Transformers: Dark of the Moon is celebrating Independence Day after dominating the U.S. box office with takings of $116.4 million over the Fourth of July holiday weekend.
The film was not given the most outstanding reviews by critics, but that will not be worrying producers as the third film in the franchise easily took the top spot at the box office.
Records were also broken as the new Transformers movie overcame Spider-Man 2's record Independence Day weekend takings of $115.8 million.
Much of the attraction to the movie can be attributed to the 3-D version which is estimated to have accounted for up to 60 percent of the box office takings.
Sources have also revealed that overseas box office receipts for the movie since its release on Tuesday stand at $217 million. Combined with the U.S. box office takings since Tuesday's release of $181.1 million, the worldwide takings so far are estimated at just under $400 million.
The news means that Transformers: Dark of the Moon has become the largest movie release of the year; easily eclipsing the previous highest Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, which opened with $90.2 million in May.
The movie's success is clear evidence that moviegoers are happy to disagree with critics; on rottentomatoes.com Dark of the Moon got just 38 percent recommendation from critics. However, moviegoers rallied behind the movie, giving it a 90 percent approval rating on the same website.
It appears moviegoers have been impressed with the attention to detail of the movie's 3-D format. Over the past months a number of 3-D movies have been slated for their poor conversion from 2-D to 3-D format.
However, Transformers Director Michael Bay is experiencing success having invested more time, money and thought into the 3-D process.
"3-D was a forethought, not an afterthought in this movie," Bay said in his blog prior to the release.
