‘Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen’ dominates the box office in its first week out

After a stunning debut on Wednesday where it earned almost $61 million, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” put the pedal to the metal over the weekend, earning $112 million for a staggering $201.2 million in less than a week’s time, according to estimates from studio trackers Nielsen EDI.

“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” is the latest in the Transformer’s franchise, which began as an animated television series and then spawned a 1987 animated film; in 2007 a team headed by executive producer Steven Spielberg decided to create a live action version. “Transformers” is directed by Michael Bay and stars Shia LaBeouf as Sam Witwicky, a teenager caught up in the battle between two groups of alien robots who can disguise themselves by transforming into common machines.

The robots took most of the action this weekend, but Sandra Bullock’s comedy “The Proposal” succeeded in scoring $18.5 million, good for second place. The Vegas bachelor party comedy “The Hangover” continues to find legs among new audiences, namely couples, breaking out from its original young male crowd. The film took third place with $17.2 million, with a gross of $183 million in its fifth week out. Pixar’s heartwarming animated comedy “Up” earned $13 million bringing the film’s five-week total to $250.2 million.

Cameron Diaz’ new drama “My Sister’s Keeper” took in $12 million. Based on the bestselling book by Jodi Picoult, this critically acclaimed film examines the lives of a family struggling with the illness of one child and their battle to keep her alive at all costs. Final figures are due on Monday.