Movie News

UPDATE: The Hangover Tops Up By Slight Margin for First

Source:Box Office Mojo, Edward Douglas
June 8, 2009


UPDATE: We have confirmed that final weekend numbers show that The Hangover edged Up by a slight margin for first place. We will post the final numbers shortly here.

The ComingSoon.net Box Office Report has been updated with studio estimates for the weekend. Click here for the full box office estimates of the top 12 films and then check back on Monday for the final figures based on actual box office.

Last week, it seemed like it would be a close race between two new comedies, Todd Phillips' R-Rated The Hangover (Warner Bros.) and Will Ferrell's take on the Saturday morning show Land of the Lost (Universal), but that ended up being a non-event.

Instead, this weekend became about whether Phillips' breakout comedy hit could in fact dethrone last week's #1 movie, the Pixar Animation/Disney animated hit Up, which dropped just 35% in its second weekend and just squeaked out a victory with roughly $44.2 million in its second weekend, bringing its total gross to $137.3 million in ten days.

With great buzz among a wide variety of audiences going into the weekend, The Hangover (Warner Bros.) kicked-off the weekend grossing $16.5 million on Friday in 3,269 theaters, then dropped a little on Saturday to end the weekend with an estimated $43.3 million, averaging over $13 thousand per venue. It is the third-biggest opening for an R-rated comedy, surpassing the opening weekend of past summer R-rated comedy hits There's Something About Mary, Superbad, Knocked Up and Wedding Crashers.

Meanwhile, the attempt to bring Land of the Lost (Universal) to the screen was marred by overwhelmingly negative reviews and a confused marketing campaign that made it look like a movie suitable for kids despite its PG-13 rating. That and the fact that many of Will Ferrell's older fans opted for The Hangover led to a disappointing opening weekend of $19.5 million in 300 more theaters than the competing comedy, averaging $5.5 thousand per site.

Ben Stiller's comedy sequel Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (20th Century Fox) held up decently in its third weekend despite the comedy competition, dropping just 39% to add another $14.6 million to its total of $127.3 million.

J.J. Abrams' Star Trek (Paramount) stayed in fifth place with $8.4 million, a minor 33% drop from last weekend, its total box office of $222 million putting it well ahead as the top grossing movie of 2009.

Dropping three spots to sixth place, McG's Terminator Salvation (Warner Bros.) added another $8.1 million in its third weekend to cross the $100 million mark with $105.5 million. The film topped the international box office this weekend with $67.5 million.

Sam Raimi's Drag Me to Hell (Universal) dropped 54% in its second weekend, pulling in $7.3 million for eighth place with a total of $28.5 million.

The Ron Howard adaptation of Dan Brown's Angels & Demons (Sony), starring Tom Hanks, dropped to 8th place with $6.5 million and a four-weekend total of $116 million. Internationally, Angels & Demons added $22.3 million this weekend to bring its overseas total to $293 million - by far the top performer internationally so far. Worldwide, the film has earned $409 million.

The only other new movie in wide release, the return of Nia (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) Vardalos in the Fox Searchlight comedy My Life in Ruins didn't stand much of a chance against the other two comedies. It opened with $3.2 million in 1,164 theaters for ninth place.

The Top 10 grossed an estimated $157.3 million, down 8% from the same June opening weekend last year when DreamWorks Animation's Kung Fu Panda won the weekend over Adam Sandler's You Don't Mess with the Zohan, $60 million to $38 million.

In limited release, Sam Mendes' new road comedy Away We Go (Focus Features) scored $143 thousand in four theaters in New York and L.A., averaging $35 thousand per venue.

Click here for the full box office results of the top 12 films.

COMMENTS (83)

Posted by:
Jay
June 7, 2009
UP was such an amazing movie, I'm glad its doing great. I really want to see Hangover, actually surprised that its the biggest R rated opener.
Posted by:
Jay
June 7, 2009
It says biggest R rated COMEDY :)
Posted by:
EDouglasCS
June 7, 2009
It's okay, I fixed it.. thanks. Sex and the City was a comedy even if it was a downer to most guys :)
Posted by:
The Watcher
June 7, 2009
Mc. G. "I'll Be Back"

ONLY IN A RE-RUN You HACK.

T4 Continues to FAIL.
Posted by:
DPB
June 7, 2009
Hangover was amazing. Everybody was crazy to think Land of the Lost was going to make 25 million or more. The movie looks awful and with 2 other kid friendly movies out no parent would take their kids to see that garbage.
Posted by:
elliot
June 7, 2009
UP is on its way to $300m club!
Posted by:
Recycle
June 7, 2009
Posted by: elliot on June 7, 2009 at 13:41:19

UP is on its way to $300m club!

-----------------------------------------------

...and rightfully so!!!
Posted by:
LawZo
June 7, 2009
Right decision made

Hangover was amazing. especially the end credits. I hope Ed Helms still has his tooth.

will ferrel is on the verge of being a washup and that is the only funny thing about him right now

17 Days to go
Posted by:
Xero
June 7, 2009
I am glad to see "land of the Lost" bomb. I cannot begin to tell you how much I dislike Will Farrell's movies. I am happy "The Hangover" did so well and am going to see it on Tuesday.
Posted by:
sold
June 7, 2009
“The Hangover” was amazingly funny. And I don’t know why so many “experts” predicted it will come in third this weekend. Just about everyone I know wanted to see this movie and all the Friday evening showings at my local theater were sold out. “Land of the Lost” was not and it once again shows how over-rated Will Ferrell really is. Just like “Semi-Pro,” there was advertising everywhere, Ferrell made tons of guest appearances and, once again, the movie failed. Give it a rest, Mr. Ferrell!!!!
I was hoping “Star Trek” would stay at least #4 so I could make $300M. Doesn’t seem likely now but still the best movie of the summer (and year) so far. And I guess I’ll jump on the bandwagon – Terminator indeed is a flop and hope McG stops getting the keys to franchises.

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