There was a spell when the Transformers franchise was seemingly untouchable. Michael Bay's movies frequently grossed over $1 billion at the worldwide box office at a time when that wasn't the norm, even in the face of overwhelmingly negative reviews from critics.
As the years passed, moviegoers grew bored of the endless blur of CG action and poor-quality storytelling. Not even the much smaller in scale Bumblebee could turn things around, with a respectable $468 million haul a far cry from what the franchise typically achieved.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts blasted into theaters earlier this year, setting the stage for a future crossover with G.I. Joe in its closing moments.
As we first reported on SFFGazette.com, with its time in multiplexes now over, the movie has finished its run by grossing a total of $436.6 million against a production budget of $195 million. It's doubtful Rise of the Beasts broke even by the time all was said and done, and had it not earned $91 million in China, we'd be looking at one of the year's biggest flops.
This means Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is both the franchise's lowest-grossing instalment and almost certainly its most financially unsuccessful effort. Records like these aren't what studios set out to break and we have to believe this will lead to a re-evaluation of the franchise's future.
Whether this will derail Paramount's plans for a G.I. Joe crossover remains to be seen. However, the movie's 52% Rotten Tomatoes score surely means director Steven Caple Jr. won't be returning to direct any future instalments.
"Returning to the action and spectacle that have captured moviegoers around the world," reads the synopsis, "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts will take audiences on a '90s globetrotting adventure with the Autobots and introduce a whole new breed of Transformer – the Maximals – to the existing battle on earth between Autobots and Decepticons."
The cast was led by Hamilton star Anthony Ramos, with Dominique Fishback, Luna Lauren Vélez, and Tobe Nwigwe joining him. Peter Cullen will once again lend his voice to Optimus Prime, while Ron Perlman has stepped in to play Optimus Primal, the leader of the Maximals.
Peter Dinklage, Liza Koshy, John DiMaggio, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Pete Davidson, and Cristo Fernández also star.