Paramount Pictures, Skydance and Hasbro’s “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” looks set to take the box-office crown this weekend, though it’s so close to Sony Pictures’ “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” that it is still too early to call.
The robots in disguise are currently on their way to a $60 million domestic opening weekend, whilst the second weekend of “Across the Spider-Verse” is headed for a $55.8 million debut. It won’t be known until later today if Spidey pulls ahead or not.
Part of the reason it’s dominating is that ‘Rise of the Beasts’ have taken a vast swath of the IMAX and PLF screens which are driving over one-third of the overall gross.
Moviegoers gave ‘Rise of the Beasts’ an A- CinemaScore, same as prior “Transformers” entry “Bumblebee” even as its tracking to nearly triple that film’s opening.
Budgeted at $195 million, the film is getting a big boost from overseas with its offshore weekend gross estimated at $100 million – half of that coming from China which is a big fan of the franchise.
Meanwhile, the second “Spider-Verse” film is on track to beat the lifetime cume of the first movie in just nine days. Disney’s live-action “The Little Mermaid” is expected to come in third with $24 million.
Source: Deadline
