Stunner: 'Ice Age' tops 'Transformers' at Wednesday's box office

Buck, Crash and Eddie join forces in pursuit of a ferocious dinosaur in the new hit "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs."

Credit: 20th Century Fox

Is the "Ice Age" franchise the most underrated and under appreciated in Hollywood? 

Proving once again how popular Scrat and his prehistoric friends are, and with almost zero media coverage, 20th Century Fox and Blue Sky's "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" opened to a powerful $13.7 million gross on Wednesday. 

The third installment in the franchise knocked "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" out of the top spot for the first time, with that blockbuster "only" taking in $10.9 million.  Don't cry for the Michael Bay blockbuster, however, the flick has taken in an astounding $239.8 million in only eight days.  Grossing more than the original "Transformers" $319 million is a given, how close it gets to $400 is a huge question mark at this point.

No doubt bringing smiles to the folks at Universal, "Public Enemies," an R-rated, Michael Mann period thriller which thankfully stars Johnny Depp and Christian Bale, brought in $8.7 million on its opening day.  Judging the five-day gross is always difficult when July 4th is on a Saturday, but $40 million would be a safe bet.

As for "Dawn of the Dinosaurs," its five-day should come close to its predecessor's $68 million opening in 2006.  That was only over three days, but with much less competition.

Look for box office updates all this weekend on HitFix.