'Transformers 2' Takes in $201M [+ Reader Poll]

Update Monday, 6/29: While still subject to official studio confirmation, most online trackers are pegging Transformers: Rise of the Fallen at $201.2 million over the Wednesday to Sunday at the North America box office, surpassing all predictions and expectations and leaving it around $2m short of Dark Knight's all-time 5-day record set last year.

Broken down, Revenge made $112 million over the weekend, good for a 7th place on the all-time weekend gross chart, despite already having made $89m heading into the weekend. Records include the highest June opening weekend ever, and the best-ever non-weekend, non-Holiday weekend, according to boxofficemojo.com.

The film is of course poised to blow the grosses of 2007's original Transformers out of the water, which took in a then-impressive $70.5m its opening weekend on its way to $319m total domestically. That film took 12 days to reach the $200m mark.

These early grosses again display the power of home video market for a relatively well-received film like '07's Transformers. Despite its original box office success, it cultivated an even larger, more eager audience on DVD, Blu-ray, pay-per-view, and cable, which the makers of films like last year's Iron Man and this year's Star Trek will be counting on when their sequels arrive in theaters.

Revenge – despite it's enormous opening – probably won't reach the Dark Knight-like stratosphere of over $500m given its less-than-stellar critical reception, but it will likely give the upcoming latest Harry Potter entry a run for its money as the top-earner for the summer/year.

Overseas, Revenge of the Fallen played in 58 countries over the weekend and grossed an estimated $106 million Friday-to-Sunday on 9,910 screens, for a $186m total foreign gross to-date, this again according to boxofficemojo.com.

As a reminder, you can still take part in our reader poll [below] telling us what you thought of the film...

Update Saturday, 6/27: Various box office trackers have Dreamworks/Paramount's Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen grossing an enormous $190 to $205 million at the North American box office by the end of business Sunday.

Any of these figures would soundly beat Spider-Man 2's current record of $152.4m (in 2004) for the biggest Wednesday-to-Sunday launch of all-time.

It will also guarantee the film will finish as the 2nd best 5-day opening ever, and if the higher estimates hold-up, Transformers could challenge last summer's The Dark Knight ($203.8m) for the biggest 5-day opening ever.

Look for final updates Sunday or Monday and don't forget to take part in our reader poll below...

Original Report:Transfomers: Revenge of the Fallen looks like it's about to transform what was a relatively lackluster past two weeks at the North America box office.

ERCboxofice.com is reporting the Michael Bay tent-pole magnum opus grossed an estimated $60 million dollars on Wednesday, including approximately $16m from Tuesday midnight showings, good for second place on the all-time opening day list behind The Dark Knight's $67m last Friday, July 18th.

This of course makes Transformers 2's opening bid the highest Wednesday and weekday gross ever.

Despite middling reviews, the critic-proof film will likely topple the all-time Wednesday to Sunday five-day record, which is currently owned by July 2004's Spider-Man 2,  which grossed $152m over that timeframe
 
ERCboxoffice is estimating its 5-day gross could go as high as $185m.

In the wider view, this could put the $400m figure in play for the film's eventual overall North America total. 2007's Transformers grossed around $28m its opening day, and went on to total $319m domestically.

Look for updates over the next few days, and tell us what you thought of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen when you see it by voting in the poll below.