That's the third-best midnight debut ever, behind the $18.5 million taken in last summer by "The Dark Knight" and the $16.9 million for "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith" in 2005, according to box-office figures from Hollywood.com.
The big midnight numbers put the "Transformers" sequel on track for a huge five-day return through the weekend. Some box-office watchers predict it could pull in $150 million over the first five days and $100 million for the weekend alone.
The first "Transformers" opened with $70.5 million in July 2007.
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