LOS ANGELES 'Ice Age Dawn of the Dinosaurs' grossed a cool $13.8 million in North American theaters on Wednesday, marking Hollywoods biggest mid-week opening for an animated film.
The previous record Wednesday opening in the United States and Canada for a cartoon feature was 'Shrek 2,' which sold $11.8 million its first day in May 2004, according to the film tracking service Hollywood.com Box-Office.The third installment of 'Ice Age,' the hit film franchise starring a cast of prehistoric critters, also bested the blockbuster 'Transformers' sequel, which sold $11.2 million on Wednesday, its eighth day in release.
'Transformers Revenge of the Fallen,' which opened last week at the top of the box office, has now amassed domestic ticket sales of about $240 million in spite of bad reviews from critics.
Box office analysts say 'Transformers 2' has a chance of holding on to the No. 1 spot for the US July 4th holiday weekend, but for some the 3-D movie 'Ice Age' is considered the front-runner for first place.
-Reuters
