Two films on opposite ends of the family-friendly scale duked it out for No. 1 this weekend, but in the end, audiences just couldn’t stay away from those colorful, colorful balloons. Up took the top spot for the second weekend in a row with $44.24 million, edging out newcomer The Hangover. The depraved comedy rode its long-running wave of word-of-mouth buzz to debut way above expectations with $43.27 million, giving it the third-highest opening for an R-rated comedy, behind Sex And The City and American Pie 2. Not surprisingly, a sequel is already in the pipeline.
Less impressive was the opening bow of the Will Ferrell comedy-actioner Land Of The Lost, which thunked into third place with $19.52 million, despite being the only film in the top three to boast any big-name talent. The weekend’s other new release, My Life In Ruins, barely limped into the top 10, landing at No. 9 with $3.26 million.
This weekend’s holdovers fared well overall: Night At The Museum dropped 40 percent in its third frame to No. 4 with $14.65 million, and Star Trek fell only 33 percent to No. 5 with $8.4 million in its fifth week. Terminator Salvation and Drag Me To Hell took slightly steeper dips to No. 6 with $8.18 million and No. 7 with $7.34 million, respectively. Angels And Demons at No. 8 with $6.5 million and Dance Flick at No. 10 with $2 million round things out.
More detailed numbers can be found at boxofficemojo.com.