Up flies with $31 Million but Denzel-Travolta Pelham 123 a little slow with $25 mil

By Keith Williams

Denzel-Travolta pull in at No. 3 behind holdover movies

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 6/14/09 — Handed the tightly to the box-office crown initially denied it last week, The Hang-Over saw off newcomers Taking of Pelham 123 and Imagine That with an estimated $33.4 million as well as keeping Pixar/Disney’s Up tethered in second place.

With over $105 million in a mere ten days, The Hangover could turn out to be not just one of the biggest comedies of the year, but, like, ever. To label it a “sleeper” as many pundits have however is to do it a disservice, as a sleeper is something that no-one really expects to do much, opens unremarkably and turns out to have extraordinarily long legs (see There’s Something About Mary, Mamma Mia!, and to a certain degree Titanic). Hang-Over was heavily hyped, generated big buzz, and debuted huge. With a 25.7% decrease in business since last week, expect Hang-Over to Hang-Around for most of the summer, even with the boom of approaching Transformers on the horizon.

Highest of the new releases, the remake of 70′s fondly-remembered thriller Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, then starring Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw, and now featuring Denzel Washington and John Travolta, extorted a so-so $25 million from 3074 subways. Reviews largely found it efficient if unremarkable, whose opening figures suggested audiences agreed too. Its director Tony Scott is renowned for visual razzle-dazzle, split-second editing, and impressive action set-pieces, but a cloud of ennui seems to hover over this latest release of his, as if no-one involved could be bothered to do anything special.

Lowest of the new releases, limping into the top ten at no 6, was Eddie Murphy’s annual summer disaster, Imagine That, raising an eye-watering $5.7 million at 3008 bomb sites. As if the grosses for last year’s entry, Meet Dave, weren’t bad enough, this very dry-sounding comedy stands a good chance of making even them shine in comparison if inflation is taken into consideration. Perhaps it should retained its original title of NowhereLand, as that’s where it certainly ended up. A tragedy really, as Eddie Murphy used to be back in the 80′s one of the most original and funniest personalities that movies of that period gave us. Now he seems trapped in some nightmarish time loop, not recognising the fact he needs to re-invent himself to be taken seriously as a comedian again. Jim Carrey’s been there, Jack Black’s nearly there, and Mike Myers left long ago. If ever there was a film season in Hell for Comedians-Gone-Cold, expect Imagine That to be screening soon, in triple-bills with Meet Dave and Pluto Nash.

Up in its third weekend descended by 30.9%, roping in an impressive $30.5 million for a grand slam of $187.2 million to date. Night at the Museum 2 dropped 34.4% for $9.6 million ($143.4 million so far), Land of the Lost plunged the most in the nation’s top ten by 51.4% for a prehistoric $9.1 million, Star Trek by 32.6% for $5.6 million and $232 million, Terminator Salvation by 43.1% for $4.6 million and $113 million total. Down one place to 9, Angels & Demons collected $4.2 million on a 35.9% fall in grace, leaving Drag Me To Hell about to go there with a less-than-angelic drop of 45.1% and $3.8 million worth of souls.

Weekend Estimates courtesy boxofficemojo.com