Movie News 8: Up is Number One

I didn’t get the chance to make a prediction in Movie News 7 because I wasn’t sure what new movie was coming out during the week of 5/29/09 – 5/31/09.  I did know that there would be a new number one movie.  I just wasn’t sure which one it would be.

Disney-Pixar movie Up was the new number one movie at the box office.  It made over $68 million.  Uphad the third best opening for a Disney-Pixar movie.  It’s behind Finding Nemo ($70 million) and The Incredibles ($70 million).  Up is just ahead of last summer’s WALL-E, which made $63.1 million.  Up is an animated film.  It had positive reviews from critics.  A box office analyst even declared the movie “the closest thing to box office perfection.”  I haven’t seen the movie yet so I can’t say if it’s the closest thing to perfection.  I’m sure the target audience will love the movie no matter what critics think about it.

Last week’s number one movie Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian fell to number two with over $25 million.  It has made $105.3 million since its debut over 10 days ago.  The movie lost a lot of numbers this past weekend.  I thought it would have been somewhere in the 30 or 40 million dollar mark.  More people must have wanted to see an animated film over this movie.  It still made a lot of money though considering how much it lost.

Another new release Drag Me To Hell came in at number three with over $16 million.  It is a Universal Pictures horror movie.  It had a modest return at the box office.  Thrillers and horror movies usually debut at number one at the box office for at least one week, but this one didn’t make it.  Maybe there wasn’t enough promotion for this movie.  I’ve seen the trailer for it, but it was no match for the animated movie.

Last week’s number two movie Terminator Salvation slipped all the way to number 4 with over $16 million.  The number was close to Drag Me To Hell.  This movie is already showing signs of fatigue and it’s only the second weekend for it.  I don’t think this movie is going to do very well.  It’s showing signs that it’s going to be a tent pole.  For those of you who don’t know what that term means, it means a movie that doesn’t live up to its hype.

Rounding out the top five is Star Trek with over $12 million.  It’s still holding on strong in the top five.  Most likely it will slip out of the top five by next week.

My prediction for next week’s number one spot at the box office is that Up will stay in the number one spot.  If not, Land of the Lost may give the movie a run for its money.  My money is going to be with Up.  I hope I’m right.

Here are the top 10 movies at the box office 

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
6. Angels & Demons – 11.2 million
7. Dance Flick – 4.9 million
8. X-Men Origins: Wolverine – 3.9 million
9. Ghosts of Girlfriends Past – 1.9 million
10. Obsessed – 665,000

 *indicates new movie

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