How to Make Cash: “Up” Once More?

UPDATE: Well, well … looks like moviegoers  wanted to watch a bunch of guys recover from a night of wild partying after all.

I reported yesterday that Pixar’s Up just squeezed by newcomer The Hangover this weekend at the box office by a mere $1 million difference. But after a surge of box office business Sunday night, the uproarious comedy took the lead with $45 million.

Here’s the adjusted top five this weekend:

1.  NEW! The Hangover (Warner Bros.) – $45 mil; 3,269 theaters; $13,238 PT
2. Up (Buena Vista) – $44.2 mil; 3,818 theaters; $11,588 PT; $137.3 mil cume
3. NEW! Land of the Lost (Universal) – $19.5 mil; 3,521 theaters; $5,545 PT
4. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (Fox) – $14.6 mil; 3,807 theaters; $3,848 PT; $127.3 mil cume
5. Star Trek (Paramount)- $8.4 mil; 3,202 theaters; $2,623 PT; $222.8 mil cume (I’m rooting for ST to hit $300 mil by the end of summer, who’s with me?)

As for the other opener this weekend, the totally bizarre yet humorous Land of the Lost obviously couldn’t quite gain the momentum. My feeling is people may be tiring of Will Ferrell and his silly movies. I mean, I’ll keep seeing whatever he does — in fact, I finally saw Step Brothers (yikes). But he might want to take a break and come back in something a little more meaningful to gain cred again.

As for this coming weekend, we’ve got Eddie Murphy getting in touch with his inner little girl in the family comedy Imagine That, and Denzel Washington and John Travolta duking it out in a subway in The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3. Not very exciting, but if I had to guess, I’d say Pelham is the more likely winner only because Washington rarely disappoints, and Murphy has lost his big opening power.