Eat that Will Ferrell.
The ComingSoon.net Box Office Report has been updated with studio estimates for the weekend. Click here for the full box office estimates of the top 12 films and then check back on Monday for the final figures based on actual box office.
Last week, it seemed like it would be a close race between two new comedies, Todd Phillips' R-Rated The Hangover (Warner Bros.) and Will Ferrell's take on the Saturday morning show Land of the Lost (Universal), but that ended up being a non-event.
Instead, this weekend became about whether Phillips' breakout comedy hit could in fact dethrone last week's #1 movie, the Pixar Animation/Disney animated hit Up, which dropped just 35% in its second weekend and just squeaked out a victory with roughly $44.2 million in its second weekend, bringing its total gross to $137.3 million in ten days.
With great buzz among a wide variety of audiences going into the weekend, The Hangover (Warner Bros.) kicked-off the weekend grossing $16.5 million on Friday in 3,269 theaters, then dropped a little on Saturday to end the weekend with an estimated $43.3 million, averaging over $13 thousand per venue. It is the third-biggest opening for an R-rated comedy, surpassing the opening weekend of past summer R-rated comedy hits There's Something About Mary, Superbad, Knocked Up and Wedding Crashers.
Meanwhile, the attempt to bring Land of the Lost (Universal) to the screen was marred by overwhelmingly negative reviews and a confused marketing campaign that made it look like a movie suitable for kids despite its PG-13 rating. That and the fact that many of Will Ferrell's older fans opted for The Hangover led to a disappointing opening weekend of $19.5 million in 300 more theaters than the competing comedy, averaging $5.5 thousand per site.