US Box Office: Beetlejuice 2 Beats Transformers One Over the Weekend

It was supposed to be a triumphant weekend for Transformers One, but instead, the US Box Office went, once again, to Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

Image Credit: Paramount Pictures

Despite excellent reviews (CinemaScore “A” and 75% on Rotten Tomatoes), and a great start in previews, the first animated film in the Transformers saga did not go beyond 25 million dollars at its debut, and therefore lost the first place at the national box office, albeit by a few million. Transformers One was shown in 3,978 theaters in North America, with a good dose of IMAX theaters.

According to the Hollywood Reporter the reasons for this “false start” would be due to the target audience chosen by Paramount Pictures. In fact, the choice to aim for a more generic “PG” (for everyone), rather than a more than suitable “PG-13” (forbidden to minors under 13 years of age unaccompanied), has slowed down the hard core of fans, leading to negative comments on social media, and therefore to a sort of slowdown at the box office. Nonetheless, Transformers One, as anticipated, has been praised by critics, and this could push the film to get long legs over the next few weeks.

The one who took advantage of this situation was Beetlejuice Beetlejuice which, for the third weekend in a row, obtained the first position at the US Box Office, and without even a huge effort. Tim Burton's film, in fact, closed at the top with an estimated takings of just over 26 million dollars and is now flying with a total takings of 226.8 million. Worldwide, Beetlejuice 2 has exceeded the 300 million mark (329.7 million to be precise).

Speak No Evil or rather the US version of the film, closed the weekend in third place with a new collection of 5.9 million dollars, for a total of 21.5 million, well above the 15 million of the initial budget. The horror film starring Halle Berry titled Never Let Go debuted in fourth place with 4.5 million dollars, while the acclaimed The Substance debuted in sixth place with only 3.1 million dollars, behind the usual Deadpool & Wolverine with 3.9 million dollars (total 627.2 million).