Transfomers: Age of Extinction pits Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and other Autobots against new villains.

Transformers: Age of Extinction the fourth in the series of films about form-changing Autobot robots that save the planet, powered up with $100 million in box-office sales, jump-starting a sleepy summer with the year’s biggest opening weekend.

22 Jump Street, starring Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill, was second with $15.4 million in its third week in theatres, according to studio estimates. Animated film How to Train Your Dragon 2 took the number-three spot with sales of $13.1 million for the Friday through Sunday period at US and Canadian theatres.

Transformers: Age of Extinction stars Mark Wahlberg in his first outing taking on the evil Dinobots. The series’ three previous instalments, starring Shia LaBeouf, generated nearly $2.7 billion in worldwide sales, according to Box Office Mojo.

Transformers took in more than $200 million overseas

“It’s just a spectacular result,” said Don Harris, president of domestic theatrical distribution for Paramount.

The film took in more than $200 million overseas, an indication of “what a beloved franchise this is worldwide,” Harris added, crediting director Michael Bay who helmed all four instalments.

Transformers added another $10.7 million on domestic Imax screens and $16.6 million internationally.

Made for more than $200 million, the film pits Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and other Autobots against new villains. It met industry projections for its opening weekend.

The nearly three-hour movie garnered mostly poor reviews, with only 17 per cent of 121 critics giving it a ‘fresh’ rating, according to the site Rotten Tomatoes, but ticket buyers gave the film an A-rating according to polling service CinemaScore.

Prior to the opening of Transformers, summer ticket sales had lagged last year by 15 per cent, according to the box-office tracking site Rentrak, when blockbusters such as Iron Man 3, Monsters University, and Fast & Furious 6 drove ticket sales.

Last week’s box-office leader Think Like a Man Too, a comedy starring Kevin Hart based on TV personality Steve Harvey’s book Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man, was fourth with $10.4 million.

Maleficent, Walt Disney Co.’s revision of its 1959 movie Sleeping Beauty starring Angelina Jolie as a spell-casting evil fairy, rounded out the top five with $8.2 million and has totalled more than $200 million since opening on May 30.