You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out The Proposal was going to top the box office this weekend, which it did with $34.1 million. 1) Comedies are ruling the box office these days; 2) movie-goers were primed for a funny romantic comedy; and 3) it stars Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds, who got it going on in the chemistry department.
Here’s the top five at the box office this weekend:
1. NEW! The Proposal (Buena Vista) – $34.1 mil; 3,056 theaters; $11,163 PT
2. The Hangover (Warner Bros.) $26.8 mil; 3,545 theaters; $7,575 PT; $152.9 mil cume
3. Up (Buena Vista) – $21.3 mil; 3,832 theaters; $5,568 PT; $224.1mil cume
4. NEW! Year One (Sony) – $20.2 mil; 3,022 theaters; $6,684 PT
5. The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (Sony) – $11.3 mil; 3,077 theaters; $3,672 PT; $43.3 mil cume
Plus, it also helped that Sandy and Ryan were all OVER the media promoting the hell out of The Proposal. The other opening comedy this weekend, Year One, didn’t fare quite as well, which could be blamed on bad timing. With The Hangover and Land of the Lost already out, people were probably not as inclined to see another balls-out comedy. Year One will probably gain some momentum when it comes out on DVD.
This coming weekend is a no-brainer. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen should easily take the money – but the real question is how much will it make? I’m guessing between $60-$70 million, and you can hold me to that next week. The other opener is the teary cancer drama My Sister’s Keeper, directed by The Notebook‘s Nick Cassavetes and starring Cameron Diaz and Abigail Breslin.
Oh yeah, a double hankie for sure.