Transformers One, director Josh Cooley takes us back to the origins of the conflict between the Autobots and Decepticons. With Transformers One, the series ventures into unexplored territory, an animated prequel that focuses on the relationship between Optimus Prime and Megatron.
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Transformers One is the first animated feature film in the Transformers franchise since the 1986 classic The Transformers: The Movie. It serves as a prequel, detailing the origins of the conflict between Autobots and Decepticons.
The movie follows two young Cybertronians, Orion Pax and D-16, who eventually become Optimus Prime and Megatron. Their roles as miners in Cybertron’s underclass provide fresh context to their character development. Orion dreams of making a mark on Cybertronian society, while D-16 is more cautious.
The Cybertron in Transformers One is a planet at a crucial turning point, running out of its primary energy source, Energon. Orion and D-16 are introduced as miners extracting the last remnants of this resource. This setting provides a layered backdrop for the Transformers’ mythos.
The movie takes us to Iacon City, the capital, where much of the action unfolds, but also ventures into the more dangerous, resource-depleted outer regions of the planet.
Chris Hemsworth voices Orion Pax and Brian Tyree Henry voices D-16. In contrast to their later, hardened personas, both are presented as hopeful and idealistic in their youth. Their friendship is central to the narrative with Orion striving to uplift their position, while D-16 is more pessimistic.
As they go on a journey to discover the Matrix of Leadership, they uncover conspiracies that test their beliefs and lead them down the paths of heroism and villainy.
The movie introduces the Matrix of Leadership, a mythical object with the power to restore Energon to Cybertron. Orion, D-16 and their companions including B-127 and Elita-1, set out on a mission to locate the Matrix.
Their journey reveals truths about Cybertron’s history, the fall of the Primes and the manipulative extraterrestrial species, the Quintessons.
Much like Caesar and Koba from Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Orion gives hope and the belief in the betterment of society, while D-16 is driven by pain, anger and a desire for change at any cost.
As the truth about Cybertron’s past is revealed, their friendship fractures, leading to the birth of Optimus Prime as a hero and Megatron as a vengeful adversary.
The animation in Transformers One moves away from the photorealistic approach seen in Michael Bay’s live-action films. ILM and Digital Domain provide the visuals, opting for a more simplified and stylized design that aligns with the original animated series. This approach makes the characters’ faces more expressive and relatable, a contrast to the swirling metal masses of Bay’s films.
The voice cast is meticulously selected with Chris Hemsworth as the younger, less authoritative Orion Pax and Brian Tyree Henry as the calculating D-16.
Scarlett Johansson voices Elita-1. Keegan-Michael performance as Bumblebee (B-127) provides much-needed comic relief.
One of the best performances comes from Steve Buscemi as Starscream, whose portrayal is as sniveling and conniving as fans of the character would expect.
Transformers One from Paramount and Hasbro Entertainment debuted this weekend with a solid opening though it fell short of the $34M-$40M initial expectations.
The film earned an A CinemaScore and strong PostTrak scores of 92%, brought in $26.3M for its opening weekend.
Warner Bros.’ Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, now in its third weekend, continues to impress. Despite a huge 51% decline, it still pulled in $25M, bringing its total domestic gross to $225.8M.
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Ortega’s rising popularity with Michael Keaton’s iconic reprisal of the Beetlejuice character has driven much of the film’s box office success. The movie is already set to surpass the domestic total of Shang-Chi at $224.5M.
Transformers One didn’t perform as strongly as expected, earning $26.3M over its first weekend. It benefitted from high marks with 75% of audiences recommending the film and an overall positive reaction on PostTrak and CinemaScore.
However, the movie skewed more toward family audiences with 15% of the viewership being kids under 12 and only 13% being parents.
Lionsgate’s Never Let Go, starring Halle Berry faced a disappointing start, bringing in just $1.6M on Friday and projecting a $3.8M-$4.7M opening.
The film cost $20M to produce, is not living up to its potential, suffering from weak reviews (a 56% Rotten Tomatoes score) and a lackluster C+ CinemaScore. The movie has attracted male audiences with 59% of viewers being men and 42% being from the 18-34 age group.
Mubi’s debut of Demi Moore’s The Substance also failed to take off. Despite solid critical reception and a 13-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival, the film only managed a $2.65M-$3M opening weekend at 1,949 locations.
The film drew a younger and more male-skewed audience than expected for a Moore-led movie. 59% of viewers were male, with the 25-34 demographic making up 38% of the audience. The film has performed best in coastal cities like Los Angeles, where it grossed $17K at the AMC Burbank.
The weekend’s overall box office could have been richer if Apple hadn’t scaled back the release of “Wolfs”, the George Clooney-Brad Pitt CIA action thriller. Initially planned for a wide release, Apple reduced the number of theaters to around 50, costing the weekend an estimated $10M-$12M in box office revenue.
Apple’s decision to limit the release of Wolfs follows disappointing results for its previous titles Argyle and Fly Me to the Moon. While Apple’s big-budget films are often considered more as promotional tools for Apple TV+, the studio remains cautious about pursuing wide theatrical releases without a guaranteed hit.
Lionsgate’s box office performance has been underwhelming following the failures of films like Borderlands, The Crow and The Killer’s Game.
Despite some financial safety from foreign sales, which covered 60%-70% of the production costs for The Killer’s Game, the domestic performance of these films has been dismal.
The studio is expected to face another challenging release with Francis Ford Coppola’s $120M epic Megalopolis next weekend, which is projected to open with only $5M. With a 51% Rotten Tomatoes score.
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