Friday box-office estimates are in and it doesn’t look good for Universal’s Land of the Lost and I expect word-of-mouth won’t help it over the weekend as trailers that promised a G-rated family affair don’t exactly allude to what is offered in the rather crass PG-13 comedy. However, happier times are being had at Warner Bros. where The Hangover opened in the #1 slot Friday to the tune of $16.5 million followed by Disney/Pixar’s carryover Up at $13.5 million making for a race to the finish.
In all likelihood Up will close the gap and I would assume takeover The Hangover for a second weekend win thanks to matinee showings feeding its weekend tally. However, both films should end around $40-45 million making Warner Bros., Disney and Pixar all happy campers.
Land of the Lost currently sits in third with a $7.2 million take and what will probably end up as a $20 million weekend. Considering the $100+ million budget the film is carrying it looks like the Will Ferrell laffer will be considered the first box-office bust of 2009.
Fox Searchlight’s My Life in Ruins is the weekend’s other semi-wide release in 1,164 theaters and it managed $1.1 million on Friday, which will probably take it to $3.5 million or so for the weekend.
Listed below are the complete Friday estimates and Laremy will be here tomorrow with complete results and recap.
- The Hangover – $16.5 million
- Up – $13.5 million
- Land of the Lost – $7.2 million
- Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian – $4.5 million
- Drag Me To Hell – $2.57 million
- Terminator Salvation – $2.53 million
- Star Trek – $2.52 million
- Angels and Demons – $2.50 million
- My Life in Ruins – $2.0 million
- Dance Flick – $685,000
