Transformers One Loses Box Office Battle To Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Demi Moore & Halle Berry Horrors Struggle [Full Chart Update]

UPDATE: 2025-07-05 08:28 EST BY BRENNAN KLEIN

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Pulls Ahead Of Transformers One To Claim No. 1

This article was originally written Saturday AM and has been updated Sunday AM with altered box office projections (in bold), a full chart, and further analysis.

A composite image featuring Naomi Scott looking shocked in front of a promo image from Smile 2 showing Scott’s face with a red slash across her mouth

The animated prequelTransformers Onehas lost its battle for the top spot in its opening weekend. TheTransformers Onebox officedebut comes during the third weekend in September, at the same time as two new release horror movies. Those would beNever Let Go, a survival thriller fromHigh TensionandCrawl’s Alexandre Aja that stars Halle Berry as a mother who is desperate to protect her children from mysterious outside entities, andThe Substance, the sophomore feature fromRevengedirector Coralie Fargeat which stars Demi Moore as an aging fitness icon.

PerDeadline, as of Sunday morning,Transformers Oneis projected to earn a three-day opening weekend of$25 millionat the domestic box office. This falls considerably below original projections and sees itfalling behind in its neck-and-neck battle for the No. 1 slot with the third weekend ofBeetlejuice Beetlejuice, which is projected to hit$26 million.

Transformers One 2024 Film Official Poster

Meanwhile,both new horror titles are struggling to make a splashas the Tim Burton legacy sequel continues to choke out the pre-Halloween season marketplace.Never Let Go, which comes with a $20 million price tag, is projected to debut in fourth place at$4.5 million, whileThe Substance, which is in a similar budget range at $17.5 million, is set for an off-chart opening of$3.1 million. See the full domestic Top 5 chart for the weekend below:

$26 million

$225 million (weekend 3)

$25 million

$25 million (weekend 1)

$5.9 million

$21.45 million (weekend 2)

$4.5 million

$4.5 million (weekend 1)

$3.8 million

$627 million (weekend 9)

The remaining titles on the chart are the horror remakeSpeak No Evil, which hasfallen to No. 3 from its debut position at No. 2, and the summer’s holdover superhero smashDeadpool & Wolverine, which is now at No. 5 after falling to No. 3 the previous weekend. Last weekend’s No. 4 and No. 5 titles, the documentaryAm I Racist?and the presidential biopicReagan, are now No. 7 and No. 8 respectively, behindThe Substanceat No. 6.

What This Opening Weekend Means For Transformers One

It Does Not Compare Well With The Rest Of The Transformers Franchise

Ultimately, this disappointingTransformers Oneopening weekend shows thatthe movie franchise has not yet pulled out of its box office slump, which began to set in after 2017’sThe Last Knightdebuted to less than half of what the previous installment, 2014’sAge of Extinction, made. In fact, it marks the second-lowest debut of the entire franchise afterBumblebee, which opened to $21.6 million in 2018, ultimately resulting in the franchise going dormant for half a decade. Below, see how the new installment compares to the opening weekends and worldwide grosses of all the modernTransformersmovies:

$70.5 million

$709.7 million

$108.9 million

$836.3 million

$97.8 million

$1.12 billion

$100 million

$1.10 billion

$44.7 million

$605.4 million

$21.6 million

$467.9 million

$61 million

$438.9 million

TBD

It remains to be seen how high theTransformers Onereleaseclimbs by the end of its run. If it behaves like a modern animated release such asMigrationorElemental,it could become a sleeper hit and climb the charts slowly and steadilyby the end of the year. Its reported budget between $75-147 million also makes it the cheapest installment of the franchise other than the $135 millionBumblebee. In many cases it is cheaper by a considerable margin, as several cost $200 million or more. This means that it has a much more open path toward profitability.

Our Take On The Weekend’s Box Office

Original Horror Continues To Take A Hit

The quiet reception forThe SubstanceandNever Let Gocontinues a general lukewarm period for2024 horror movies,compounding with the underwhelming debuts of titles includingThe Front Room,Afraid, and evenSpeak No Evil. While the latter title has already risen to a robust worldwide total of $42 million,Afraidearned Blumhouse one of its lowest opening weekends in nine years andThe Front Roomearned the lowest opening weekend yet for a wide release horror movie in 2024.

The Front Roomis a new horror outing seeing A24 partner with debut writer-directors Sam and Max Eggers, the twin brothers ofThe WitchandThe Lighthousefilmmaker Robert Eggers.

The prospects for the genre may turn around before the end of the yearwhen October properly ramps up in the lead-up to Halloween with the upcoming franchise releasesTerrifier 3andSmile 2. The robust performance ofBeetlejuice Beetlejuicealso shows that horror is still performing well in theaters. However, original horror projects for the latter half of the year have yet to strike upon a hit on the level ofLonglegsorLate Night with the Devil.

Smile 2: Everything You Need To Know

Paramount’s horror franchise grew with the release of Smile 2 in late 2024, and here’s everything you need to know about the latest terrifying film.

Transformers Oneunderperforming in its opening weekend shows that not every franchise title has the ability to conquer the marketplace, either. However,the prospects for animation seem stronger moving forward, as the following weekend sees the release of DreamWorks’The Wild Robot, which is still showing potential in early tracking. Franchise filmmaking could also rebound quickly, as October sees the release of two sequels to massive superhero hits inJoker: Folie à DeuxandVenom: The Last Dance.