UPDATE: Yep, just as suspected. The final numbers show Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen beat Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs by a smidgen.
Here is the REVISED top five at the box office this weekend:
1. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Paramount) – $42.3 mil; 4,234 theaters; $10,038 PT; $293.4 mil cume
2. NEW! Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (Fox) – $41.7 mil; 4,099 theaters; $10,368 PT; $67. 5 mil cume (opened Wednesday)
3. NEW! Public Enemies (Universal) – $26.1 mil; 3,334 theaters; $7,850 PT; $41 mil cume (opened on Wednesday)
4. The Proposal (Buena Vista) – $12.7 mil; 3,099 theaters; $4,124 PT; $94.2 mil cume
5. The Hangover (Warner Bros.) – $10.4 mil; 3,070 theaters; $3,393 PT; $204.1 mil cume
I had a feeling Transformers repeat business might fall off a bit once the initial excitement wore off – except perhaps for 16-year-old boys. Hence the reason my son saw it again and loved it a second time (I’m thinking it’s as much about Megan Fox as it is about the robots). Meanwhile, Johnny Depp’s smooth criminal in Public Enemies fared pretty well in third place, bringing in the older audiences.
This coming weekend we’ve got the teen comedy I Love You, Beth Cooper (ugh, looks bad) and the notoriously love-it or hate-it Bruno. Judging from the massive promotion Sacha Baron Cohen has been doing for this film, Bruno should get a nice jolt its opening weekend. Cohen has got to be exhausted at this point, but at least as Bruno, he gets to wear a whole variety of outfits, rather than just that one suit he wore the whole time as Borat.
But overall, summer is starting to wind down. All we have left, as far a bigger blockbusters, is Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (July 15) and G.I. Joe (Aug. 7). There’s also the Adam Sandler/Judd Apatow collaboration Funny People (July 31) and a few kiddie flicks like G-Force (July 24) and Aliens in the Attic (July 31). It’s kinda sad when the summer movie season ends – but in a few short months, it’s award season. Ten Best Picture nominations … bring it on!