`Transformers' puts up $70 million debut

Robots were Hollywood's big wage-earners over the weekend as "Transformers," the sci-fi saga about warring machines, debuted with $70.5 million.

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Media By Numbers LLC are:

1. "Transformers," Paramount, $70,502,384, 4,011 locations, $17,577 average, $155,405,412, one week.

2. "Ratatouille," Disney, $29,014,293, 3,940 locations, $7,364 average, $109,531,598, two weeks.

3. "Live Free or Die Hard," Fox, $17,730,149, 3,411 locations, $5,198 average, $84,424,123, two weeks.

4. "License to Wed," Warner Bros., $10,422,258, 2,604 locations, $4,002 average, $17,838,076, one week.

5. "Evan Almighty," Universal, $8,719,135, 3,460 locations, $2,520 average, $78,706,785, three weeks.

6. "1408," MGM, $7,088,979, 2,631 locations, $2,694 average, $53,738,325, three weeks.

7. "Knocked Up," Universal, $5,222,680, 2,213 locations, $2,360 average, $132,089,425, six weeks.

8. "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer," Fox, $4,239,993, 2,618 locations, $1,620 average, $123,881,586, four weeks.

9. "Sicko," Lionsgate, $3,600,179, 702 locations, $5,128 average, $11,452,560, three weeks.

10. "Ocean's Thirteen," Warner Bros., $3,525,366, 2,102 locations, $1,677 average, $109,145,316, five weeks.

11. "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," Disney, $3,008,962, 1,869 locations, $1,610 average, $301,725,691, seven weeks.

12. "Evening," Focus, $2,374,904, 979 locations, $2,426 average, $8,378,433, two weeks.

13. "Shrek the Third," Paramount, $1,537,841, 1,421 locations, $1,082 average, $316,740,255, eight weeks.

14. "Surf's Up," Sony, $991,175, 1,458 locations, $680 average, $56,042,318, five weeks.

15. "Nancy Drew," Warner Bros., $912,495, 1,124 locations, $812 average, $23,247,916, four weeks.

16. "A Mighty Heart," Paramount Vantage, $647,288, 651 locations, $994 average, $8,404,897, three weeks.

17. "La Vie En Rose," Picturehouse, $608,884, 162 locations, $3,759 average, $6,030,711, five weeks.

18. "Once," Fox Searchlight, $439,648, 132 locations, $3,331 average, $4,563,755, eight weeks.

19. "Spider-Man 3," Sony, $303,553, 310 locations, $979 average, $334,344,283, 10 weeks.

20. "Disturbia," Paramount, $302,010, 283 locations, $1,067 average, $79,305,519, 13 weeks.

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Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a joint venture of General Electric Co. and Vivendi Universal; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; DreamWorks, Paramount and Paramount Classics are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros., New Line, Warner Independent and Picturehouse are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lionsgate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.