‘Transformers: The Last Knight’ Has Smallest Opening Day Numbers In Franchise, Reviews Getting Worse
Michael Bay recently revealed that Transformers: The Last Knight would be his final movie in the franchise, and fans probably can’t be any happier. Many have often complained about what he’s done with the movies as they’ve gone on, but nothing may be as bad as the fifth film, which just hit theaters on Tuesday night. The opening day box office for The Last Knight is, by far, the worst of any film in the franchise, and the reviews are not doing it any favors.
According to Deadline, the fifth film in the franchise took in an estimated $15.65 million for its first day, which includes $5.5 million for previews on Tuesday night. While final numbers could raise things a little bit, this total would easily give The Last Knight the lowest ever full first day for a film in the Transformers franchise.
Current estimates have it earning somewhere in the mid-$60 million range by the end of the full opening weekend, which will be five days in this case. Even then, that is lower than original studio estimates and lower than any of the other four opening weekends for the Transformers films.
As you can see, things are not looking good for the franchise, and Paramount already has at least two more movies planned in the next two years.
#Transformers: The Last Knight gets off to a rocky start with a franchise-low opening day. https://t.co/D7XbvltsRq pic.twitter.com/fLOPesOLhY
— Variety (@Variety) June 22, 2017
Variety reports that a production budget of $270 million may be quite difficult for the studio to make domestically, but it should surpass it at the global box office. With it opening in 42 foreign territories this weekend, overall numbers will look much better in the long run, but this opening has to be concerning.
Here are the combined numbers of opening day and the night before for all five films in the franchise, by way of Box Office Mojo:
- Transformers (2007) – $36.65 million
- Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) – $62.016 million
- Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) – $43.225 million
- Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014) – $41.868 million
- Transformers: The Last Knight (2017) – $15.65 million
Reviews are not helping matters at all as they just keep getting worse as the days go on. As of this writing, Rotten Tomatoes has the critics score at just 16 percent, with an average rating of 3.2 out of 10. Sixty-four percent of fans liked it, though, and that is somewhat promising.
Rolling Stone gave Transformers: The Last Knight zero stars out of four and considers it to be the “most toxic movie” of 2017. That is really saying a lot considering the year isn’t even halfway over yet.
Those seeing the movie on the first day have given The Last Knight a Cinema Score of B+, which is the lowest the franchise has ever had. The New York Observer calls it “sloppy, stupid, and quite possibly evil,” and that is putting it nicely.
Michael Bay has said in the past that he was done with the franchise, but he kept coming back time and time again. After seeing a franchise low opening day for Transformers: The Last Knight, he may finally stick to his guns and bow out. With two more movies scheduled in the franchise, Paramount hopes that reviews and box office numbers pick up somewhat or they may already be looking at big losses in the future.
[Featured Image by Paramount Pictures]
