Weekend Box Office
1) Up $44.2 million
2) The Hangover $43.2 million
3) Land of the Lost $19.5 million
4) Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian $14.6 million
5) Star Trek $8.4 million
6) Terminator Salvation $8.1 million
7) Drag Me to Hell $7.3 million
8) Angels & Demons $6.5 million
9) My Life in Ruins $3.2 million
10) Dance Flick $2 million
Disney/Pixar's Up remained at the top of the box office charts this weekend, pulling in another $44.2 million. The film, which follows a 78-year-old balloon salesman named Carl Fredricksen (Ed Asner) as he fulfils his lifelong dream of visiting the wilds of South America, has now earned $137 million, making it a certified hit. Coming in at number ten on the all-time best box office earnings score chart for a Pixar film, Up still has a long road to hoe before it beats Finding Nemo's number one status. Pixar's popular fish tale managed to earn $339 million back in 2003.
The race for second and third place was an effortless beat down. The R rated comedy The Hangover, which stars Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and Zack Galifianakis as three friends searching for their groom the day after his bachelor party, scored a hefty $43.2 million, leaving this week's other big budget comedy, Land of the Lost, in the dust. Though it came in at third place, Will Ferrell's hip retooling of the Sid & Marty Krofft Saturday morning kids' show only managed to bring in $19.5 million. Word of mouth has crushed its success, and it's unlikely we will be hearing from Marshal, Will, and Holly ever again.
Star Trek crept back into the top five after being knocked down to the number seven spot last week. Making another $8.4 million, the film now has a cumulative take of $222 million, making it one of the biggest films of the year thus far. Nia Vardalos return to Greece in My Life in Ruins, the only other major film debuting this week, opened at number nine with $3.2 million, playing on less than half the screens of its competitors.
On the arthouse scene, Sam Mendes' latest comedy Away We Go pulled in $143,000 playing at just four theaters. That makes it the film with the best per screen average, pulling in $35,750 at each of its locations. Martin Provost's French drama Seraphine made $39,500 playing on six screens, while Aaron Woodley's young adult drama Tennessee pulled in $10,000 playing on fifteen screens.
Up could stay locked in its number one position next week, as three R rated films are set to open in unison. The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, Blood: The Last Vampire, and Moon will debut against Eddie Murphy's PG rated kids' film Imagine That. It will be an interesting weekend, to be sure.