Box-office transformation

“Transformers” was a resounding No. 1 in its debut weekend. In their second weekends, “Ratatouille” was a solid No. 2 while dropping only 38%, and “Live Free or Die Hard” finished third while slipping 48%.

Warner Bros. counterprogrammed the effects-laden competition with the Robin Williams comedy “License to Wed,” but the holiday week’s “other” major new release managed a modest $10.4 million.

Outside the top 10, “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” became the third movie of the year to top $300 million during its U.S. and Canadian run, joining “Spider-Man 3” and “Shrek the Third.”

MGM’s critically acclaimed Vietnam War drama “Rescue Dawn,” directed by Werner Herzog, averaged a solid $17,000 at six theaters as it began its rollout.

Industrywide results for the weekend were down from a year ago, when “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” opened. Though revenue is up about 3% year-to-date, attendance is down slightly from 2006 levels.

Preliminary results (in millions) in the U.S. and Canada, based on studio projections:

*--* MOVIE 3-DAY TOTAL VENUES AVG WEEKS (STUDIO) GROSS (MILLS.) PER (MILLS.) VENUE

1 Transformers (Paramount) $67.6 $152.6 1

2 Ratatouille (Disney) 29.0 109.5 2

3 Live Free or Die Hard (20th 17.4 84.2 2 Century Fox)

4 License to Wed (Warner 10.4 17.8 1 Bros.)

5 Evan Almighty (Universal) 8.1 78.1 3

6 1408 (Weinstein/MGM) 7.1 53.8 3

7 Knocked Up (Universal) 5.2 132.0 6

8 Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer 4.2 123.8 4 (20th Century Fox)

9 Sicko (Weinstein/Lions Gate) 3.7 11.5 3

10 Ocean’s Thirteen (Warner 3.5 109.1 5 Bros.)

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Industry totals

*--* 3-day gross Change Year-to-date gross Change (in millions) from 2006 (in billions) from 2006 $168.0 -22.9% $4.96 +3.1%

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Note: A movie may be shown on more than one screen at each venue.

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Source: Media by Numbers

Los Angeles Times