‘Transformers’ narrowly eclipses ‘Spider-Man’ at the domestic box office

Audiences rolled out to see Paramount Pictures’ “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” which opened in first place at the domestic box office this weekend with $60.5 million, according to measurement firm Comscore.

The seventh film in the action franchise narrowly beat out Sony Pictures Animation’s “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” which slipped into second place in its second weekend, adding $55.4 million for a North American total of $225.4 million.

Last week, the acclaimed sequel to “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” outperformed expectations, securing the second-biggest domestic opening of 2023. The superhero epic has now surpassed the total domestic gross of “Into the Spider-Verse” and become Sony Pictures Animation’s highest-grossing domestic release of all time.

Rounding out the top three movies in the United States and Canada this weekend was Disney’s live-action remake of “The Little Mermaid,” which earned $22.8 million in its third weekend for a North American cumulative of $228.8 million, Comscore reported.

“Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” slightly exceeded early box office projections in the $50-million range domestically. Internationally, the film amassed $110 million for a global cumulative of $170.5 million, according to studio estimates.

The latest cinematic offering from mega-producer Michael Bay notched the fifth-biggest domestic launch of the “Transformers” saga, which tends to perform better overseas. In first place is 2009’s “Revenge of the Fallen” ($109 million), followed by 2014’s “Age of Extinction” ($100 million), 2011’s “Dark of the Moon” ($97.9 million) and the 2007 original “Transformers” ($70.5 million), per Comscore.

Directed by Steven Caple Jr., “Rise of the Beasts” introduces the fan-favorite Autobots to a new league of Transformers called the Maximals. Set in the 1990s, the period film stars Anthony Ramos of “In the Heights” and Dominique Fishback of “Swarm.”

The latest “Transformers” movie received a mediocre 53% rotten rating on review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes and an A-minus grade from audiences polled by CinemaScore.

“It took five screenwriters to come up with this utter nonsense that has all the dramatic intrigue and emotional depth of a ‘Transformers’ Saturday morning cartoon,” writes film critic Katie Walsh for Tribune News Service.

“‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’ feels like a film that is at war with itself as Caple Jr. tries to balance character work with the profoundly silly Autobot lore … Unable to rise above this internal conflict, it’s a film that’s both dull and disposable.”

Opening in wide release next weekend are Lionsgate’s “The Blackening” and Warner Bros.’ “The Flash.”