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Robots capture theaters' top spot
STORY TOOLS 
More from BusinessThe morphing robots of director Michael Bay's "Transformers," which first attacked movie theaters last Monday, continued to stomp across the North American box office during the weekend. The movie took in an estimated $67.6 million, bringing its domestic tally at the end of its first week to an estimated $152.5 million.
With "Transformers" in the winner's circle, second-weekend holdovers "Ratatouille" and "Live Free or Die Hard" took the place and show positions, respectively. "License to Wed," the antic romantic comedy that was the weekend's other new wide release, was relegated to fourth place with an estimated $10.4 million.
On the specialty front, Michael Moore's "Sicko," playing in 702 theaters in its second weekend of wide release, held onto the ninth-place slot it occupied the previous frame as it took in $3.7 million to bring its gross to date to an estimated $11.5 million.
Still, the top 10 films for the weekend, which grossed an estimated $156.2 million, couldn't compete with last year's frame, when "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," which opened on a Friday, racked up a three-day gross of $135.6 million. For the top 10, business was down 25 percent according to Nielsen EDI.
If Sunday estimates hold, the PG-13 action movie based on the popular Hasbro toy line, which played in 4,011 theaters, will have achieved the biggest-grossing first week for any nonsequel film. Having taken in an estimated $152.5 million in its first 61/2 days since launching with 8 p.m. showings July 2, "Transformers" will have edged ahead of 2002's "Spider-Man," which collected $151.6 in its first seven days.
That also would place "Transformers" in seventh place among all seven-day openings, a list top-heavy with sequels and topped by "Dead Man's Chest," which grabbed $196 million in its first seven days.
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