There is no shortage of options at the theater this summer, with a number of blockbusters set to hit the big screen before Labor Day. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse enjoyed one of the best opening weekends of 2023 last week, so the fact that it’s already fallen to No. 2 shows just how fierce the competition is. In the end, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts was able to take the crown in its first three days, bringing in $60.5 million domestically, compared to the Marvel hit’s $55.4 million.
See a full rundown of this weekend’s Top 10 box office winners, then we’ll discuss it all below:
Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts And Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse Were Neck And Neck To Take Box Office Gold
The seventh installment in live-action Transformers film franchise exceeded expectations by topping $60 million in its first three days (according to The Numbers), but taking the No. 1 spot was not a given. Following Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’s jaw-dropping opening weekend — in which it tripled its predecessor’s premiere earnings — it was quite the undertaking to dethrone Miles Morales. The news only gets better for Paramount when you look at the international numbers. Adding the $110 million brought in by moviegoers around the world puts Rise of the Beasts at $175.5 million after one weekend — well on its way to turning a profit on the estimated $200 million project.
Fans of the franchise showed up to see Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback (not to mention a scene-stealing Pete Davidson-voiced autobot) in the sequel to Bumblebee, despite tepid reviews from critics. Even with middling ratings, critics largely agreed the movie was an improvement on the overall series, with CinemaBlend’s review from Mike Reyes calling it “easily” the franchise’s best offering. Rotten Tomatoes seems to prove that moviegoers didn’t judge the film as harshly as the critics, as it earned a 91% audience score to go with the 52% critical consensus.
Rise of the Beasts also saw a huge gain over the 2018 premiere of Bumblebee, which opened at third place (behind Aquaman and Mary Poppins Returns) with $21 million. In its opening weekend the new movie is nearly halfway to overtaking Bumblebee’s entire domestic earnings, which topped out at $127.2 million.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts will have to continue to fight the other summer blockbusters, though, as evidenced by Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’s fall to second place after such a great opening weekend. It wasn’t a terrible fall, to be sure, losing 54% of its first week’s earnings to bring in another $55.4 million. But it was slightly more than the 53% that Into the Spider-Verse dropped between its first and second weekends.
One big notch in the Win column for Across the Spider-Verse, however, is that with its $225.4 million domestic total, it has officially out-gained its predecessor, which brought in $190.2 million during its entire box office run. Globally, the sequel’s $390 million has also surpassed the first Miles Morales movie, which gained $384 million in 2018.
The Little Mermaid Crosses Another Global Milestone, But Things Don’t Look Great For The Long Term
Disney’s live-action remake of The Little Mermaid seemed to be off to a good start with its Memorial Day weekend premiere, and even its 57% drop between its first and second weekends wasn’t too much of a concern — especially given what we saw Shameik Moore’s Spider-Man movie do. In its third weekend, the Halle Bailey-led film fell quite a bit again, losing 45% to add $22.8 million to its domestic total. When you add in $185.4 million in international ticket sales, Rob Marshall’s film has officially crossed the $400 million mark, grossing $414.2 million globally after three weeks.
However, the movie reportedly cost $250 million to make, so it’s still got an uphill battle before it can double those production costs to declare a profit, and the fight amongst this summer’s family-friendly fare is only getting started. Disney-Pixar’s Elemental is set to hit theaters next week, along with The Flash, which comes with a PG-13 rating. The animated flick is projected to earn around $40 million next weekend, with Ezra Miller’s DC flick possibly earning upward of $100 million domestically, if the projections pan out.
What Does That Mean For Guardians Of The Galaxy And Fast X?
With Transformers hitting the screen this weekend and more big releases on the way, the road’s not getting any easier for blockbusters like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Fast X. There’s still some fight, though, in these established franchises. Chris Pratt’s film held tight to the No. 4 spot this week, adding another $7 million to its total. With $335.4 million domestically and $805.9 million worldwide, it has officially topped the original Guardians of Galaxy from 2014 (which earned $333 million domestic, $773 global).
Meanwhile, Fast X seems to be decelerating in North America after its fourth weekend, but it’s still a global success. Holding at the fourth-best release of 2023, $514.7 million of the $652.8 million it’s earned so far has come from international markets.
Also worthy of mention is A24’s romantic drama Past Lives, which squeaked into the Top 10 with $520,000 and change, despite its presence in just 26 theaters. The movie stars up-and-coming Asian actor Greta Lee in her second movie on this week’s list (as she also voiced Lyla in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse). It'll be interesting to see if Past Lives can continue to hang in the Top 10 amongst all of the summer blockbusters when it gets its wide release on June 23.
I’m curious to see how the Transformers: Rise of the Beasts vs. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse battle plays out in the weeks to come, especially with new players entering the game. Head back to CinemaBlend next Sunday to see how it all shakes out, and be sure to keep an eye on the schedule of 2023 new movie releases to stay up to date on what’s hitting the big screen soon.
