We're approaching the holiday season, a time for eating and celebrating, but also a time when a lot of families visit the movie theater. As such, it makes sense that Paramount would be releasing its latest flick in the Transformers franchise, the prequel Bumblebee, during the holiday months. Unfortunately, early estimates for the flick aren't so hot, at least when compared to previous Transformers films.
Bumblebee doesn't officially hit theaters until just before the Christmas holiday, but the first forecasts are out regarding the estimated amount the flick could make opening weekend. According to long-range forecasts, Bumblebee is expected to bring in $15-25 million on opening weekend.
For some movies that would be a pretty solid number for an opening weekend, but for a movie related to a well-liked Transformers character, it's not so hot. In terms of opening weekends related to the more recent Transformers movies, if Bumblebee even opens to $25 million, it will come in dead last. (The animated Transformers: The Movie did only make a little over a million bucks opening weekend in 1986.)
In fact, according to Box Office Pro's tracking, Bumblebee isn't even likely to win the holiday weekend, which also features Aquaman and Mary Poppins returns. Currently, the movie is forecasted to come in third place at the box office that weekend.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen had the highest opening weekend for a movie in the franchise thus far, bringing in nearly $109 million dollars. Age of Extinction brought in the second-best opening in the franchise at $100 million (although doesn't have the second best box office overall). Transformers: Dark of the Moon brought in $97.8 million on opening weekend. The original Transformers brought in $70.5 million and last year's Transformers: The Last Night crashed and burned in comparison to its predecessors, bringing in $44 million opening weekend.
With the Transformers movies waning in popularity and Michael Bay taking a step back from the franchise, Paramount went in a totally different direction with Bumblebee. The new movie is set in the 1980s, it focuses on young star Hailee Steinfeld and even Bumblebee himself has a new look. Reviews are not out for the new movie yet, but the first trailers for the movie have put a fresh coat of paint on the franchise. (The first one even made director Kevin Smith cry.) Take a look if you haven't, below.
There's always solid competition at the box office over the holidays, and this year the major studios will be vying for attention. That week, Mary Poppins Returns will get a bit of an edge by releasing on Wednesday, December 19. Both Aquaman and Bumblebee will follow on December 21, but that's not even the end of movies opening that weekend. The Deadpool Christmas re-release is also expected to happen, along with awards contender Welcome to Marwen, which stars Steve Carell.
There's a ton of stuff to look forward to, and if you want to start mapping out your holiday viewing plans, be sure to take a look at the 2018 movies schedule and what we know about the upcoming Bumblebee. In the meantime, we gotta ask...
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