Transformers: Dark of the Moon breaks box office records with $99m earnings

Robots made fireworks at the North American box office this weekend, as Transformers: Dark of the Moon scored the biggest holiday blockbuster take on its opening weekend.

The weekend includes both the July 1 Canada Day holiday and July 4 US Independence Day holiday.

The third Transformers movie landed a record $99 million, according to industry projections by box office tracker Exhibitor Relations, with analyst Paul Degerabedian saying that “great word of mouth propelled a five per cent Saturday uptick” in takings.

The Paramount picture smashed past the previous holiday-weekend record holder, Spider-Man 2, which set an $88.2 million benchmark for Independence Day weekend openings in 2004, according to studio estimates.

Another talking vehicle franchise, Pixar’s Cars 2 finished in second place over the weekend with $24 million, bringing the film’s overall earnings to $109 million to date.

Larry Crowne brought together Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks for third place on its opening weekend, tying third overall in ticket sales with Bad Teacher, starring Justin Timberlake and Cameron Diaz, as they both brought in $14 million each.

In fifth was romantic comedy Monte Carlo, starring teen sensation Selena Gomez, which played well to tween girls in North America and made $8.5 million on its debut weekend.

Action spectacular Super 8 from J.J. Abrams landed in sixth with $7.5 million in projected sales, and super hero flick Green Lantern dimmed to seventh place and $6 million in receipts.

Waddling into eighth place Jim Carrey-starring Mr Popper’s Penguins with $5 million, raucous comedy Bridesmaids continued to hang in the top 10 with $3.25 million in ninth place and Woody Allen’s romantic fantasy Midnight in Paris rounded out the top 10 with an estimated $3 million take.