The word “duh” immediately comes to mind when I hear that Michael Bay’s Transformers took the top spot in the Japanese box office (released there August 4th). Transformer’s has a long and storied history in Japan, mix that with some summer blockbuster filmmaking and you’ve got a recipe for success.

Taking in 631.3 million yen within a couple of days (5.35 million USD) Transformers is doing great in Japan (which I’m glad to see). I’m glad to see it’s doing well in Japan, while it’s not the greatest thing in the history of eyes the way some made it sound like at SDCC – it’s still a damn good time at the movies and honestly I think the movie is a success! Bring on the sequel (or until then the super-duper extended producers/key grip/director’s cut of the movie).

Here’s some some of what VarietyAsiaOnline reports:

The "Transformers" figure is 16% better than the $4.6 million opening weekend for "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" (Japan cume: $57.5 million) and 6% better than the $5.07 million of "Mission Impossible III" (Japan cume $43.4 million), both of which bowed in the same summer period.

Looking at the strong early numbers, and the higher than expected female auds, distributor United International Pictures is predicting a $59 million final tally for "Transformers."