Killer Hangover Can't Quite Take Down Up

Warner Bros.

Who does Zach Galifianakis think he is—Ed Asner?

The box-office year of Kevin James (alternately titled "Movie Stars Not Necessarily Required") continued unabated this weekend, with the Galifianakis, um, graced The Hangover very nearly unseating the Asner-voiced Up with a killer $43.3 million, per studio estimates.

Asner being Asner and not, say, Russell Crowe, remained on top, with his Pixar pic scoring another $44.2 million.

Will Ferrell's Land of the Lost, the weekend's lone new star-vehicle entry, sputtered like one: third-place finish, disastrous $19.5 million take.

Drilling down into the numbers:

• The Hangover's debut was bigger than Wedding Crashers'. It was bigger than Superbad's. It was, in fact, bigger than all but 14 other R-rated movies—ever, per the stats at Box Office Mojo. 

• "There are no stars in this," Exhibitor Relations' Jeff Bock marveled this weekend (at the expense of the egos of Galifianakis, Ed Helms and Bradley Cooper). "This really is out of nowhere. There's no doubt that it stole $10-$15 million from Land of the Lost."

• LOTL, which could've used any extra amount in ticket sales, is not Ferrell's worst comedy debut of the post-Elf era. That distinction goes to last year's Semi-Pro, which still managed to open No. 1.

• If a big-budget movie's mission is to make back a good chunk of its budget in its opening weekend, then LOTL failed dismally, not even covering one-fifth of its reputed $100 million (at least) production cost, or putting up an impressive enough number (à la Watchmen) to distract from the bottom line. 

• Declared the "first bomb of summer" on the strength (or weakness) of its Friday's gross, LOTL is really the first bomb of the year, popcorn-picture division.

• The last—and maybe only—LOTL factoid you need to know: The PG-13-rated LOTL played at 252 more theaters than R-rated The Hangover, and grossed $23.8 million less.

• Up had a remarkable hold, with business dropping only 35 percent from its debut. After two weekends, the animated adventure stands at $137.3 million.

• What did hipster couples do over the weekend? Exactly what you think. They made the pilgrimage to Sam Mendes' Away We Go, which grossed a killer (but terribly thoughtful, natch) $132,260 at only four theaters for the highest Friday-Sunday per-screen average.

• What's the year's top-grossing movie worldwide? Probably not what you think. According to Sony, Tom Hanks' Angels & Demons, which picked up another $6.5 million stateside this weekend, has taken in a 2009-best $400 million-plus worldwide. 

• Star Trek ($8.4 million), the year's top domestic film, upped its league-leading haul to $222.8 million.

• Sure, Nia Vardalos' My Life in Ruins ($3.2 million) opened way bigger than My Big Fat Greek Wedding. But it also opened at way more theaters: 1,164 versus 108. The films' per-screen averages weren't even close: $2,771 for Ruins, $5,531 for Wedding.

• X-Men Origins: Wolverine ($1.9 million) dropped out of the Top 10 after five weekends and a budget-saving, face-saving $174.3 million take.

• Matthew McConaughey's Ghosts of Girlfriends Past ($945,000) departed the Top 10 with a $51.9 million gross that's bigger than some McConaughey movies (We Are Marshall, Two for the Money, etc.), but smaller than any McConaughey romantic comedy.

• A curious thing about this weekend's big weekend: It was actually down when compared to the same weekend last year. Blame Kung-Fu Panda's fat $60.2 million opening.

Here's a complete look at the weekend's top-grossing films based on Friday-Sunday estimates as compiled by Exhibitor Relations:

1. Up, $44.2 million
2. The Hangover, $43.3 million
3. Land of the Lost, $19.5 million
4. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, $14.7 million
5. Star Trek, $8.4 million
6. Terminator Salvation, $8.2 million
7. Drag Me to Hell, $7.3 million
8. Angels & Demons, $6.5 million
9. My Life in Ruins, $3.2 million
10. Dance Flick, $2 million