Deadline, the Transformers spinoff has just crossed the $400 million threshold, consisting of $113 million domestically, and $287 million internationally. Keep in mind that Bumblebee has a budget nearly half that of the latest slew of Transformers sequels, making profitability far easier. With the production and marketing budgets likely totaling around $260 million, with huge breaks from LA and Tencent China, the spinoff has no doubt made a profit. It is worth noting that The Last Knight lost the studio $100 million the year before, making Bumblebee a huge sigh of relief for the studio and the viability of the brand.
Fueled by China's support of the film, Bumblebee took the spot as the #1 movie in the world last week. The film has grossed $130 million in the market so far, and is expected to leg out to $160 million. A opening weekend multiplier of 2.5x is very impressive when it comes to China's standards, further proving the power of word of mouth. The opening weekend multiplier domestically currently stands at 5x, which is rarely seen when it comes to blockbusters, then again, it did come out during the holidays.
The film is expected to finish its run at around $460 million once all is said in done. Bumblebee opens in its final market, Japan, in March.