Transformers One set out with a lofty goal to not only shift the theatrical Transformers franchise back to animation after the era of the Michael Bay live actions cemented the franchise as a gritty action series but also made a place for itself at the top of the weekend box office.

Transformers One sadly only succeeded in one of these goals, while critics and fans have found the new animated adventures of the Autobots a breath of welcomed fresh air after the downward spiral of the last two Bay films Transformers One wasn’t able to dethrone Beetlejuice Beetlejuice from its spot at number one.

Originally projected after pre-screenings and by its hopeful developers, Transformers One was expected to bring in 30 million for its opening weekend. Reality saw it earn only 25 million across its over 3,000 locations of screenings. Though in defense of Transformers One, this is not a sign it will not break even as it still had a decent start at earning its 75 million budget back with a 39 million international box office gross.

While slightly under its projection Transformers One faced stiff competition with Tim Burton’s legacy sequel and still managed to snag itself a spot at number 2 for the opening weekend.

One industry expert, David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research put it “Industry expectations are high for a big series like this, but an animation adaptation is not going to hold all or even most its live-action audience, It’s too big of a shift.” elaborating the uphill battle for Transformers One.

The audience and critics both shared fond reviews for Transformers One hinting that a slower crawl towards profitability may be around the corner. Even so, DreamWorks ever bold in its face off when it comes to the box office has the company seeing its orginal film Wild Robot opening next weekend on September 27th adding to Transformers One’s competition.