LOS ANGELES — Throughout history, great leaders have stood in marvel at the foot of the pyramids of Giza —Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Napoleon Bonaparte. Now it’s Optimus Prime’s turn.

Pic takes $200.1 million from domestic box office By PAMELA MCCLINTOCK The ‘Transformers’ sequel pulled in $390.4 million worldwide over 5 days.

Nelson here… For haters and critics, here’s a little something from me to you: my sympathy goes out to you guys. Maybe next time we could have a $20,000 contest for the crankiest and most hateful review.

Paramount’s national exit polling revealed several notable facts. While the first “Transformers” film, released in 2007, skewed 60-40 toward men over women, the split in the new film was more even at 54% male, 46% female.

From Variety: Paramount-DreamWorks’ action-sequel “Transformers: The Revenge of the Fallen” continued to dominate the box office Friday raking in $36.7 million and raising its running domestic cume to $125.9 million over three days. While “Revenge of the Fallen” is heading for a five-day worldwide B.O. record, box office observers have estimated that its domestic haul over the same frame could be north of $190 million.

As Michael Bay’s “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” chases box office records after grossing $60.6 million on opening day, the filmmaker took time out to talk with BFD about the business of blockbusters, the impact of piracy, and the virtues of sharing risk with studios.