None dare call it a flop, because it's the biggest opening of the year, but the first-weekend grosses for "Transformers 3" are 24-percent lower than those for "Transformers 2"--at considerably higher, 3-D ticket prices. 

This weekend, "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" scooped up about $98 million in the U.S., compared to $128 million for the first weekend of "Transformers: Rise of the Fallen." And keep in mind that because this installment is in 3-D, many theaters are charging an extra three bucks per ticket.

Nonetheless, it qualifies a great opening, especially when you add the figures for the movie's two-day headstart on the holiday weekend. Since opening last Wednesday, "Transformers 3" has earned $158 million in the U.S. (That's consistent with what Paramount had cautiously predicted while some taste-impaired technocrats were banking on $200 million.)

"Transformers 3" is now the ninth-biggest five-day performer in history and set a new record for the Fourth of July weekend, eclipsing "Spider-Man 2" 

The performance is even better when you factor in the overseas markets, where special-effects sequels speak the international language of kablooey. "Transformers 3" will reap $200 million in foreign currency by Monday. By the end of the week, its worldiwde totals should top $400 million. That's a good thing for Paramount shareholders, because the budget on the movie was a reported $195 million.

(If you want proof of the importance of foriegn markets, consider that the incoherent new "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie has just ridden those stranger tides to the $1 billion mark in worldwide sales.)

In other box-office news, the dimming star power of Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts couldn't light a fire under "Larry Crowne," which coasted to a #4 finish among the weekend contenders, with $13 million.

"Cars 2" dropped a whopping 62 percent from its opening week, the largest-ever decline for a Pixar 'toon. Like I said before, it's still undeniably a hit movie, with a domestic total that's over $100 million, but it's a relative disappointment, both financially and artistically, compared to other Pixar films. (And by the way, $10 of its weekend total came from my wife and I, as we watched it at the Clark 54 Drve-In in Summer Hill, IL.)