Reworked Transformers Rises to Top

It was Miles Morales and the Spider-Verse versus the Transformers at the box office, and the bots came out on top. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, the seventh entry in the series, was No. 1 in its first weekend in North American theaters with $60.5 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse wasn't far behind, with an estimated $55.4 million in its second weekend. Paramount Pictures released Rise of the Beasts in 3,678 locations starting with Thursday previews. Set in 1994, it's technically a sequel to the 1980s-set Bumblebee and a prequel to the other films. With a new cast led by Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback and a new director in Steven Caple Jr., it's an attempt to breathe fresh life into the $4.8 billion franchise, the AP reports.

Critics didn't love the movie, whose global debut totaled $170.5 million, but that's also par for the course for this franchise. Overall, Rotten Tomatoes aggregated a less-than-fresh 52% rating. "The problem with Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is the same problem faced by all of the installments—balancing the humanity with the metal," wrote AP's Mark Kennedy in his review. Audiences were more positive, giving Rise of the Beasts an A- CinemaScore. According to PostTrak surveys, general audiences gave it 4.5 stars out of 5. Next weekend, family audiences will have Pixar's Elemental, while the superhero crowd can catch up with The Flash.

Below are estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:

1. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, $60.5 million.
2. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, $55.4 million.
3. The Little Mermaid, $22.3 million.
4. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, $7 million.
5. The Boogeyman, $6.9 million.
6. Fast X, $5.2 million.
7. The Super Mario Bros. Movie, $2.1 million.
8. About My Father, $845,000.
9. The Machine, $575,000.
10. Past Lives, $520,772.

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