Director and executive producer Michael Bay smiles at the premiere of "Transformers" at the Mann's Village theater in Los Angeles June 27, 2007. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    LOS ANGELES, July 8 (Xinhua) -- DreamWorks' "Transformers" won the battle at box office in North America this weekend, taking in an estimated 67.6 million U.S. dollars over the three-day period at No.1 and about 152.6 million dollars since opening Tuesday in the United States and Canada, according to preliminary figures released Sunday.

    If the estimates hold when final figures are announced Monday, "Transformers" would rake in the biggest first week revenues ever for a non-sequel, surpassing the 151.6 million dollars taken by "Spider-Man" in its first week of release in 2002.

    The live action sci-fi movie about warring robots, adapted from the popular animated TV series in the 1980s, also boasts the second biggest Fourth of July weekend opening after "Spider-Man 2," which made 88.2 million dollars in 2004.

    In addition, the movie has grossed 93.6 million dollars in 23 overseas markets -- or about 40 percent of international business. Global ticket sales could reach an estimated 246.1 million dollars by day's end.

    According to Los Angeles-based box office tracking firm Media By Numbers, "Transformers" is also director Michael Bay's biggest movie opening ever, surpassing "Pearl Harbor" and "Bad Boys II."

    The shape-changing robots toppled the big rat from the top spot at box office. "Ratatouille," the Disney animated tale about a rat who's an aspiring chef, dropped to second with an estimated 29 million dollars over the weekend.

    Bruce Willis' "Live Free or Die Hard," the latest installment in the "Die Hard" series, came in third in its second week at the box office with 17.4 million dollars, while "Evan Almighty," the modern-day Noah comedy came in fifth with an estimated 8.1 million dollars. This week's other new release, Warner Bros' comedy "License to Wed" starring Robin Williams debuted in fourth with an estimated 10.4 million dollars.

    But the reigning powers of "Transformers" still could not prevent a box office plunge this weekend. The top 12 movies raked in some 161.5 million dollars over the three-day period, down 23 percent from the same weekend last year, when "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" opened with what was then a record weekend of 135.6 million dollars.

    Meanwhile, Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" took in 3 million dollars this weekend to climb over the 300-million-dollar mark in North America, following Sony's "Spider-Man3" and DreamWorks Animation's "Shrek the Third." 

Ratatouille	Live Free or Die Hard	License to Wed	Evan Almighty