The way The Hangover was going, Sandra Bullock would need the biggest opening of her career—by a lot—in order to end the Vegas comedy's two-week reign of debauchery atop the box office.
Done.
The Bullock romantic comedy, The Proposal, costarring Ryan Reynolds, scored an estimated $34.1 million from Friday to Sunday, beating The Hangover ($26.9 million) and another holdover not soon to be confused for a pushover: Up ($21.3 million).
The new Jack Black-Michael Cera comedy Year One took the bite out of bad buzz with a respectable $20.2 million debut.
Drilling down into the numbers:
• Remember the debate over whether Julia Roberts was too old to open a movie? Maybe she isn't old enough. At almost 45, Bullock is Roberts' senior by more than three years.
• Prior to The Proposal, the most a Bullock movie had ever made in its opening weekend was $17.6 million, for last year's Premonition. Her biggest romantic-comedy debut was Two Weeks' Notice's $14.3 million.
• The Proposal benefited from good timing: Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, the summer's other romantic comedy, was done; the new Transformers movie, opening Wednesday, was not yet crushing the competition. "Obviously, we knew this would be the perfect location for us," Disney distribution president Chuck Viane said today.
• Disney, by the way, is not expecting The Proposal to get completely crushed by Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Said Viane: "Not everybody will go to see Transformers."
• Per advance-ticket sellers, many, many, many people will go see Transformers. Per a report in the New York Times, a whole lot of Brits showed up for the sequel's U.K. opening night on Friday, with ticket sales up 50 percent over the first movie's debut there.
• The Hangover pushed its overall haul to $152.9 million and pushed its way closer to the ranks of the Top 20 R-rated grossers of all time.
• Up upped its take to $224.1 million and moved past WALL-E on the list of Disney/Pixar hits. Next target: Cars.
• Star Trek ($4.7 million) passed the $235 million mark on Friday and, by Box Office Mojo's calculations, became the top-grossing Trek movie of all time even after adjusting for inflation. As of today, the movie's overall domestic gross stood at an estimated $239.4 million.
• The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 ($11.3 million) dropped three places in the box-office standings and 52 percent in ticket sales.
• Bet the makers of Terminator: Salvation ($3.1 million) know how to say "thank you" in several langauges. Domestically, the $200 million behemoth is an underperformer, with a $119.5 million take after five weekends. Overseas, it's a chart-topper that's grossed about $165.5 million.
• Angels & Demons ($2.8 million) wrapped its run in the Top 10 after five weekends and, considering its $150 million budget and its Da Vinci Code genes, a soft $128.1 million take. But even more than Terminator: Salvation, the Tom Hanks franchise was a monster overseas, grossing $444.6 million worldwide to date, per Box Office Mojo.
• Drag Me to Hell ($1.9 million) is out of the Top 10 after three weekends and a $39.2 million run. On the downside, the Sam Raimi flick was not all that big overseas. On the upside, it didn't have to be—it only cost a reputed $30 million to make.
• In limited release, Woody Allen's Whatever Works dominated, with $280,720 at only nine theaters.
Here's a complete look at the weekend's top-grossing films based on Friday-Sunday estimates as compiled by Exhibitor Relations:
- The Proposal, $34.1 million
- The Hangover, $26.9 million
- Up, $21.3 million
- Year One, $20.2 million
- The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, $11.3 million
- Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, $7.3 million
- Star Trek, $4.7 million
- Land of the Lost, $4 million
- Imagine That, $3.1 million
- Terminator Salvation, $3.1 million
(Originally published June 21, 2009 at 9:43 a.m. PT)