Box Office: ‘Transformers One’ Rolls Out With $9.5 Million Opening Day, ‘Beetlejuice 2’ Still Challenging for No. 1 in Third Weekend

“Transformers One” doesn’t seem primed for a breakout start after earning $9.56 million from 3,978 locations across Friday and preview screenings. That puts the animated prequel, co-produced by Paramount Animation and Hasbro Entertainment, on track for a $26.3 million opening weekend in North America, pacing behind industry projections for a $30 million-plus debut.

Those domestic numbers don’t qualify as a definitive nonstarter for the Paramount release, which was produced at a $75 million budget — a smaller price tag than is typical for a studio animated feature, or a live-action “Transformers” entry for that matter. Moreover, this franchise has proven to be more appealing to international audiences, especially in recent years. But it’s difficult to imagine that there weren’t hopes for a bigger opening to put some more space between “Transformers One” and “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” which, in its third weekend, is still a contender to lead the charts.

Whether “Transformers One” can keep a strong engine running in the weeks ahead will be the ultimate measurement of its success. Paramount was able to leg out a salvageable performance for another family-oriented feature this summer, with the original special-effects caper “IF” finishing with $111 million domestic after a muted $33 million opening. The studio will look for staying power here too.

Reviews have been strong for the Josh Cooley-directed prequel, which features a voice cast that includes Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson and Keegan-Michael Key. And audiences are quite enthusiastic about this entry, which marks the first theatrically released animated installment in the franchise since the 1986 release of “The Transformers: The Movie.” Survey firm Cinema Score turned in a glowing A grade after polling moviegoers. Bumblebee and the Autobots need that buzz, as “Transformers One” will vie for family audiences against the opening of Universal’s critically acclaimed animated feature “The Wild Robot” next week.

Also opening this weekend, Lionsgate is suffering yet another single-digit start for a wide release with the Halle Berry thriller “Never Let Go.” The supernatural film, directed by Alexandre Aja, earned about $1.6 million across Friday and preview screenings from 2,667 locations. It looks to debut in fourth place.

The thriller, which landed a lackluster C+ grade on Cinema Score, is the latest in an unflattering string of theatrical nonstarters for Lionsgate, which has failed to draw a crowd with “Borderlands,” “The Crow” and “The Killer’s Game,” all released within the past two months. The distributor is putting out Francis Ford Coppola’s divisive epic “Megalopolis” next weekend, though it is only distributing the film and has no production investment in the project. Nonetheless, weeks of poor box office tracking for “Megalopolis” seem to foreshadow another flatline release for Lionsgate on the immediate horizon.

Warner Bros.’ “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” is still tallying up the sales. The supernatural comedy sequel added $6.7 million on Friday, a 54% fall from its $14.5 million daily total a week ago. “Transformers One” is pacing ahead for now, but there’s a possibility the ghost ends up with the most money among all releases — even in its third weekend. On Friday, it surpassed “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” ($206 million) to become the third-highest-grossing domestic release of director Tim Burton’s career, unadjusted for inflation. “Beetlejuice 2” is also now the sixth-highest-grossing film of the year in North America, having just passed by “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” ($196 million) earlier this week.

Sliding to third place is Universal’s “Speak No Evil,” projecting a solid enough 49% drop for a $5.8 million sophomore outing. The Blumhouse-produced horror remake will get past $21 million through its first 10 days of release.

And still holding down a spot in the top five is Disney’s “Deadpool & Wolverine,” which added $991,000 on Friday. Now in its ninth weekend of release, the R-rated superhero comedy surpassed “The Avengers” ($623 million) a few days ago to become the 13th-highest-grossing domestic release of all time. The title of 12th is up for the taking if it can muster enough staying power to catch up to “Barbie” ($636 million).

Meanwhile, Mubi is releasing the oozy body horror film fest favorite “The Substance” in 1,949 venues. Director Coralie Fargeat’s critically acclaimed feature, which earned the screenplay prize at Cannes in May, metabolized $1.3 million in sales across Friday and preview screenings. Not a big splash, but it’s supposed to be the start of what is planned as a word-of-mouth run, to be propelled by great reviews, a superlative gross-out factor and significant awards buzz, particularly for lead Demi Moore.