Pixar’s Up dropped just 35% during its second weekend in theaters while earning an estimated $44.2 million and nosing out the R-rated comedy The Hangover, which beat all expectations with a potent $43.2 million debut.  Universal’s Land of the Lost, which stars Will Ferrell, was lost in the shuffle as it debuted to a Speed Racer-like $19.5 million, marking it as the summer movie season’s first real disappointment.  The total gross of the top ten films were down 7% from the same weekend in 2008 when Kung Fu Panda scored a $60 million opening weekend.

Weekend Box Office (Studio Estimates): June 5-7, 2009

Rank	Film	Weekend Gross	Screens	Avg./Screen
1	Up	$44,244,000	3,818	$11,588
2	The Hangover	$43,275,000	3,269	$13,238
3	Land of the Lost	$19,524,000	3,521	$5,545
4	Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian	$14,650,000	3,807	$3,848
5	Star Trek	$8,400,000	3,202	$2,623
6	Terminator Salvation	$8,175,000	3,304	$2,474
7	Drag Me to Hell	$7,342,000	2,510	$2,925
8	Angels & Demons	$6,500,000	2,925	$2,222
9	My Life in Ruins	$3,225,000	1,164	$2,771
10	Dance Flick	$2,000,000	1,707	$1,172

Up became the first summer film of 2009 to win the box office two weekends in a row and its second weekend gross was the highest of any film since last summer’s mega-hit The Dark Knight.  Up has already earned $137 million and could end up north of $300 million, which makes it a contender for the highest-grossing film of the year.  Up is likely to finish as Pixar’s top domestic release since Finding Nemo, which earned $339 million.

 

Spurred on by a clever marketing campaign and aided by generally strong reviews (75% positive on Rotten Tomatoes), The Hangover generated the weekend’s highest per-theater average ($13,238), while posting the third highest opening ever for an R-rated comedy.  With an audience split evenly between men and women giving the film an “A” CinemaScore, this Hangover may throb on and on for weeks to come.

 

While The Hangover’s strong debut was great news for Warner Bros., Land of the Lost’s weak opening spells trouble for Universal.  Universal reportedly spent over $100 million on this high concept remake of the Sid and Marty Kroft Saturday morning confection, but the portion of the film's audience aged 35-49, the folks who are the right age to remember the cheesy TV series, gave this new version of Land of the Lost a pitiful “D+” CinemaScore.

 

In its third weekend in theaters, Fox’s Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian dropped just 39.8% and added $14.6 million to its total, while J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek continued its strong showing by dropping just 33.4% in its fifth weekend and bringing its 2009-leading cumulative to $222.8 million.

 

Warner Bros. Terminator Salvation, which dropped 50.3%, and Sam (Spider-Man) Raimi’s horror film Drag Me to Hell, which fell by 53.6%, fared less well.  Meanwhile Fox’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine fell out of the top ten, finishing at #11in its sixth weekend.  It appears that Wolverine will end up with a very respectable domestic gross of $180 million.