Michael Bay’s highly anticipated sci-fi threequel Transformers: Dark of the Moon hit cinemas over the weekend, grossing $12,392,000 in the first four days of release.
The film, which stars Shia LaBeouf, Josh Duhamel and John Malkovich, is currently number one at the local box office, having made $15,054,508 across 595 screens to provide Australia with its biggest opening weekend so far this year.
With an international gross of $210 million, it is Paramount's most successful opening on record, topping its previous sequel Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen by 51 per cent.
Dropping 42 per cent since last weekend, Disney Pixar's Cars 2 came in second, earning $2,859,293 across 502 screens.
Bridesmaids came in third, with $2,721,665. The film, which stars Kristen Wiig and Rose Byrne, has a screen average of $9,418 in 289 locations. Over the weekend it became producer Judd Apatow's highest grossing film of all time.
Kung Fu Panda 2 and Mr Popper's Penguins round out the top five, having earned $2,387,428 and $1,579,556 respectively.
Amongst limited releases, Julia Leigh's controversial Sleeping Beauty continues to play on 12 screens across the country. The film, which screened at Cannes earlier this year, grossed $45,426 over the weekend – a drop of 35 per cent from last week.
In its third week of release, local thriller Blame made an average of $1025 over four screens, bringing its box office figures to $34,425. Oranges and Sunshine experienced a 35 per cent drop, taking $237,265 across 95 screens.
Meanwhile Snowtown and Mrs Carey's Concert continue the crawl toward the $1 million mark. The latter feel-good documentary made $23,288 over 14 screens – giving it a cumulative total of $969,968.
Justin Kurzel's Snowtown has made $985,664 since its May 19 release but saw a 46 per cent drop with a screen average of $1576.
Australian Films at the Box Office 2011
Source: MPDAA, IF Magazine