Rolling into theaters Wednesday like Optimus Prime on greased wheels, Transformers: Rise of the Fallen sold $60.6 million in tickets to moviegoers ignoring every critic -- including me -- who said don't waste the money. It's a recession, you know.

That opening day total is second only to last year's debut of The Dark Knight ($67.2 million).

The haul included $16 million from screenings that unspooled at 12:01 a.m., and Michael Bay's movie was certainly loud enough to keep them awake. At this rate, the live-action version of a 1980s cartoon favorite will challenge the Wednesday-to-Sunday debut record of $152.4 million set by Spider-Man 2 in 2004, according to the number crunchers at BoxOfficeGuru.com.

If you're wondering, here's a list of the 10 best opening days, in millions of dollars, from boxofficeguru.com:

1 The Dark Knight  67.2
2 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen 60.6
3 Spider-Man 3  59.8
4 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest  55.8
5 Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith  50.0
6 X-Men: The Last Stand 45.1
7 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 44.2
 8 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End 42.9
9 The Matrix Reloaded 42.5
10 Spider-Man 2 40.4