PAWTUCKET – “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” a new movie from Paramount Pictures based on Hasbro Inc.’s iconic toy brand, could be the top-grossing film at the box office this summer, Bloomberg News reported today.

In a report this week, Matthew Harrigan, an analyst for Wunderlich Securities Inc., predicted the “Transformers” sequel could earn nearly as much from ticket sales in its first seven days of release as “The Dark Knight,” which had first-week sales of $238.6 million and was the top-grossing film of 2008, Bloomberg reported.

Anonymous studio sources told Bloomberg they are projecting “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” will earn more than $150 million in its first five days. But the movie will face fierce competition to become the year’s highest-grosser from “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” due out from Time Warner on July 15.

Analysts expect that the latest “Transformers,” which opens in 4,000 movie theaters today, will provide a significant boost to the bottom lines of both Paramount parent company Viacom Inc. and Pawtucket-based Hasbro. The movie’s production cost roughly $200 million.

Drew Crum, an analyst with Stifel Nicolaus, said last week he expects the new “Transformers” movie will generate more than $550 million in sales for Hasbro this year, The Associated Press reported. Crum said toys based on the film are already “getting great placement at retail ahead of this release.”

The first “Transformers” film, which opened in July 2007, earned $708.3 million in ticket sales worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo, a California company that tracks ticket sales.

The first film also provided a big boost to sales of Hasbro toys based on the brand. Transformers products generated $482 million in sales and made up 12.6 percent of Hasbro’s net revenue in the company’s 2007 fiscal year, the only time over the past three years that one product line has brought in more than 10 percent of net sales, according to regulatory filings.

David Bank, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets in New York, told Bloomberg: “Everybody’s counting on pretty big numbers, so it’s certainly an important movie” for Paramount, adding that Transformers is now “arguably their most important franchise.”

Hasbro is depending on a number of high-profile movie releases to boost its earnings this year. “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” produced by 20th Century Fox, opened on May 1 and has grossed more than $360 million worldwide since it opened, according to Box Office Mojo. And “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra,” another Paramount picture, will open in August.

In a conference call with investors last April, David Hargreaves, Hasbro’s chief operating office and chief financial officer, said the company’s executives “think the movies will do a lot to drive the product through and we’ll have to advertise less then in a non-movie year,” according to a transcript posted on Seeking Alpha, an investor Web site.

However, Hargreaves also cautioned that since most toy industry sales occur in the second half of the year, the full impact of the “Transformers” movie on Hasbro’s bottom line may not be seen until then.

Hasbro has been stepping up efforts in recent years to boost the profiles of its toy brands by partnering with entertainment production companies to create films, television programs, video games and other content based on them.

The toy-maker recently signed a deal with Discovery Communications to create a new children’s television station, and also has a six-year agreement with Universal Pictures for at least four movies based on Hasbro brands. The first of those is scheduled to be released in 2010 or 2011.