This is really a bit of an add-on to the last news story, but I've just noticed how close ROTF is to the revenue the first movie generated:

TF1: $708,272,592
TF2 - ROTF: $672,302,317

Thats getting very close. Which given the economic climate is extremely good news for our favourite franchise.

(Okay yes BOM isn't the greatest please the glean details from as it does miss out a few teritories... However it does so consistantly, and almost everywhere else uses it as a benchmark, also it's Non-US info lags a week or behind so the actual current total for ROTF is almost certainly higher than it appears right now, but as a quick benchmarking yardstick, it still works IMO)

Quoted from the SciFi channel's "Scifi Wire" weekly round-up:

"Finishing third after two weekends in the number one spot, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen took in an estimated $24.2 million domestically for the July 10 weekend, raising its domestic haul to $339.2 million, the Associated Press reported; the sequel passed the $319 million total of 2007's original Transformers."

The original story can be found: http://scifiwire.com/2009/07/news-briefs-transformers-2.php

Transformers Revenge of the Fallen is set to break the $650 million dollar mark for it's grossing this weekend with the current takings standing at $648,102,242 (consisting of $315,007,925 domestic and $333,094,317 international).

China is the second highest grossing area for the film with the UK in third.

Japanese website Ami-Ami has been updated with three new listings of Transformers Revenge of the Fallen Human Alliance toys.

RA-25 スキッズ＆ミカエラ・ベインズ (Skids, Arcee and Mikaela)
RA-22 サイドスワイプ＆エップス軍曹 (Sideswipe and Epps)
RA-21 バンブルビー＆サム・ウィトウィッキー (Bumblebee and Sam)

Ryan Church has updated his website with some concept artwork that he produced for Transformers Revenge of the Fallen.  Ryan has also produced concept art for various other films of which you can view several examples on his website which is well worth as look.

Marketwatch have published a report on the state of Hasbro shares, toy sales and the fact that Revenge of the Fallen has already grossed over $600 million worldwide.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Hasbro Inc. is revving up for bigger sales in the toy aisle thanks to the blockbuster Transformers movie sequel, with merchandise sales topping the 2007 product lineup by up to 25%, analysts say.  "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" is No. 1 at the box office so far this year. Since its June 24 release, the movie has racked up $607.6 million in global ticket sales through July 6, according to reporting service Box Office Mojo.Industry analysts forecast that Transformers toy-related sales, including licensing fees, could be as high as $600 million by year's end. If sales hit that mark, this would be 25% above the $482 million in sales the first Transformers movie-toy line racked up two years ago.Retailers started to sell merchandise for the second Transformers movie on May 30. The toys, celebrating their 25th anniversary, include robot action figures, helmets and lunch bags. "The toys are doing exceptionally well," said Lutz Muller, a toy-marketing analyst who runs Vermont-based Klosters Trading Corp.In an emailed statement, Toys "R" Us said the new Transformers "have surpassed sales of the toys based on the first Transformers movie." The major retailer helped support Hasbro's launch of the product line with print and Internet ads.

Shares of Hasbro's stock hastraded flat at $23.04 in midday trading Wednesday.Analysts' estimates vary on Transformer product sales for this year. Drew Crum at Stifel Nicolaus expects Hasbro to generate $550 million in sales from the toy line this year, while Sterne Agee's Margaret Whitfield estimates Transformers toy sales can easily exceed $500 million.  Sean McGowan at Needham & Co. projects Hasbro will sell $595 million worth of new and old Transformers merchandise in 2009, or 14% of total company sales.

There is less competition among movie-themed toys on retailer shelves this year. In 2008, kids had plenty to choose from, when Hasbro and Mattel Inc.  made numerous toys tied to action movies featuring Indiana Jones as well as comic-book characters Batman, Iron Man and the Hulk. Gerrick Johnson, analyst at BMO Capital Markets, estimates Transformers sales could provide a lift to Hasbro's second-quarter earnings due to the strength of orders ahead of the sequel's release. The toys have wider distribution compared with 2007, he added.

But Johnson expects 2009 Transformers sales to be on par with those of 2007. He cited cautious consumer spending and competition from popular Bakugan action figures that sell for less. Toronto-based SpinMaster sells Bakugan.

Hasbro could not be reached for comment on how the sales have gone so far.  The company reports second-quarter earnings July 20. Analysts expect the toy maker to earn 24 cents a share, compared with 25 cents a share earned in the year-earlier quarter, according to FactSet. Sales are pegged to rise to $797 million from $784 million.Hasbro is looking to generate more action-figure sales from the Aug. 7 movie release of "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra." Muller of Klosters Trading estimates G.I. Joe movie-related toys will generate sales between $150 million to $180 million in 2009.Yet Muller warned that G.I. Joe toy sales could be undercut by Transformers and toys tied to the July 15 release of the latest Harry Potter film.

Hasbro shares have fallen 21% for the year to date, compared with a 2% loss for the S&P 500 Index and a 5% loss for Mattel. Investors have become wary of Hasbro since the company announced a kids' TV joint venture with Discovery in late April. McGowan rates Hasbro shares overweight; Crum has a hold on them, Whitfield a buy and Johnson a sell.  The mean target price on the stock is $27.91, down 12% since the start of the year, according to FactSet data.

The BBC has reported that Revenge of the fallen has held the top spot against Harry Potter this weekend:

"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen kept its place at the top of the North American box office chart, taking $42.3m (£26.2m) over the weekend."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8137671.stm

Having a quick look at BoxOfficeMojo you can see a nice comparison page for the Domestic (US) takings of Transformers, Iron Man and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. A basic summary breaks down as follows

US Domestic earnings

Transformers: $319,246,193
Iron Man: $318,412,101
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: $268,700,00

Worldwide Takings

Transformers: $708,252,592
Iron Man: $585,133,287
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: $508,915,819

Interestingly Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen has now taken 68 million dollars more (in the US) then it's cost to make, and is only $85million dollars behind Iron Man's worldwide total takings. (Obviously there has probably been an increase in box office pricing since the previous two films).

Transformers Revenge of the Fallen is already the 38th highest grossing film in the US and 66th worldwide.

Paramount's 'Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen' scored one of the best Thursday grosses in US box office history as it added another $28.6 million to it's coffers to bring the total to $89.3 million after it's second day on release.

The film has also added another $20 to it's international tally which now stands at $80 million, putting the worldwide total at a massive $169.3 million.

Full report at Variety.com

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118005409.html?categoryid=13&cs=1

Hollywood Reporter is confirming that Paramount is reporting $60.6 million in ticket sales for Wednesday.

Also Variety.com have just reported that Revenge Of The Fallen has taken a massive $60.6 million on it's opening day in the US, which is the highest ever single day take from a Wednesday opening film and is the second highest behind The Dark Knight's record of $67.2 million first day (friday opening).

You can view the article here:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118005354.html?categoryid=13&cs=1