Paramount’s sequel “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” rang up $60.6 million in its first day in domestic release.

Par released the early estimate of first-day box office Thursday morning. The figure included more than $16 million from midnight Wednesday performances, as the 2 1/2-hour, Michael Bay-helmed pic in which Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox reprise topliner roles seems well positioned to hit, and most likely to surpass, its projected $150 million-plus in opening-frame box office through Sunday.

The Paramount/DreamWorks co-production vaulted ahead of 2007’s “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” which bowed to a one-day gross of $44.2 million, to become the biggest Wednesday opener at the North American box office.

And in terms of both one-day grossers and opening-day grossers, it now ranks second, behind only last year’s formidable “The Dark Knight,” which opened on a Friday to $67.2 million, having squeezed ahead of 2007’s “Spider-Man 3,” which debuted to $59.8 million.

Hasbro is a co-producer of the pic, which like its 2007 predecessor is based on a line of toy action figures. The first “Transformers” movie made more than $708 million worldwide.