That is a very good point. I did think it was weird that the only leaks we got for the RotB toys are the Target listings. Not even any descriptions of what they look like from the reliable sources.

 

Eternals had the lowest MCU opening during the pandemic to date, and Dune opened with $40M domestically… that paired with the 70% second weekend drops (Dune isn’t even going to gross $100M domestically which is insane for a blockbuster) still means the box office is in shambles. And now with a fifth Covid spike happening in several countries, it has a long road ahead of fully recovering. Only F9 and No Time to Die have done moderately well, but we’re talking ’90s level earnings ($700M worldwide) and that’s not including inflation. The highest MCU earner during the pandemic is Shang Chi sitting at $430M worldwide, which is significantly less than what The Last Knight earned and a far cry from a billion dollars which is the benchmark for what studios want to make on these films now. Venom and Black Widow have earned even less with $425M and $380M respectively, so no, none of these films have “done well.”

Y’all do not want this movie to open in 7 months… the box office will not have recovered by then.

 

What doesn't help Eternals that it is banned in some countries like China so it's not doing bad all things considered. But I get what your saying and honestly the only film that has a shot of getting close to 1 Billion is NWH cause of the hype behind it (for obvious reasons) and it's gonna be the first MCU Phase 4 to open in China as well

 

My question is, was a $1 billion plus box office haul the only scenario in which Paramount would consider this a success? I just don't think that was all that likely even without a pandemic impacting grosses.

 

Just when you thought delaying to Dec. 2022 was bad enough.

 

If I remember correctly DOTM made over 1.4 billion in total prompting Bay to return for AOE and then TLK which made significantly less. It really depends how much it costs to make the movie. Hasbro know money will be made back from the merchandise. Let's be honest even if the movie is bad if hasbro make great figures from it they will sell.

These days there are no guarantees at the box office. Way too much uncertainty. Things may never be the same for a long time. Contrary to some opinions the pandemic is not over and probably won't be for a long time.

 

No, Bay didn't want to do AoE or TLK. Paramount had to bribe him to do them, AoE was in return for them backing his pet project film Pain and Gain, while he got an extra $10 Million on top of the already substantial director's fee for TLK. He straight up said in one interview that he wanted to do things other than Transformers after DOTM.

Not to mention the rapidly shifting way people view movies. Being at home all the time means people have upgraded their personal home entertainment and being able to watch things on a growing number of streaming services in the comfort and privacy of your own home, as opposed to the usually kind of disgusting theatres and potentially any number of other people doing annoying things, the only thing theatres still really have is the experience. And rising costs mean tickets are much more expensive as well.

 

My point was more that while dotm made over a billion the following two features didn't and neither did Bumblebee which is generally held in better regard by fans. I don't think paramount are expecting dotm type numbers from Rise of the beasts. It would be amazing if it was hugely successful with some of the money going back into toy development which we were lead to believe happened a few years ago too.

No one is guaranteed a bumper box office anymore because as you said how people view movies has changed. In fact a lot of movies now don't even get a cinema release.

 

Looks like this one will miss out on the 2007 film’s 15 anniversary

 

It's not just COVID itself, it's the aftershock of people changing how they consume media over the last two years. People are changing their priorities, streaming more, and going with "wait until home release" on most Hollywood stuff.

Because for the price of one theater ticket you've already bought the DVD or stream at home copy when it comes out three months later. And there's no urgency to go because *nobody's going* so the Discourse(TM) doesn't leave those who miss the film in theaters behind.

 

But, AoE did make a Billion. Just barely and overall less than DOTM, but it crossed that milestone.

With how much money is getting dumped into this film, especially now with reshoots, they may have to go for the Hail Mary and expect a billion. Paramount can't survive another disaster.

 

Maybe I'm wrong, but just because the film is being delayed for a year that doesn't mean it's going to be worked on full time for a year. There may find a point where people are moved to work on other projects that have release dates of their own that weren't moved and still need to be released around the same time.

 

Wait, Ron Parlman is doing Primal again?  Ugh, I really hated his take on Primal in PotP

 

Movie figures aren't normally due on the shelves until May - April at the earliest - before the summer release of the movie so they may not have started production yet, whereas what's been leaked so far are due for release at the beginning of 2022 (but may show up earlier).

 

Paramount is busy working on hollowing out the robots' legs and removing painted details so that the toys look more screen accurate.

 

Great in the meantime Paramount can release Extented Cuts of Transformers: Dark of the Moon and Transformers: The Last Knight.

 

All these people immediately judging a movie when they only recently just wrapped shooting haha. When I saw the original release date, I immediately knew they would inevitably delay the film especially when considering leadership change at Paramount and the director entering unfamiliar territory.

Pacific Rim for comparison finished filming in April 2012, released July 2013, 15 months post (With Uprising in 12 months). For ROTB, 8 months to 20 months and a bit. '07 Transformers took 8 months post, ROTF took 7 months, DOTM 7 months, AOE 8 months, TLK 6 months, BM 13 months. Not the best comparison, but the only CGI Robot battle film I could think of outside of Paramount (Pacific Rim being made under Legendary Pictures).

It's important to remember BM was directed by Travis Knight rather than Bay who by then had experience making these sorts of films, and half the budget to work with. With Star Trek also being pushed back in mind, it's ridiculous to take this delay as the movie being bad when it's most likely just due to current events not favoring the box office at this time.

I don't understand this stigma against films being delayed, there's plenty of films that may have been delayed that you enjoyed which you had no idea about - for me that was Max Fury Road too! I also have no idea how your 'hype' for a film can be ruined when they've only shown a plot summary and on-set photos with just the vehicles and hardly any of the actors shown (from what I've seen).

I'd understand having seen a trailer for a film and it being delayed would ruin your hype, but even then interest can be immediately rejuvenated - I mean, The Batman directed by Matt Reeves got pushed back an entire year after its first trailer being released, second trailer dropped last month and everyone's still as hyped if not more hyped for that film!

 

Didn’t this movie just wrap shooting? Has there even been enough time to screen a cut for studio execs? This delay might not be due to extensive reshoots on the horizon.

 

They haven't even done the CGI renders for the Bots.

 

A movie of this scale (200 mil) is always made by investments and borrowed money, which incur interest. The longer they take to release the longer they will have to pay interest.