Transformers, a special-effects movie extravaganza based on popular toys, earned US$27.5 million ($32 million) during its first full day of release and appears on track to dominate the weekend box office, according to estimates on Wednesday by distributor Paramount Pictures.
After earning US$8.8 million from Monday night screenings across the United States and Canada, the movie pulled in US$27.5 million the next day - a sum billed by Paramount as the biggest Tuesday haul for a movie.
Directed by Michael Bay, a filmmaker known for such spectacles such as Armageddon and Pearl Harbor, Transformers is based on the Hasbro Inc. toys that turn into alien robots.
In the film, relative unknowns Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox star as youngsters befriended by Autobots, the good aliens who are being battled by the evil Decepticons.
Despite its success, Transformers' take falls considerably short of the one-day record of US$59.8 million set by Spider-Man 3 two months ago, on a Friday.
The previous record for a Tuesday was set last month, when Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest earned US$15.7 million, according to Paramount.
Last weekend's champion, Walt Disney Co.'s Ratatouille, earned US$7.9 million on Tuesday, according to data supplied by a rival studio. A Disney official was not immediately available for comment. Because of the July 4 holiday in the United States, most studios did not report midweek figures.
The only other new Tuesday release was License To Wed. Data for the critically maligned Robin Williams comedy will be issued on Sunday, according to the film's distributor, Warner Bros.