Boxoffice Rewind: A Box Office History of the TRANSFORMERS Franchise

“Transformers, more than meets the eye! Transformers, robots in disguise!” From its origins as a 1980s action figure line and animated television show with the aforementioned theme song lyrics, Paramount’s sci-fi movie franchise has proven one of the 21st century’s most enduring film series.

The six installments released to date have yielded two $1 billion global earners at the box office, launched A-list names out of stars Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox, and spun off Transformers: The Ride 3D at Universal Studios theme parks.

Ahead of the theatrical release of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts on Friday, June 9, plus the animated Transformers One set for September 2024, here’s a chronological look back at the prior installments and their financial earnings.

Transformers (2007)

Release Date: Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Domestic Opening Weekend: $70.5M

Domestic Total / Market Share: $319.2M (45%)
Overseas Total / Market Share: $390.4M (55%)
Global Total: $709.7M
Domestic Franchise Rank: #3
Global Franchise Rank: #4
Domestic 2007 Rank: #3
Global 2007 Rank: #5

From casting Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox as leads, to the Linkin Park soundtrack, this movie was definitely a product of its late-2000s moment.

Michael Bay was coming off directing such $100M+ box office action films as 1998’s Armageddon, 2001’s Pearl Harbor, and 2003’s Bad Boys II. While his trademark style became much lampooned, particularly the frequent explosions, his tale of outer space aliens in disguise proved a huge hit.

The film’s opening weekend was deflated due to its Tuesday opening. However, the film claimed what was, at the time:

• The #1 Tuesday ever with $27.8M. (Today, it ranks #8.)
• The #3 Wednesday with $29.0M. (Today, it ranks #12.)
• The #5 Thursday with $19.1M. (Today, it ranks #22.)

The film’s yearly domestic rank fell behind only Spider-Man 3 and Shrek the Third.

Its yearly global rank fell behind only Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Spider-Man 3, and Shrek the Third.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)

Release Date: Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Domestic Opening Weekend: $108.9M
Domestic Total / Market Share: $402.1M (48%)
Overseas Total / Market Share: $434.1M (52%)
Global Total: $836.3M
Domestic Franchise Rank: #1
Global Franchise Rank: #3
Domestic 2009 Rank: #2
Global 2009 Rank: #4

The film’s opening weekend was deflated due to its Wednesday opening. However, Revenge of the Fallen claimed what was, at the time:

• The #1 Wednesday ever with $62.0M. (Today, it ranks #2, behind only 2010’s The Twilight Saga: Eclipse with $68.5M.)
• The #4 Thursday ever with $29.0M. (Today, it ranks #7.)
• The #2 five-day opening ever with $200.0M. (Today, it ranks #20.)

The film’s yearly domestic rank fell behind only Avatar.

Its yearly global rank fell behind only Avatar, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)

Release Date: Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Domestic Opening Weekend: $97.8M
Domestic Total / Market Share: $352.3M (31%)
Overseas Total / Market Share: $771.4M (69%)
Global Total: $1.12B
Domestic Franchise Rank: #2
Global Franchise Rank: #1
Domestic 2011 Rank: #2
Global 2011 Rank: #2

Rosie Huntington-Whiteley replaced Megan Fox as the romantic lead in this third installment of the Transformers franchise and the first to cross the $1B threshold globally.

The film’s opening weekend was deflated due to its Wednesday opening. However, the film claimed what was, at the time:

• The #6 Wednesday ever with $37.7M. (Today, it ranks #7.)
• The #10 Thursday ever with $29.0M. (Today, it ranks #18.)
• The #7 five-day opening ever with $200.0M. (Today, it ranks #43.)

The film’s yearly domestic rank, as well as its yearly global rank, fell behind only Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.

Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)

Release Date: Friday, June 27, 2014
Domestic Opening Weekend: $100.0M
Domestic Total / Market Share: $245.4M (22%)
Overseas Total / Market Share: $858.6M (78%)
Global Total: $1.10B
Domestic Franchise Rank: #4
Global Franchise Rank: #2
Domestic 2014 Rank: #7
Global 2014 Rank: #1

Mark Wahlberg replaced LaBeouf as the lead in this second—and, so far, last—installment to cross $1B globally.

The film’s yearly domestic rank fell behind American Sniper, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Lego Movie, and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.

Globally, though, it was the top film of the entire year—making it the only Transformers installment that can claim to have led either a year’s domestic or global box office.

Transformers: The Last Knight (2017)

Release Date: Wednesday, June 21, 2017
Domestic Opening Weekend: $44.6M
Domestic Total / Market Share: $130.1M (21%)
Overseas Total / Market Share: $475.2M (79%)
Global Total: $605.4M
Domestic Franchise Rank: #5
Global Franchise Rank: #5
Domestic 2017 Rank: #25
Global 2017 Rank: #16

This installment, the last starring Wahlberg and also the last directed by Bay, marked a substantial financial comedown for the franchise. The Last Knight was the first in the series to fall outside the domestic yearly top 10, failing to even crack the top 20. In another franchise first, it failed to crack the global top five films of the year.

Bumblebee (2018)

Release Date: Friday, December 21, 2018
Domestic Opening Weekend: $21.6M
Domestic Total / Market Share: $127.1M (27%)
Overseas Total / Market Share: $340.7M (73%)
Global Total: $467.9M
Domestic Franchise Rank: #6
Global Franchise Rank: #6
Domestic 2018 Rank: #25
Global 2018 Rank: #19

This spinoff was titled after the bright yellow Autobot who has long been one of the franchise’s most popular characters. On the human side of the cast were Hailee Steinfeld and John Cena, with  Travis Knight (Kubo and the Two Strings) directing.

Bumblebee provided several firsts for the Transformers franchise: some of them good, some bad. It was the first in the series to debut outside the summer movie season, the first not to be set in the present day, and the first that failed to open atop the weekend box office, debuting behind Aquaman. However, it earned by far the best critic score on Rotten Tomatoes with 91% positive, a substantial improvement over the prior five installments, which all scored below 60%. 

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023)

Release Date: Friday, June 9, 2023

Set in 1994, this prequel stars Anthony Ramos from In the Heights and Broadway’s Hamilton. Read Boxoffice PRO‘s interview with director Steven Caple Jr. (Creed II) here.