Photo Finish: “Transformers 2,” “Ice Age 3″ Tie at Box Office

Yes, we can beat out those robots! 

First, the numbers (courtesy of Variety):

1. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen $42,500,000
2. Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs $42,500,000
3. Public Enemies $26,171,900
4. Proposal, The $12,779,000
5. Hangover, The $10,415,000

(Note: these figures are for the traditional three-day weekend.)

 Well, they say that a tie is like kissing your sister, but in this case, I don’t think the producers of “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” or “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” are too unhappy. “Ice Age” broke international box office records for an animated film, and stole the stand-alone box office crown from the heavy hitting “Transformers” sequel (and in the five-day accounting, “Ice Age” full out beat “Transformers,” $67.5 million to $65 million); expectations had been that it would do well, but that it wouldn’t be able to keep up with the Michael Bay juggernaut. Meanwhile, the “Transformers” folk aren’t exactly crying in their loud, robot fighting, exploding soup–the film became the top-grossing film in the US for this year (with $293.5 million).

This year’s other new wide release, “Public Enemies,” also did well, with a solid $41 million for the five day period. Many had also suspected that it would get lost amongst the lighter summer fare, but it held its own. No idea how it will perform in the long term.

Comedies “The Proposal” and “The Hangover” continue to do well, based on positive word of mouth (especially in the latter case).

Everyone should have been happy with the results this week. Next week is likely to be a bit quiet, with the next big release coming the following week when “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” hits theaters. I’m curious about how that’s going to start and perform; I already know lots of people who are planning to attend midnight shows.