Transformers: Dark of the Moon has posted the tenth biggest opening week of all time at the Australian box office.
The third Transformers movie grossed almost $20.2 million in its first week, according to the Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia, and has had similar success around the world.
It has already grossed $US486.6 million globally and is likely to be the second film this year to break the $US1 billion mark after Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. The release of the final Harry Potter film next week is also likely to threaten several records.
The booming result comes as Deutsche Bank analysts predict a 5 per cent fall in local box office revenue this year, due to the abnormally high returns generated by James Cameron's Avatar last year and a weaker release slate across March-April.
"If we adjust for the Avatar factor we estimate that FY11 box office would have increased by 2 per cent, which in our view is a reasonable outcome," Deutsche analysts said.
Avatar grossed $116 million over December 2010 and January 2011. The next highest grossing film is Titanic, which grossed $58 million (approximately $82 million after adjusting for inflation) in 1998.
The Australian box office has risen by an annual average of 5.1 per cent over the past ten years, falling just twice: in 2000 after the Star Wars series and in 2005 after the Lord of the Rings series, according to Deutsche.
Source: MPDAA