Moviegoers were still lining up for Transformers on Independence Day as the action tentpole from Paramount/DreamWorks grossed $29.1M on Wednesday climbing a healthy 4% from Tuesday, according to studio data. The increase was impressive given that megahyped summer actioners often see their biggest sales on opening day and then decline on the second day, even if it's a Saturday or a holiday. In the case of Transformers, the early debut on Monday night may have softened the Tuesday gross somewhat while the Fourth of July holiday provided a boost to Wednesday.

The cume after only 2.5 days is a stunning $65.7M after the $8.8M on Monday night and a revised $27.9M on Tuesday. The effects-driven hit also set a new box office record for the Fourth of July beating the previous high of $22M by 2004's Spider-Man 2. The webslinger was a bit older and in its fifth day of release on the holiday that year which fell on a Sunday.

The total far exceeds the midweek starts of past action films from this time of year. 2002's Men in Black II grossed $35.1M in its first 2 days, 2003's Terminator 3 made $28.4M in 2.5 days, War of the Worlds collected $35.7M in 2 days, and last year's Superman Returns grossed $32.1M in its Wednesday-Thursday start.

Michael Bay's latest extravaganza looks like it will smash the $100M mark in just four days and should amass more than $150M by the end of this weekend.

Disney and Pixar took full advantage of the parents who had the day off for the holiday and saw their animated hit Ratatouille surge 29% on Wednesday to $10.2M. That put the cume for the G-rated rodent comedy at a stellar $72.7M after only five days. Look for the $100M mark to crumble by Sunday.

Fox's action sequel Live Free or Die Hard climbed 34% to $6M on Wednesday giving Bruce Willis a sum of $63.2M. Despite the arrival of the Autobots, the marketplace is finding room for both action films to survive.

The Warner Bros. comedy License to Wed continued its lackluster run with $3M in its second day of release. The Robin Williams pic enjoyed a nice 32% jump from Tuesday thanks to the holiday, but has only laughed up $5.2M in two days. Wed's total may reach $15-20M by the end of the weekend.

For reviews of Ratatouille, Live Free or Die Hard and License to Wed visit The Chief Report.

Be sure to check back daily for continued coverage of the opening week of Transformers.