U.K. box office: ‘Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen’ doesn’t fall

It’s the biggest opening of the year yet: Transformers 2, of course. My only hope for the salvation of humanity -- on both sides of the Atlantic, for the film is already breaking records in North America -- is that it takes a huge drop in its second weekend. Because it’s one thing to call a movie like this critic proof, but if the fanboy word-of-mouth is actually good, and fanboys return for repeat viewings, then we’ll know for sure that the end is nigh.

The Hangover continues to hold strong in the U.K.: but then, we already knew that the drunken antics of boys are pretty universal, and hence hold universal appeal.

It’s out of the top 5 now, but Drag Me to Hell will finish up much better in the U.K. than in North America, with its cumulative, so far, of almost £6 million -- it would have to earn $60 million in the U.S. and Canada to match that, on a relative basis, which ain’t gonna happen. If it crosses $45 million it’ll be lucky... at which point, the film could have well crossed £6.5 million in the U.K.

Overall business was up 68 percent over the same weekend last year, much better than the North American box office has been doing of late. With the upcoming pace of should-be blockbusters similar to North American release dates, the summer box office could end up looking even rosier.

[numbers via UK Film Council]