Robots made fireworks at the box office this weekend as “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” scored the third-best worldwide debut ever with a $372-million take, according to industry figures.
In what was the biggest holiday blockbuster take on its opening weekend, the third Transformers movie in the Shia LaBeouf-starring action franchise made an estimated $162 million in North American receipts through Sunday.
Box office tracker Exhibitor Relations’ analyst Paul Degerabedian said “great word of mouth propelled a five percent Saturday uptick” in takings through the holiday weekend that included Canada Day on July 1 and the July 4 US Independence Day.
In foreign receipts the blockbuster had taken $210 million, according to industry media The Hollywood Reporter, citing the Paramount studio, bringing a worldwide total of $372 million.
That was ahead of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” which scored the best ever worldwide debut of $394 million, then Spider-Man 3 at $382 million.
However, with Monday’s projected figures in North America, Exhibitor Relations said the expected regional gross for the long-weekend would rise even higher from $162 million to $181 million.
With another sequel, Pixar’s animated “Cars 2” finished in second place over the weekend with $32 million from Friday to Monday, bringing the film’s overall earnings to $123 million to date.
