For at least one generation of "Transformers" fans, the death of Optimus Prime in the 1986 animated feature "The Transformers: The Movie" was a formative moviegoing experience, if not a fully traumatic one.

After winning an Oscar for 'Toy Story 4,' the filmmaker took a gamble by leaving longtime home Pixar to helm a Transformers origin story. Within days, the pandemic hit, causing him to wonder, "Did I just make the worst decision of all time?

That figure beats out a slew of family movie previews including that of Paramount’s IF ($1.75M), The Garfield Movie ($2.3M), Trolls Band Together and even the live-action spinoff Transformers movie, Bumblebee which did $2.15M.