Downvote was for paywall.
Lol, same. And to call an animated film that is number 10ish in a series that started 40 years ago a sleepr hit……
I mean, the title is entirely accurate. From the Wikipedia page about sleeper hit:
In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit refers to a film, television series, music release, video game, or other entertainment product that was unpromising on release but eventually became a surprise success. A sleeper hit may have little promotion or lack a successful launch but gradually develops a fandom following media (including social media) attention, which in turn increases its public exposure and public interest in the product.
The movie has had a very much disappointing opening and the sequel looks suddenly in peril. If things continue like this, and it’s wrecked by Wild Robot, it will fail and be a sign of a “franchise in decline” as per the title— exactly because it’s number 10ish in a series that started 40 years ago. If it somehow succeeds from here, it is a sleeper hit per the definition.
I couldn’t read the article because of the paywall but I’ll speculate myself. I am a fan of the franchise and enjoyed the movie.
Sadly, I don’t expect it to see much box office success. The first trailer was truly atrocious (I actually wrote it off myself and only came back during the positive WoM), competition is looking strong, and marketing was dogshit. It looked too childish and undercut the compelling story of the actual movie. And loathe as I am to admit, appetite for Transformers content seems poor.
Since The Last Knight failed, general audience interest has not been good. The last of the Bay movies performed horribly and RotB underperformed, so the heavy action and violence doesn’t seem to be selling. Then the “good” stuff like Bumblebee and TF: One doesn’t attract the people there to turn off their brains and watch robots smash each other, and doesn’t pick up enough others to be largely profitable.
But I really think the marketing screwed it. Looked like a kids’ movie but was targeted at older fans. Kids don’t really care about Transformers while older fans didn’t want to watch a kids’ movie. Either way, I’m really sad to see how it’s going.
