It might not have opened to quite the same box office-smashing levels as Revenge of the Fallen, but the latest chunk of robo-powered Bayhem, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, still crushed the competition at the US box office this holiday weekend, taking in $97.4 million across the three days alone. Add to that the fact that it actually opened on the Tuesday before the weekend, and you have a whopping $162.1 million in the bank with one big day of movie-going still to come (since Monday July 4 is the Independence Day holiday across the pond.)
While the absolute final figures won’t arrive until Tuesday, it’s definitely looking good for Optimus Prime and co, as the third **Transformers **outing is now the third best global launch ever behind Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Spider-Man.
The movie’s arrival quickly knocked Cars 2 from the top of the podium, with Pixar’s latest losing 62% for $25 million in its second weekend. It has now earned $116 million in the States. Bad Teacher sank 55% for $14.1 million in third.
Tom Hanks won’t be feeling in the mood to celebrate much over this holiday, as his latest directorial job, Larry Crowne (in which he also stars alongside Julia Roberts), could only manage a fourth-place launch and $13 million. Teen romantic comedy Monte Carlo arrived in fifth with $7.6 million.
**Super 8 **fell to sixth place, earning $7.5 million this weekend, while Green Lantern slumped badly down to seventh with $6.2 million. Mr Popper’s Penguins was eighth, nabbing $5.1 million and Bridesmaids was ninth with $3.5 million. The comedy is now producer Judd Apatow’s most successful film, with $152.8 million to its name in the US alone. And at 10th, Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris continues to do well, earning $3.4 million.
To fight the Decepticons at the charts, head over to Box Office Mojo.