Transformers One has come in below expectations, allowing Beetlejuice Beetlejuice to hold on to the top spot at the domestic box office for the third week in a row.
Analysts predicted a start of $30 million to $40 million for Paramount's animated prequel, which only ended up taking in $25 million from 3,978 venues. The movie - which had a reported budget of $75 million - also made $14 million internationally, for a global total of $39 million.
Tim Burton's long-awaited sequel added $26 million from 4,172 theaters, bringing its domestic total to $225 million, and $329.7 million worldwide.
Transformers One received positive reviews (89% on Rotten Tomatoes) and strong audience scores, so the belief is that ticket sales could rebound over the next few weeks.
“This is a lukewarm opening for an animation adaptation in a live-action series,” says David A. Gross of movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. “Industry expectations are high for a big series like this, but an animation adaptation is not going to hold all or even most its live-action audience,” Gross adds. “It’s too big a shift.”
Beetlejuice is back! After an unexpected family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River. Still haunted by Beetlejuice, Lydia's life is turned upside down when her rebellious teenage daughter, Astrid, discovers the mysterious model of the town in the attic and the portal to the Afterlife is accidentally opened. With trouble brewing in both realms, it's only a matter of time until someone says Beetlejuice's name three times and the mischievous demon returns to unleash his very own brand of mayhem.
Burton, a genre unto himself, directs from a screenplay by Alfred Gough & Miles Millar (Wednesday), story by Gough & Millar and Seth Grahame-Smith (The LEGO Batman Movie), based on characters created by Michael McDowell & Larry Wilson. The film’s producers are Marc Toberoff, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Tommy Harper and Burton, with Sara Desmond, Katterli Frauenfelder, Gough, Millar, Brad Pitt, Larry Wilson, Laurence Senelick, Pete Chiappetta, Andrew Lary, Anthony Tittanegro, Grahame-Smith and David Katzenberg executive producing.
Burton’s creatives behind the scenes includes director of photography Haris Zambarloukos (Meg 2: The Trench, Murder on the Orient Express); such previous and frequent collaborators as production designer Mark Scruton (Wednesday), editor Jay Prychidny (Wednesday), Oscar-winning costume designer Colleen Atwood (Alice in Wonderland, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Sleepy Hollow), Oscar-winning creature effects and special makeup FX creative supervisor Neal Scanlan (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), Oscar-nominated composer Danny Elfman (Big Fish, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Batman); and Oscar-winning hair and makeup designer Christine Blundell (Topsy-Turvy).