'Ice Age 3' almost even with 'Transformers 2'

By Sarah Sluis

Both Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen posted estimated $42.5 million grosses for the Fourth of July Weekend on Sunday, but as final data trickles in, it appears that Transformers 2 came in at about $42.4 million, and Ice Age 3 slightly under $42 million. Even though Transformers fell 61% from its opening weekend, its twelve-day gross puts it behind only The Dark Knight for that time frame. When you start that high, even steep declines don't dent the gross. Audiences love CGI spectacles, even if there isn't much of a story to go along with them. Ice Age 3's five-day total of $65 million is a promising debut against the tough competition from Transformers 2. Because it's animated and released during the kid audience-friendly summer break, it should have strong weekends, and weekdays, to come.

Johnny Depp as John Dillinger drew in a healthy audience this holiday weekend. Public Enemies earned $26.1 million, and $41 million over five days. The number is consistent with director Michael Mann's previous film, Miami Vice, but the strategic decision to release it over the holiday brought its five-day total to $41 million, the same level as Vice's two-week total.

Among specialty releases, second-week release The Hurt Locker and fourth-week release Moon have picked up the most speed. The Hurt Locker posted the highest per-screen average this weekend, $14,000, even beating Transformers 2 and Ice Age 3. It went from four theatres to nine, bringing its cumulative gross to $365,000. Lower down on the list, sci-fi entry Moon increased 140% from last week, doubling the theatres in its release to 47. With a four-week total of $963,000, it should cross $1 million this week.

This weekend, it's back to the comedies. The Hangover is still in the top ten, and over the Fourth of July weekend it dropped just 38%, crossing the $200 million mark, but its fortunes could change. The highly anticipated Sacha Baron Cohen movie Bruno opens, along with Chris Columbus-directed high school romantic comedy I Love You Beth Cooper.