$201 million in 5 days for 'Transformers,' that's one for the record books

Update (11:45 AM): "Transformers" earned $363 million worldwide. Get more details here.

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Exploding already huge expectations and the existing record for a film debuting on a Wednesday, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" posted a massive opening of more than $200 million over its first five days.

Though many in Hollywood were predicting audiences' negative reactions would slow the movie's momentum after a record-setting $60.6-million launch Wednesday, just the opposite happened for the critically maligned sequel.

Paramount estimates that the film earned $201.2 million over its first five days at the box office, a very impressive performance that wouldn't have been possible without consistently strong interest.

"Transformers" has posted the biggest five-day gross ever for a film opening on a Wednesday by a very wide margin. The previous record holder was "Spider-Man 2" with $152.4 million. It's just short of the all-time-biggest five-day performance: $203.7 million for "The Dark Knight."

The $112 million that "Revenge of the Fallen" earned from Friday through Sunday also put it just ahead of "Shrek 2," not accounting for ticket-price inflation, for the biggest-ever weekend take for a film that opened on a Wednesday.

Foreign grosses weren't immediately available but based on initial reports are likely to be in the neighborhood of $200 million as well. That puts the film, which Paramount produced at a cost of about $200 million, on track to be a huge worldwide hit and extremely profitable for the troubled studio.

With "Transformers" dominating theaters, there wasn't much room for even a film narrowly targeted at adult women. Warner Bros.' "My Sister's Keeper" opened to a soft $12 million, at the low end of expectations.

It was No. 5 at the domestic box office, behind Disney's "The Proposal," which dropped a relatively light 45% on its second weekend to $18.5 million; "The Hangover," which earned $17.2 million; and "Up," which sold $13 million worth of tickets.

-- Ben Fritz

Photo: "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen." Credit: Paramount Pictures

Comments

[Roger Jones]

While movie critics earn their $40,000/yr salary trashing Michael Bay's movies, Micheal Bay earns $100 million+/yr s---ing on the critics' opinions.

[KZinCC]

Attributed to H.L. Mencken:

"No one has ever lost money underestimating the taste of the american people."

[John Morris]

If you want to watch 2.5 hours of explosions and machismo armed forces posturing, this one's for you! Saw the movie on Saturday. What a pile of steaming poo.

[Joseph]

Unlike some of you, I go to movies to have fun and be entertained. Revenge of the Fallen DELIVERS. If I want intelligent, culturally relevant, high end fare, that's what Netflix is for.