Bumblebee, which topped last weekend's global box office, has been a major earner for studio Paramount, more so than its predecessor Transformers: The Last Knight. The film has raked in $289 million worldwide and that has the higher-ups at Paramount's parent company Viacom taking notice.
Bob Bakish, CEO of Viacom, called Bumblebee "solidly profitable" at a conference in Las Vegas. Bakish was using the Transformers prequel as an example of a turnaround in Paramount's business and that of the Hasbro franchise brought to screens over a decade ago by Michael Bay.
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This turnaround and profitability comes from overseas receipts. Bumblebee is performing very well there, earning $192 million of its total box office outside the US. China is Bumblebee's biggest market; the film made $59.4 million at the Chinese box office last weekend.
Domestically, it could do a lot better, grossing only $101 million, a third of its total lifetime gross thus far. Even so, stars John Cena and Hailee Steinfeld are proud of their work on Bumblebee and still want people to see it. The film also holds strong with a fresh 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an audience score of 79%.
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Directed by Travis Knight from a script by Christina Hodson, Bumblebee stars Hailee Steinfeld, John Cena, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Pamela Adlon, Jason Drucker, Abby Quinn, Rachel Crow, Ricardo Hoyos and Gracie Dzienny.
(via The Hollywood Reporter)