Movies Sequel rakes in $200 million in just five days, sets IMAX record

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David Germain
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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LOS ANGELES - Alien robots have transformed into box-office superstars with $200 million in domestic ticket sales in just five days.

Enlarge Photo

Jaimie Trueblood/Paramount Pictures

In this film publicity image released by Paramount Pictures, Megan Fox, left, and Shia LaBeouf are shown in a scene from 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.' The movie took in an estimate $200 million over its first five days of release.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen took in $112 million in the sequel's first weekend and $201.2 million since opening Wednesday, according to Sunday estimates from Paramount, which is distributing the DreamWorks movie.

It was well on the way to becoming the year's top-grossing movie.

That was a few million dollars higher than other studios were expecting for the movie, and the figures could change a bit when final numbers are released today.

Still, it was a colossal start for the Transformers sequel, whose opening five days amounted to nearly two-thirds of the $319 million domestic total the franchise's first movie did over its entire run in 2007.

Now playing in almost every other country except India, the movie added $185.8 million overseas, for a worldwide total of $387 million. That's well over half the $708 million global total for the first "Transformers."

That first movie began with a $70.5 million weekend. Based on how well the sequel has done, Revenge of the Fallen could join the handful of movies that have topped the $400 million mark domestically.

"I'd say given the momentum it has, it's got a real shot," said Rob Moore, vice-chairman at Paramount.

For the first five days, the Transformers sequel was second only to last summer's The Dark Knight with $203.8 million. This was the biggest opening weekend of this year, surpassing the $85.1 million debut of X-Men Origins: Wolverine in early May.

The sequel began with $60.6 million on its opening day Wednesday. That also was second only to The Dark Knight, which had the biggest box-office day ever with $67.2 million on opening day.

With $14.4 million at 169 IMAX theatres, Transformers set a record for a five-day opening in the giant-screen format, nearly doubling the previous best of $7.3 million set by Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

The sequel broadened the franchise's fan base. Females accounted for just 40 per cent of the audience for the first "Transformers" but 46 per cent for the sequel, Moore said.

Much of that was due to the on-screen romance for the characters played by Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox, who were relative unknowns when the first movie came out.

With a $13 million weekend, Disney and Pixar Animation's Up became the year's top-grossing film domestically at $250.2 million. It surpassed Paramount's Star Trek, which did $3.6 million over the weekend to hit a $246.2 million total.

The reign of Up at the top of the year's box-office chart will be short-lived, though. The Transformers sequel should shoot past it in a matter of days.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theatres, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released today.

1. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, $112 million.

2. The Proposal, $18.5 million.

3. The Hangover, $17.2 million.

4. Up, $13 million.

5. My Sister's Keeper, $12 million.Jaimie Trueblood/Paramount Picture

6. Year One, $5.8 million.

7. The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, $5.4 M.

8. Star Trek, $3.6 million.

9. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, $3.5 million.

10. Away We Go, $1.7 million.

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On the Net:

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