<Tr> <Th> Box office </Th> <Td> $1.124 billion </Td> </Tr> <P> Transformers: Dark of the Moon is a 2011 American science fiction action film directed by Michael Bay and based on the Transformers toy line created by Hasbro . It is the third installment in the live - action Transformers film series, and is the sequel to 2009's Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen . It is also the first film in the series not to be co-produced by DreamWorks . The film stars Shia LaBeouf, Josh Duhamel, John Turturro, Tyrese Gibson, Rosie Huntington - Whiteley, Patrick Dempsey, Kevin Dunn, Julie White, John Malkovich and Frances McDormand . Its story is set three years after the events of Revenge of the Fallen, and follows the warring Autobots and Decepticons as they battle to possess powerful technology from their homeworld that had crashed on Earth's moon . </P> <P> The script was written by Ehren Kruger, who also collaborated on the narrative of Revenge of the Fallen . Dark of the Moon employed both regular 35mm film cameras and specially - developed 3 - D cameras, with filming locations in Chicago, Florida, Indiana, Milwaukee, Moscow, and Washington, D.C. . The film was rendered specifically for 3 - D, and the visual effects involved more complex robots which took longer to render . In May 2011, it was announced that Paramount would move Dark of the Moon's release date of July 1 to June 29, in order to monitor an early response to footage . </P> <P> Exclusive early premieres in select 3D and IMAX theaters took place June 28, 2011, one night before worldwide release in 2D and 3D (including IMAX 3D) formats--each featuring Dolby Surround 7.1 sound . Critical reception of the film was mixed, with several critics calling it better than Revenge of the Fallen and praising the film's visuals, Steve Jablonsky's musical score, and 3 - D action sequences, while others criticized its writing, acting, and length . Dark of the Moon grossed $1.12 billion worldwide, and is currently the 15th - highest - grossing film of all time, the second - highest - grossing film of 2011 (behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows--Part 2), the highest - grossing film in the Transformers series, and the 10th film to gross over $1 billion . Like the first film, it was nominated for Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Visual Effects at the 84th Academy Awards . It was followed by Transformers: Age of Extinction in 2014 and Transformers: The Last Knight in 2017 . </P>

Where was transformers dark side of the moon filmed