Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Is Lowest-Grosser in Franchise

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts has made unfortunate franchise history.

The latest Transformers film wrapped up its box office run with a total of $438 million. That's currently the lowest-grossing figure in the franchise — Bumblebee ($465 million) is the next closest, and then The Last Knight ($602 million) before that.

However, in terms of domestic gross, the latest Transformers film actually finished higher than both The Last Knight (2017) and Bumblebee (2018). It also opened higher ($61 million) than those two films as well. So it wasn't all bad.

Granted, Rise of the Beasts did have a higher reported budget than Bumblebee — and by a good bit. Rise of the Beasts reportedly have a $195 million budget, whilst Bumblebee kept costs down and only cost $102 million to make.

This could be a case of franchise fatigue. While the Transformers franchise has been going since 2007, it has been a case of diminishing returns. The last three entries are the three lowest-grossing films in the series, as each passing entry grosses less than the last.

Rise of the Beasts tried to throw a Hail Mary at the end — teasing the long-awaited G.I. Joe crossover — but with it flopping at the box office, will Paramount even care to continue? The G.I. Joe franchise has also been blundering — Snake Eyes flopped even harder than the latest Transformers film — so will two negatives really make a positive?

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts was a prequel to the Michael Bay franchise and starred Anthony Ramos, Dominique Fishback, Lauren Vélez, Tobe Nwigwe, Ron Perlman, Peter Dinklage, Pete Davidson, and Michelle Yeoh among more.