Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts looks to have arrested the slow decline of Paramount’s long-running Transformers blockbuster franchise.
The Transformers franchise is one that’s been in decline for over a decade now – commercially at least – with the last three entries in the series failing to hit the highs of 2011’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon's $1.12bn global gross. The latest entry, Rise Of The Beasts might not hit those heights either but it has opened strongly, surpassing the last two films in the series.
There’s more good news for Paramount too. The film has taken $40m in China, opening well in a market which is notoriously unreliable these days. Plus, in a whole host of countries such as Indonesia, Peru Argentina, Bolivia, Vietnam, Turkey, Egypt and Lebanon, the film has opened to a franchise-best three day haul according to Screen Daily.
It’s a strong start for Rise Of The Beasts, knocking Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse from its perch too, so it’s probably no surprise that the film’s director, Steven Caple Jr has announced that he’s in talks to helm another entry in the series.
There’s not many things in Hollywood these days more valuable than a big-name franchise that is in a state of financial ascendency and Rise Of The Beasts is almost guaranteed to earn more than its predecessor, 2018’s Bumblebee. Of course, there’s the small matter of The Flash to contend with when that releases this week, but if the film can continue to do well in so many markets around the world it might even rack up a total to match the $600m box office that the last Michael Bay film in the saga, The Last Knight, bought in.
Another aspect of Rise Of The Beasts’ strong start is said to be its focus on diversity, with Caple Jr bringing in a wider range of characters from different backgrounds. The film’s 90s setting is also more culturally diverse than we’ve seen in previous films and that seems to have resonated with audiences in the US where according to Deadline, the film has doubled its Black and Latino audience numbers from 2018’s Bumblebee.
Caple Jr’s involvement in a sequel seems all but confirmed then and it will be interesting to see how the film performs over the span of its box office run. We’ll bring you more updates on what the next installment in the franchise might look like as we hear it.
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