‘Transformers’ alters opening-day record

Workday be damned. “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen� blew away the existing record for a weekday movie opening by selling an estimated $60.6 million worth of tickets Wednesday in the U.S. and Canada.

The Paramount Pictures movie, made for about $200 million, also pulled in an impressive $58.5 million at the box office in other countries. Nearly $40 million of that amount came Wednesday, when the film opened in most major territories. Directed by Michael Bay, the special-effects-heavy sequel had already generated nearly $20 million in Britain and Japan, where it opened last weekend.

The $119.1-million worldwide opening of “Transformers,� most of which came on a single day, underscores the importance of established brands for movie studios in the current market, in which most of the biggest hits at the box office have been sequels and franchises such as “Fast and Furious,� “Wolverine,� and “Star Trek.� Neither a lack of stars with household-name recognition nor downbeat reviews dissuaded huge numbers of fans from turning out for “Transformers� on its first day.

But it remains to be seen whether audiences will react as negatively as critics, who gave the film a low average score of 38 out of 100, according to Metacritic.com, a compiler of movie reviews. If the buzz is bad, “Transformers� could end up with a relatively soft weekend in ticket sales compared with its massive opening day, and then fall off quickly.

Nonetheless, “Transformers� will almost certainly break the domestic five-day record of $152.4 million for a film opening on a Wednesday that was set in 2004 by “Spider-Man 2,� even discounting ticket price inflation. One distribution executive at a competing studio estimated “Transformers� could gross about $185 million by Sunday, which would still leave it well short of the record five-day gross: the $203.8-million start for “The Dark Knight.�

On a worldwide basis, “Transformers� appears to be on track to reach $300 million to $350 million in ticket sales by Sunday, according to movie distribution officials. The first “Transformers� in 2007 grossed $708 million in ticket sales.

Warner Bros. this weekend plans to go after the one audience group that hasn’t been significantly interested in “Transformers� -- women -- with its tear-jerker drama “My Sister’s Keeper.� The modestly budgeted adaptation of Jodi Picoult’s best-selling novel, which stars Cameron Diaz, is expected to gross in the mid-teens, according to market surveys of potential moviegoers.

It’s the only film opening in wide release this weekend. Summit Entertainment is opening the war drama “The Hurt Locker� -- which it bought at the Toronto Film Festival last year and has earned very positive reviews -- at two theaters in Los Angeles and two in New York.

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