Sandra Bullock offers a Proposal to audiences, and they gladly accept; she earned her biggest opening weekend by a mile with $34.1 million, again, proving the power of the female audience at the box office. Disney capitalized very well on what they knew was a date comedy hit, co-starring Ryan Reynolds, by sneaking the film last weekend. Obviously, the strategy paid off with a much bigger than expected opening for the film.
In second place is the audience favorite The Hangover from Warner Bros., which continues to “drink up” to the tune of $5 million per day in mid-week grosses and an unthinkably small 18 percent third weekend drop! With another $26.9 million added to the bar bill, the film has now crossed the $150 million mark.
Disney’s Up also continues to be a word-of-mouth juggernaut as the Pixar-animated behemoth grabs another $21.3 million in its fourth weekend of release, nearing the $225 million mark in family-friendly funds. This film simply refuses to leave the top five!
At number four is the debut of Sony’s Jack Black/Michael Cera Darwinian-based comedy Year One. Directed by Harold Ramis (Ghostbusters, Meatballs and many other comedy classics), the film performed solidly with $20.2 million, considering the massive amount of competition in the comedy arena.
Rounding out this week’s top five is Sony’s The Taking of Pelham 123, which took $11.3 million in loot for the weekend against a 52 percent drop and a total of $43.3 million. The adult thriller stars Denzel Washington and John Travolta and is directed in high style by Tony Scott.
In the international marketplace, Sony’s Angels & Demons continues to bedevil audiences to the tune of $329.2 in revenue and a running worldwide total of $457.5 million, well on its way to half a billion dollars globally!
Finally, if comedy has been very, very good for the wide release films, it is also great for Woody Allen and his latest directorial effort Whatever Works. The Sony Pictures Classics’ film grabbed a massive $31,191 per-theater average in just nine laugh-filled and audience-filled theaters this weekend. With a total weekend take of $280,720, look for the film to be one of Allen’s best performers when it expands into 300+ theaters on July 3. Larry David is a perfect muse for Woody and Evan Rachel Wood and Patricia Clarkson round out the cast.
Thank the comedy Gods for the first “up” weekend after three “down” frames as we head toward the June 24 opening of Paramount’s expected mega-blockbuster Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.
THREE-DAY ESTIMATES:
1. NEW! The Proposal (Disney) – $34.1M; 3056 theaters; $11,163 PTA
2. The Hangover (Warner Bros.) – $26.8M; 3545 theaters; $7,575 PTA; -18%; $152.9M cume
3. Up (Disney) – $21.3M; 3832 theaters; $5,568 PTA; -31%; $224.1M cume
4. NEW! Year One (Sony/Columbia) – $20.2M; 3022 theaters; $6,684 PTA
5. The Taking of Pelham 123 (Sony/Columbia) – $11.3M; 3077 theaters; $3,672 PTA; -52%; $43.3M cume
6. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (Fox) – $7.3M; 2962 theaters; $2,465 PTA; -24%; $155.9M cume
7. Star Trek (Paramount) – $4.7M; 2307 theaters; $2,037 PTA; -14%; $239.4M cume
8. Land of the Lost (Universal) – $3.9M; 2945 theaters; $1,350 PTA; -56%; $43.6M cume
9. Imagine That (Paramount) – $3.1M; 3011 theaters; $1,030 PTA; -44%; $11.3M cume
10. Terminator Salvation (Warner Bros.) – $3M; 1920 theaters; $1,599 PTA; -36%; $119.5M cume
MORE BOX OFFICE:
