Paramount’s Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen continued its exceptional start on Thursday by grossing $28.62 million for the day. The highly anticipated sequel from director Michael Bay was down 53 percent from Wednesday’s massive debut. That marked a smaller second-day decline than the 58 percent slide 2007’s Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix experienced, which is especially impressive when considering Transformers 2 topped the Wednesday opening day record of Harry Potter 5 by a sizable 37 percent.

Transformers 2 has grossed $89.25 million in 2 days, which places it 43 percent ahead of Harry Potter 5 and 36 percent ahead of 2007’s Transformers (when including grosses from the initial Monday evening performance of Transformers). By the end of the weekend, the five-day gross for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen should fall somewhere in the area of $190 million to $210 million, which means the film has a chance of topping the $203.77 million five-day start of The Dark Knight last July.

The Proposal remained in second place with $3.64 million. The romantic comedy from Disney was down 9 percent from Wednesday. Most holdovers were down noticeably from Wednesday, which is understandable given the second-day strength of Transformers 2, as well as the non-stop news coverage of the death of Michael Jackson. Despite sizable slides each of the past two days, The Proposal grossed a better than expected $50.58 million in its first week of release and will likely hold up well over the next few weeks.

Warner’s The Hangover continued to slow some on Thursday, as the film was down 8 percent from Wednesday and down a sharp 45 percent from last Thursday. However, for the week The Hangover still grossed $39.97 million, which was down just 26 percent thanks to the tremendous hold it experienced last weekend. The Hangover has grossed $166.03 million through three weeks of release, and could stabilize again once the rush-out for Transformers 2 slows down.

Disney’s UP remained in fourth place yesterday with $2.51 million. The 3D computer animated blockbuster from Pixar was down 7 percent from Wednesday and down 36 percent from last Thursday. UP grossed $34.40 million for the week, representing a 25 percent decrease from the previous week. UP has grossed $237.17 million in four weeks and will likely cross the $250 million mark on Sunday.

Sony’s Year One rounded out the daily top five for a second straight day on Thursday. The Harold Ramis directed comedy was down a steep 18 percent from Wednesday, which marked the third straight troubling daily slide for the film. Year One grossed $26.51 million in its first week in theatres, with a very unhealthy 32 percent of its seven-day gross having been registered on the film’s opening day. Look for Year One to experience a massive decline this weekend.