'Up' Rises To Top Of Box Office, Breaking 3-D Records
The Box-Office Top Five
#1 "Up" ($68.2 million)
#2 "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" ($25.5 million)
#3 "Drag Me to Hell" ($16.6 million)
#4 "Terminator: Salvation" ($16.1 million)
#5 "Star Trek" ($12.8 million)
Disney/Pixar saw nothing but clear skies and smooth weather this weekend, as "Up" took the top spot with $68.2 million. This was Pixar's first 3-D feature, and it performed accordingly, with its 3-D screenings earning twice as much as ordinary theaters. In fact, its $35 million 3-D take now holds the record for largest 3-D debut, beating out the record "Monsters vs. Aliens" set in March. While such success really comes as no surprise (every Pixar effort has taken #1 since "Toy Story" debuted in 1995), the wide popularity of "Up" still managed to impress the animation studio by doing brisk ticket sales around the clock.
This weekend was definitely about family-friendly movies, so Sam Raimi's "Drag Me to Hell" couldn't beat "Up" or "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian." It opened at #3 with $16.6 million, a solid start, but not quite a blockbuster. "Drag" is riding a wave of positive reviews and word of mouth, however, which could see it climb the charts in the following weeks, particularly since it is the only horror movie currently in theaters.
Despite fending off Raimi, and doing strongly with families hungry for squeaky-clean fare, "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" suffered a steep drop of 53 percent. While it took in another $25.5 million, and has a total of $105 million, it may not hold out against the dinosaurs, artifacts and Will Ferrell antics of "Land of the Lost."
"Terminator Salvation" suffered an even steeper drop, falling 64 percent in its sophomore weekend to land at #4 with only $16.1 million. It has earned a total of $90.7 million after 11 days in theaters, and may be counted one of the major disappointments of the season.
That's a stark contrast to "Star Trek," which was the riskier offering, but will be counted as one of the summer's big successes. After a month in theaters, it has dropped to #5 with another $12.8 million over the weekend. "Star Trek" is the first movie of 2009 to go above $200 million, with its smallest weekend so far helping it earn a domestic total of $209.5 million.
Upcoming Releases
Universal's Will Ferrell adventure comedy "Land of the Lost" goes wide Friday, as does Warner's raunchy, R-rated comedy "The Hangover."
Check out everything we've got on "Up."
We want to hear from you! Turn on that webcam, sound off on what you saw at the MTV Movie Awards and upload your video to YouRHere.MTV.com.
How many trophies did the vampires win? What was the year's ultimate WTF moment? Check out the winners, fashion and outrageous moments of the 2009 MTV Movie Awards!
For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more -- updated around the clock -- visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.