Transformers 2 Claws at the Heels of The Dark Knight at Box Office

Despite an exuberant critical evisceration, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen earned $200.1 million in its first five days, just a whisper shy of the $203.8 million The Dark Knight pulled in over the same period last summer.

Because it opened on a Wednesday to quell demand, Transformers was never competitive for the three-day weekend record, which belongs to The Dark Knight. But that it came so close to that movie, which many consider a freak success because of its co-star's death, speaks to how widely it appealed (among the reports from the studio is that this Transformers pulled in many more women than the original). For better or worse, the Transformers franchise is now officially among the rarefied blueprints that will be used to make and sell movies of this size for years to come.