Transformers Oneunderperformed at the box office, but this should not be the franchise’s main takeaway from the animated movie. As a standalone animated story,Transformers Onetook the long-running franchise in a new direction, and was distinct fromall previousTransformersmovies. The difference in creative approach was generally well-received andTransformers One’s reviews were positive, with it being seen as a refreshing change of pace for the franchise. This reception led to a fresh 89% critical score and an even more impressive 98% audience score onRotten Tomatoes.
However,Transformers One’s box officewas less successful. Theworldwide box office total amounted to $128.9 million and a domestic opening weekend of $24.9 million(viaBox Office Mojo). This is by far the franchise’s worst global box office performance since 2007, with the previous low held byTransformers: Rise of the Beastsat $438.9 million.Transformers Onealso had the second-worst domestic box office opening since 2007, only narrowly surpassingBumblebee’s $21.6 million opening. These financial struggles have led to concerns about how the franchise will move forward afterTransformers One.
Transformers One’s Box Office Doesn’t Guarantee More Animated Sequels
The Sequel Setup May Not Get Paid Off
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 all compelling ways thatTransformers Oneset up a sequeland paved the way for more animated installments. Unfortunately, the movie’s lackluster box office performance does not guarantee that these sequels will happen. For Paramount, the narrative merits of further exploring Optimus Prime and Megatron’s origins do not outweigh the money that the movie lost.
Transformers One’s Matrix Of Leadership: Why It Was Missing, Powers & Future Explained
Transformers One features the Matrix of Leadership, with its disappearance, powers, and future being integral to the animated sequel’s story.
Transformers One’s budgetof $75 million was significantly lower than its live-action predecessors, all of which cost well over $100 million, and some even exceeded $200 million. Nevertheless,Transformers One’s lower budget does not negate the animated movie’s inability to break even at the box office, let alone make a profit. This may deter any decision to continueTransformers One’s story, with producers instead looking to take the franchise in a different direction. The movie’s performance is also noticeable in a year when there were many animated box office hits, includingInside Out 2,Despicable Me 4, andThe Wild Robot.
Transformers Could Return To Bay’s Version Of The Franchise After Recent Struggles
Michael Bay’s Transformers Movies Generally Did Well At The Box Office
SinceTransformers One’s storytelling did not translate to box office success, the franchise may pivot to an approach more akin to Michael Bay’sTransformersmovies. While Bay’s movies were not popular with critics, with all of them earning rotten critical scores onRotten Tomatoes, they tended to perform well at the box office.Transformers: Dark of the MoonandTransformers: Age of Extinctionboth earned more than $1 billion worldwide. EvenTransformers: The Last Knight, which wasBay’s worst-performing franchise installment, still made $605.4 million globally.
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$605.4 million
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$128.9 million
Rise of the Beasts' ending set up aTransformersandG.I. Joecrossover, and the franchise may choose to focus on this project instead ofTransformers Onesequels. Even if Bay does not return to direct the crossover, the project may lean into his cinematic style due to his past box office success and the mainstream appeal of his movies. However, this would be a mistake, as the franchise was already seeing diminishing returns under Bay whenThe Last Knightearned $605.4 million afterAge of Extinctionmade $1.10 billion.
Transformers Needs More Movies Like Transformers One, Not Less
Transformers One Fixed Many Of The Previous Movies' Mistakes
Regardless of the box office results,Transformers One’s overwhelmingly positive reception proves that the franchise needs more movies like the animated prequel.Transformers Oneremembered that the Transformers are the heart of the franchiseand not the human characters. By being entirely set on Cybertron, the story was able to take its time in exploring the wonders and fascinating intricacies of the Transformers' home planet instead of it only being briefly shown in flashbacks. As exciting as the opening flashback sequence to Cybertron was inBumblebee, it was rewarding to spend far more time there inTransformers One.
Focusing on the Transformers, a story set on Cybertron, humor, animated action, a PG rating, and the emotional quality of the story are all elements that are beneficial for futureTransformersmovies.
Transformers Onehad plenty of humor and action and was rated a family-friendly PG. At the same time, it was a heartfelt and tragic story about the philosophical and practical division that formed between two close friends, which provided an emotional depth and stakes that were largely absent from the prior movies. Focusing on the Transformers, a story set on Cybertron, humor, animated action, a PG rating, and the emotional quality of the story are all elements that are beneficial for futureTransformersmovies. They should not be cast aside solely because ofTransformers One’s box office numbers.
A Transformers One Sequel Could Help The Franchise Recover At The Box Office
Several Factors Would Help A Sequel Financially Perform Better
Now thataudiences are invested inTransformers One’s story and know what to expect, a sequel is much more likely to perform better at the box office. Since Bay’s firstTransformersmovie released in 2007, audiences have generally known what to expect from newTransformersmovies, althoughBumblebeedid take a somewhat different approach. Between these expectations andRise of the Beastsonly releasing a year beforeTransformers One, audiences may not have been prepared or aware of the new direction the franchise was attempting.
Transformers Onewas the franchise’s first theatrical animated movie sinceThe Transformers: The Moviewas released in 1986.
The marketing campaign would need to be stronger for a sequel asTransformers One’s marketing was limited. It primarily showcased the movie’s humor and did not provide much spotlight on the movie’s many other strengths. With a stronger marketing campaign, more awareness, and more buy-in of what the franchise is now doing, better box office results are likely to follow. The recent success ofInside Out 2,Despicable Me 4, andThe Wild Robotmakes it clear that animated movies still have the full capability to thrive at the box office.
$1.698 billion
$968.24 million
The Wild Robot
$308.83 million
Transformers One’s sequels performing much better at the box office could help the franchise financially recover from the losses that occurred during the original movie’s theatrical run. Choosing to do nothing with the story afterTransformers One’s endingwould be a wasted opportunity, especially given all the narrative avenues that are now in play. There is plenty 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 further explored inTransformers Onesequels.
Transformers One
Cast
Transformers One is an animated action-adventure movie that marks the first animated feature-length film for the series in decades. The film will be a prequel to the franchise, and will tell the story of Optimus Prime and Megatron in their early years, how they met, and a closer look at the war on their home planet, Cybertron.
