`Transformers', Ice Age' tie for No. 1 at $42.5M during July 4th box office weekend

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs reached the end of the July 4 weekend effectively tied for the three-day weekend box office crown, with both films taking in $42.5 million, according to early estimates by Hollywood.com Box Office.

Numbers reported during the weekend are estimates based on the studio's projections for how much business the movies will do on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Ice Age seized the No. 1 spot on the foreign circuit during the July 4 weekend as the third installment of the family-oriented series drew an estimated $148 million from 11,652 screens in 101 markets.

The opening-weekend tally set an overseas record for an animation film and was the sixth-biggest for any film. It also is the largest foreign introduction of a 3D title, said Paul Hanneman, co-president of Fox theatrical international.

The huge foreign opening more than doubled the $67.5 million No. 1 debut of the previous installment, 2006's Ice Age: The Meltdown.