"Up" remains aloft atop this weekends box office

The Hangover and Up battled it out over the weekend to see which movie would finish on top this past weekend. The Hangover was the clear winner on Friday, hitting the jackpot with a $16.5 million opening day, but the Pixar adventure rose up past the new comedy on Saturday and Sunday to lead the weekend. Both films did well for their respective genres, finishing less than $1 million apart for the weekend.

Up claimed the #1 spot for a second straight weekend, with an estimated $44.2 million this past weekend, bringing it’s 10-day total to $137.3 million. Its drop was quite small for a movie performing at blockbuster levels, holding nearly as well as Finding Nemo at the 10-day mark and much better than WALL-E and Cars among past Pixar summer releases.

The Hangover performed better than original expectations, taking in an estimated $43.3 million its opening weekend. It was a much stronger opening than the genre-similar Wedding Crashers, Old School, Harold and Kumar and Dude, Where's My Car?

While The Hangover smashed, Land of the Lost crashed. The adventure comedy starring Will Ferrell, based on the 1970s television series of the same name, struggled with $19.5 million to finish #3. The start was lower than the similar Journey to the Center of the Earth from last summer as well as Ferrell's last TV adaptation, Bewitched.

The other new release this past weekend, My Life In Ruins, finished near the bottom of the top 10 at #9 with a modest $3.2 million. Featuring Nia Vardalos, creator of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, the debut was slightly less attended than the start of her last picture, Connie and Carla.

Among the holdovers this past weekend, Night At The Museum: Battle Of The Smithsonian hung in to claim the #4 spot this past weekend with $14.7 million bringing its 3-week total to $127.3 million. Star Trek saw the smallest slide downward, garnering $8.4 million this past weekend to take the #5 spot. It flew past predecessor Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn to become the second-biggest movie of the Star Trek franchise with $222.8 million in 31 days, and has its sights set to overtake the top spot currently held by the first movie, Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

This past weekend’s Top 10:
1.) Up
2.) The Hangover
3.) Land Of The Lost
4.) Night At The Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
5.) Star Trek
6.) Terminator Salvation
7.) Drag Me To Hell
8.) Angels & Demons
9.) My Life In Ruins
10.) Dance Flick

"Lost", "Ruins" and "Hangover" the first matchup at theaters this weekend

Three movies begin this weekend to kick off June at theaters. Quite the variety between them, these films will prove to make this weekend an interesting one at theaters nationwide.

Land Of The Lost (Universal - PG-13) Will Ferrell, Danny R. McBride, Anna Friel, Jorma Taccone. I wish there were a time machine that could restore the little over an hour and a half I lost previewing this one. Somehow director Brad Siberling has managed to mangle this creative and genius 1974 Syd & Marty Croft kids TV show, much like he did with Casper The Friendly Ghost in 1995. Will Ferrell stars as has-been scientist Dr. Rick Marshall, sucked into a time warp and spat back through time. Way back. Now, Marshall has no weapons, few skills and questionable smarts to survive in an alternate universe full of dinosaurs and other malcreatened creatures. Ferrell and McBride do manage to pull out some genuinely funny moments from the sub-par script by Chris Henchy. Lost is almost worth watching, as the set designers have thrown together a Dali-esque world where random artifacts like Amelia Earhart's plane, a crashed flying saucer, and a Bob's Big Boy restaurant rise from the dunes. Matt Laurer (from NBC Today Show fame) makes a cameo, but even Matt deserves a better fate than to watch his career die in this flick. My rating: 2 1/2 stars.

The Hangover (Warner Brothers - R) Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Heather Graham, Justin Bartha, Jeffrey Tambor. From the director of Old School comes a new comedy about a bachelor party gone horribly wrong. Two days before his nuptuals, Doug and his three compadres head to Vegas for a night they'll never forget. But when the three groomsmen wake up the next morning with major hangovers, they can't remember a thing. Their ritzy hotel suite is trashed and the groom is nowhere to be found. With no clue of what happened and little time to spare, these guys must attempt to retrace their bad decisions from the night before in order to figure out where things went wrong and hopefully get Doug back to L.A. in time for his wedding. However, the more they begin to uncover, the more they realize just how much trouble they're really in. My rating: 3 1/2 stars.

My Life In Ruins (Fox Searchlight - PG-13) Nia Vardalos, Richard Dreyfuss, Maria Adanez, Sheila Bernette, Maria Botto, Rachel Dratch, Alexis Georgoulis, Ralph Nossek, Bernice Stegers, Harland Williams. Writer and star of My Big Fat Greek Wedding Nia Vardalos returns with this uplifting comedy. Nia plays Georgia, who has lost her kefi (Greek for "mojo"). Discouraged by lack of direction in her life, she works as a travel guide, leading a grab-bag group of tourists as she tries to show them the beauty of her native Greece while waiting to land her dream job. Opening their eyes to an exotic foreign land, she too begins to see things in new ways—finding her kefi and possibly love in the process. My rating: 4 stars.

With this weeks new releases continue the great April box office numbers?

“Hannah Montana” ruled the roost this past weekend, helping to bring the second best April weekend ever at the box office. Hollywood is hoping for continued success this coming weekend with another Giant Mouse alum, a fast action sequel, and the likes of Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck.

“17 Again” (PG – New Line Cinema/Warner Bros.) – Zak Efron, Matthew Perry, Leslie Mann, Thomas Lennon, Michelle Trachtenberg. Matthew Perry plays Mike O’Donnell – who back in the day was a star on his high school basketball court with a college scout in the stands and a bright future in his grasp. Instead, he chooses his girlfriend Scarlett and the baby he just learned they are expecting. Fast-forward to today – almost 20 years later. Mike's life sucks. His marriage to Scarlett has fallen apart, he didn’t get that big promotion at work, and his kids think he is a loser. He winds up crashing with his high school nerd-turned-techno-geek-billionaire best friend. And then the weirdness begins as Mike is given another chance and transformed back to the age of 17 – and into Zac Efron, where the age vs. experience thing makes for some fun. My rating: 3 out of 5 stars.

“Crank: High Voltage” (R – Lionsgate) – Jason Statham, Amy Smart, Dwight Yoakam, Efren Ramirez, Clifton Collins Jr., Bai Ling. The sequel has arrived! Hitman Chev Chelios launches himself on an electrifying chase through Los Angeles in pursuit of the Chinese mobster who has stolen his nearly indestructible heart. "Crank: High Voltage" is written and directed by Neveldine/Taylor, the duo behind the original "Crank," and the upcoming "Game" starring Gerard Butler. My rating: 3 out of 5 stars.

“State Of Play” (PG-13 – Universal) – Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Robin Wright Penn, Jason Bateman, Jeff Daniels, Helen Mirren. Acclaimed director Kevin Macdonald ("The Last King of Scotland") takes the helm as Oscar winner Russell Crowe leads an all-star cast (including Robin Wright Penn, Jason Bateman and Michigan's own Jeff Daniels) in a blistering thriller about a rising congressman and an investigative journalist embroiled in a case of seemingly unrelated, brutal murders. Crowe plays D.C. reporter Cal McAffrey, whose street smarts lead him to untangle a mystery of murder and collusion among some of the nation's most promising political and corporate figures. My rating: 4 ½ out of 5 stars.

I have a feeling that “State Of Play” will be neck and neck with “17 Again” and “Crank: High Voltage”, with all of them bringing the potential for another great weekend at the box office. As to who I think will be #1? Stop by Friday.