Comedy wins again. With a four-day total of $70 million, Ben Stiller’s comedy Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian soundly beat Terminator Salvation’s $53.8 million haul at the box office this Memorial Day weekend. Makes sense. NATM is the first family comedy to come out in awhile, and in these troubled times, moviegoers simply want to laugh at museum figures come to life, instead of watching machines squash humans in a bleak post-apocaplytic setting.
Here’s the top five for the four-day Memorial Day weekend:
1. NEW! Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (Fox) – $70 mil; $17,090 per theater
2. NEW! Terminator Salvation (Warner Bros.) – $53.8 mil; $15,248 PT; $67.1 mil cume (opened Thursday)
3. Star Trek (Paramount) – $29.4 mil; $7,254 PT; $191 cume (wow, that’s some cume!)
4. Angels & Demons (Sony) – $27.7 mil; $7,854 PT; $87.8 cume
5. NEW! Dance Flick (Paramount) – $13.1 mil; $5,347 PT
Of course, Terminator Salvation also had a lot to live up to (and bad press to beat down) — what with jump starting a franchise many thought was DONE after Terminator: Rise of the Machines. And many of the critics were not on board this time around. I enjoyed the film for what it was, a decent action thriller, and thought if anyone could have played John Connor, Christian Bale was the best choice. But I also laughed my ass off at NATM, even though it fell into some sequel pitfalls. All in all, it was a good week for me – I’m easy.
Now, this coming weekend is a no brainer. Pixar’s Up should easily take the top spot, but it may just squeak by NATM, which should contine its momentum. Then there’s Sam Raimi’s return to horror with Drag Me to Hell. It is apparently, from what I heard, right along the lines of his ultra-hip horror series Evil Dead — so if you’re into that kind of thing, you should get excited. I’m not, but I will faithfully review it for my readers. Here’s the trailer: