est. 1984
Transformers
began as a toy line
$25Bestimated lifetime revenue
Screen EmpireCinema, home video and streaming make up 61% of the revenue we could break down. We use this label at 50% or more.
- Retail & merch16%
- Box office21%
- Home video & streaming3.6%
- Unattributed59%
No. 14 of 99, ranked by estimated lifetime revenue
What we know
Sources checked to
- Estimated lifetime revenue
- $25BMoney taken in before costs. This is not profit or company value.
- Biggest source of revenue
- Box office 21%of the revenue we can break down
- Shared rights
- Named in the verified records: HasbroRights are shared; no single company holds all of them.
- Where it began
- 1984 · a toy line
- How sure is this estimate?
- Reasonable estimateUseful, but some sources or details are limited.
- Where the number comes from
- scored 2 out of 4
- What the number measures
- scored 3 out of 4
- How recent the estimate is
- scored 4 out of 4
- How much of the total is itemised
- scored 2 out of 4
- Double-counting risk
- scored 4 out of 4
Rights and ownership
Verified records show shared rights. They name HasbroShared rights
Holds master franchise control.
The rights are split between different parent groups, so no single company holds all of them.
See all verified rights (2)
| Right | Holder | Territory | Since |
|---|---|---|---|
| Master franchise control | Hasbro | WW ex JP | 1984 |
| Merchandise licensingtoys and merchandise | Takara Tomy | JP | 1984 |
How the money mix changed
began as a toy line, 1984
Retail & merch
biggest revenue source in this data
Box office
We cannot show this comparison because the channel breakdown is too incomplete to compute it.
More ways to compare it
We calculate these numbers from the records above. The formulas are on the Receipts page. If the data is not strong enough, we leave a number out.
- Share from merchandise
- approximately 39%
- How varied the revenue is
- not shown: the channel breakdown is too incomplete to compute it
- Revenue beyond where it started
- not shown: the channel breakdown is too incomplete to compute it
- Average revenue per year
- $595M per year
- lifetime average, not the current yearly rate
- Online interest compared with revenue
- not shown: search-interest data was unavailable at snapshot time
Sources and calculationsshow detailshide details
| Channel | Value | Share | Confidence | Source | Checked on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail & merch | $3.97B | 16% | reasonable estimate | List of highest-grossing media franchises — Wikipedia | 2026-09-03 |
| Box office | $5.26B | 21% | reasonable estimate | List of highest-grossing media franchises — Wikipedia | 2026-09-03 |
| Home video & streaming | $906M | 3.6% | reasonable estimate | List of highest-grossing media franchises — Wikipedia | 2026-09-03 |
| Unattributed | — | 59% | — | difference vs. the whole-franchise total | 2026-09-03 |
| Total | $25B | 100% |
estimated lifetime revenue · checked 2026-09-03