The Last Knight wasn't? For a long stretch, Transformers was one of Paramount's go-to cash cows. Though Michael Bay's installments were usually critically panned, they drew in large crowds eager to see the spectacle on the big screen. Two of those movies earned more than $1 billion at the worldwide box office, leading many people to believe the series was review-proof. No matter how negative word-of-mouth was, Transformers still found a way to make money.

That all changed with The Last Knight, which seemed to be the point audiences started to tire of Bay's schtick. At the time of its release in summer 2017, Last Knight had the lowest opening weekend in the franchise by far ($44.6 million domestically) and grossed "only" $605.4 million worldwide. Paramount considers Bumblebee "solidly profitable." So what's the difference?

Related: Bumblebee Was A (Small) Box Office Success

One only has to look at the production budgets for the two projects to understand why the studio views Bumblebee in a more positive light. Ant-Man and the Wasp has a $162 million budget. Paramount was always planning for Bumblebee to make less than the typical Transformers film and smartly managed their money. If it broke out and got close to $1 billion, that would have been icing on the cake, but $459.3 million is a healthy haul. Bumblebee's break even point was around $270 million, a figure it definitely cleared. From the box office profits (about $189.3 million), Paramount could make another Bumblebee and have a little extra cash to spare.

Bumblebee Transformers Movie Budget

There's also the matter of the two film's wildly contrasting receptions. Bumblebee was a critical darling, becoming the franchise's tentpole-starved Paramount is developing a followup.

Bumblebee likely would have made more money if it had a better release date. Looking to capitalize on the lucrative holiday moviegoing season, Paramount premiered it over Christmas, where it was battling against other beloved titles like Aquaman. The DCEU blockbuster was definitely a thorn in Bumblebee's side, as it opened considerably higher and cruised to $1 billion globally. Bumblebee and Aquaman were competing for largely the same demographic, and Arthur Curry won out. Paramount needs to do a better job at finding a stronger window for the Bumblebee sequel so that one can be a bona fide (and not just a small) box office success.

More: Predicting Transformers' Movie Future

Bumblebee will be available on Digital March 19 and Blu-ray April 2.