Paramount’s “Transformers: The Last Knight” earned $5.5 million at the Tuesday box office, a solid start for the fifth film in Michael Bay’s CG-heavy franchise.
The Tuesday gross is in line with the $5.5 million that Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” earned on its Thursday previews last month. That movie went on to earn $63 million over its opening weekend.
However, the last “Transformers” film, “Age of Extinction,” earned $8.8 million at its Thursday previews in 2014. That film debuted to $100 million over the three-day opening — but “The Last Knight” is expected to come in much lower, at $70 million during its five-day domestic opening.
“Transformers: The Last Knight” is directed by Bay from a screenplay by Art Marcum, Matt Holloway and Ken Nolan. Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Tom DeSanto, Don Murphy and Ian Bryce, with Bay, Steven Spielberg, Brian Golden and Mark Vahradian as EPs. The film stars Mark Wahlberg, Anthony Hopkins, Stanley Tucci, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson and John Turturro and Laura Haddock.
The production budget was a reported $217 million. “The Last Knight” will open in 42 international markets on Friday, including China, the U.K., Russia and Korea. This will represent 80 percent on the film’s international footprint.
Reviews for the film haven’t been great — it currently holds a score of 17 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
“Transformers: The Last Knight” is the only wide release for the week — on Friday, Kumail Nanjiani’s “The Big Sick” is opening in five theaters, while Sofia Coppola’s “The Beguiled” is hitting four.