The harsh truth about Michael Bay’sTransformersmovies is even more apparent following the release ofTransformers One. From 2007-2017, Bay directedfiveTransformersmovies, the last of which was 2017’sTransformers: The Last Knight.SinceThe Last Knight’s debut, the franchise has released three theatrical movies–Bumblebee,Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, andTransformers One. Travis Knight, Steven Caple Jr., and Josh Cooley respectively directed each of these installments.
Bay was a producer forBumblebee,Rise of the Beasts, andTransformers One, but was not as involved in these movies as he was in theTransformersstories that he directed.BumblebeeandTransformers Onereceived positive reviewsfrom both critics and general audiences, and were viewed as a refreshing change of pace for the franchise in the aftermath of Bay’s direction. Despite the mostly positive reception,the franchise has struggled at the box office since Bay stepped away from the director’s chair.
Michael Bay’s Transformers Movies Are Still The Franchise’s Most Successful By Far
The Box Office Numbers Tell A Clear Story
As perThe Numbers, all the Bay-directedTransformersmovies performed much better at the box office thanBumblebee,Rise of the Beasts, andTransformers One.Transformers: Dark of the MoonandTransformers: Age of Extinctionearned more than $1 billionat the worldwide box office, while Bay’s lowest grossing franchise entry,The Last Knight, earned more than $600 million. BothBumblebeeandRise of the Beastsearned far less thanThe Last Knight, with their box office runs ending in the $400 million range.
$151 million
$70.502 million
$319.246 million
$708.272 million
$210 million
$108.966 million
$402.111 million
$836.519 million
$195 million
$97.582 million
$352.390 million
$1.123 billion
$100.038 million
$245.439 million
$1.104 billion
$217 million
$44.68 million
$130.168 million
$602.893 million
$102 million
$21.654 million
$127.195 million
$464.731 million
$61.045 million
$157.341 million
$439.421 million
$75 million
$24.613 million
$47.528 million
$97.058 million
Rise of the Beasts' $157.341 million domestic box office total and $61.045 opening weekend debut are better thanThe Last Knight’s $130.68 domestic box office and $44.68 million opening weekend. These are the only exceptions to Bay’s movies performing better in every other box office category. Other thanThe Last Knight,Bay’sTransformersmovies far outperformed the recent installments,whose box office results are a far cry from even Bay’s second-worst performer,Transformers, at $708.272 million worldwide.
Transformers One Box Office: Totals, Worldwide, Opening Explained
How much money has Transformers One made at the domestic and worldwide box office, and how does it compare to the rest of the movies in the franchise?
Transformers Oneis still in theatersand its box office totals are not yet complete, but it is highly unlikely that it will get close to the totals for any of Bay’s movies. The animated prequel had the franchise’s all-time lowest opening weekend debut at $24.613 million, whileTransformers: Revenge of the Fallenmore than quadrupled during its opening weekend.Transformers One’s critical success has, unfortunately, not translated to its financial performance, even when taking into account its lower production budget.
Why Transformers Has Yet To Have A Major Hit Outside Of The Bayverse
The Franchise Was Already Struggling Before The Bayverse Ended
While critics did not like Bay’sTransformersmovies, the box office figures demonstrate that plenty of audiences still went to the theater to see his take on the franchise. With his explosive, action-packed storytelling that prioritized spectacle,Bay was able to generate mainstream appeal in a franchise previously known for its toys and animated series.Transformersbecame a big-budget action blockbuster series, and there was consistency in how he approached all the installments he directed.
Before the animated series or first movie,Transformersbegan as toy lines in the 1980s.
This worked well for a while, butthe noticeable box office decline betweenAge of ExtinctionandThe Last Knightshows that audiences were already beginning to feel fatigued by theTransformersfranchise.Bumblebeetook a different approach with its 1980s coming-of-age story, as didTransformers Onebeing an animated prequelset on Cybertron. These new approaches worked well for critics and audiences who saw them, but were not able to overcome the previous franchise fatigue, and may have felt too niche compared to Bay’s more mainstream approach.
Transformers Became Synonymous With Michael Bay’s Movies For Too Long
He Is Forever Known As The Transformers Director
Directing fiveTransformersmovies over the course of a decade inevitably madeBay become synonymous with theTransformersbrand. This is partly due to the franchise undergoing a significant change betweenDark of the MoonandAge of Extinction, which sawShia LaBeouf’s Sam Witwickyand the human characters from the previous three movies replaced by Mark Wahlberg’s Cade Yeager and a new cast of human characters. Bay was at the forefront of this change, leading to the incorrect assumption that he was also at the forefront of major creative changes that happened after The Last Knight.
SinceThe Last Knight, Bay has directed the Ryan Reynolds-led6 Undergroundand the Jake Gyllenhaal-ledAmbulance, but is still primarily associated withTransformers.
Regardless of how well-receivedBumblebeeandTransformers Onewere,they were not given as much of a chance by audiences, partly due to lingering frustration and fatigue from Bay’sTransformersmovies.Bumblebeereleasing only a year and a half afterThe Last Knightdid not help with this either, as it was too soon after Bay’s last movie to revamp the franchise. SinceThe Last Knight, Bay has directed the Ryan Reynolds-led6 Undergroundand the Jake Gyllenhaal-ledAmbulance, but is still primarily associated withTransformers.
Will Transformers Ever Find The Balance Between “Bayverse” And A New Style?
An Upcoming Crossover May Be The Answer
BumblebeeandRise of the Beastsprovided new and exciting entry points into the franchise, while still retaining certain elements of Bay’s live-actionTransformersmovies.Transformers One, on the other hand, was a further departure from the Bayverseas an animated and standalone prequel. At this point, it may be better for the franchise to continue building on one or more of these new avenues instead of trying to find another different direction.
Transformers One Confirms Why Optimus Prime Is The Perfect Autobot Leader
Optimus Prime is well known as the leader of the Autobots, but Transformers One confirms that one reason in particular makes him worthy of the title.
TheG.I. JoeandTransformerscrossoverteased byRise of the Beasts' ending may be the best way to balance the Bayverse with a new style. It will be a live-action story set on Earth and will likely feature some familiar characters, voice actors, and visual elements from Bay’s movies, and may incorporate his style driven by action-spectacle set pieces.TheG.I. Joe andTransformerscrossover can be grounded in a new narrative and directorial style,while still feeling reminiscent of the pieces that helped make Bay’smovies become box office hits.
Meanwhile, despite the prequel’s box office woes, aTransformers Onesequelshould not be abandoned.Transformers Onewas a strong start to a new seriesthat left the door open for many future stories about Cybertron, the Autobots, the Decepticons, and the Quintessons. If the franchise continually sets up and abandons new stories every time there is a box office disappointment, there will be little confidence in any future direction, even ifTransformersdoes somehow find the perfect way to balance the Bayverse and a new directorial style.
Source:The Numbers
Transformers
Transformers is a multimedia franchise consisting of movies, TV Shows, video games, and comics. The franchise centers on a race of humanoid robots called the autobots who must protect Earth from the Decepticons. Some of the most popular characters include Megatron, Optimus Prime, and Bumblebee. In 2007, the first live-action movie in the franchise was released starring Shia Labeouf.
