‘Transformers’ summer sequel a perfect beast at the box office

“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen’’ took in $112 million in the sequel’s first weekend and $201.2 million since opening last week, according to estimates from Paramount, which is distributing the DreamWorks movie.

It was a colossal start for the “Transformers’’ sequel, whose opening five days amounted to nearly two-thirds of the $319 million domestic total the franchise’s first movie did over its entire run in 2007.

The movie added $185.8 million overseas, for a worldwide total of $387 million. That’s over half the $708 million global total for the first “Transformers.’’

For the first five days, the “Transformers’’ sequel was second only to last summer’s “The Dark Knight’’ with $203.8 million. It had the biggest opening weekend of this year, surpassing the $85.1 million debut of “X-Men Origins: Wolverine’’ in early May.

The sequel began with $60.6 million on its opening day. That was second only to “The Dark Knight,’’ which had the biggest box-office opening day ever with $67.2 million.

With $14.4 million at 169 IMAX theaters, “Transformers’’ set a record for a five-day opening in the giant-screen format, nearly doubling the previous best of $7.3 million set by “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.’’

“Transformers’’ overcame harsh reviews from critics, who called it a visual-effects extravaganza without much story or human heart. Director Michael Bay has a history of bad reviews and big box office sales with “Armageddon’’ and “Pearl Harbor.’’

The sequel broadened the franchise’s fan base. Females accounted for just 40 percent of the audience for the first “Transformers’’ but 46 percent for the sequel, according to Paramount.

Much of that can be credited to the on-screen romance for the characters played by Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox, who were relative unknowns when the first movie came out.

With a $13 million weekend, Disney and Pixar Animation’s “Up’’ became the year’s top-grossing film domestically at $250.2 million. It surpassed Paramount’s “Star Trek,’’ which did $3.6 million over the weekend to increase its total to $246.2 million.

The Warner Bros. melodrama “My Sister’s Keeper,’’ with Cameron Diaz and Abigail Breslin, came in at fifth with $12 million.