DINO'S VS. BOT'S @ THE BOX OFFICE!

Dinos and 'bots battled to a photo finish for the Fourth of July box-office crown.
"Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" and "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" tied with $42.5 million each.

"I've seen squeakers before in my time, but never one like this," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com.

In North America, the lucrative summer season is 5% ahead of last year's record-setting haul in terms of ticket sales with $2.3billion banked so far, he said.

Universal's crime saga "Public Enemies," with Johnny Depp and Christian Bale, debuted a solid No. 3 with $26.2 million.

It's rare for box-office rankings to be so close, particularly in summer, when movies typically have huge opening weekends, then trail off to make way for the next blockbuster.

With a $293.5 million domestic total after just 12 days, "Transformers" shot past Pixar's "Up" to become the year's highest-grossing movie. Since opening Wednesday, "Ice Age: Dawn" has taken in $67.5 million.