Friday Box Office – TRANSFORMERS 2 Freezes Out ICE AGE 3D…Barely

Few were willing to call this week’s box office race between blockbuster holdover “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” and newcomer “Ice Age 3D: Dawn of the Dinosaurs”.  A popular all-ages franchise like “Ice Age” would seem to have the upper hand in its first week – especially with the added income that those 3D venues bring in.  But “Transformers” had crazy momentum, and as I said on Thursday, it seemed foolish to believe that such momentum would be halted after only ten days.  Accordingly, Friday went to “Transformers 2″ with $17.8 million against $17 for “Ice Age 3D”.  Michael Mann’s “Public Enemies” came in third with $10 million, though for an adult movie competing against cartoon blockbusters that figure is higher than expected.  The totals for “Ice Age” and “Public Enemies” are not likely to get much bigger on Saturday – the studios can blame the Fourth of July for that one – but with “Transformers 2″ already claiming a staggering $500 million worldwide, I wouldn’t want to be the one to tell Michael Bay that a puny holiday could stop him.  Not much separates “tf2″ and “Ice Age” at this point, however, so check back tomorrow to see if Friday’s positions hold through the weekend…