'The Hangover' Trades Place With 'Up' at Box Office

Movie

While the initial estimates place 'The Hangover' behind Disney/Pixar's 'Up' at box office, the final figures give the top slot to the raunchy comedy from Warner Bros. Pictures.

Jun 9, 2009

AceShowbiz - Contrary to the initial report, "The Hangover" has claimed the top slot at North American box office over the weekend. Estimated to have earned $43.3 million during its three days opening, the Todd Phillips-directed comedy rung up about $1.8 million more as the final figure showed a total tally of nearly $45 million.

With the higher bow, the raunchy comedy swapped places with the earlier announced weekend winner, "Up", and thus got the hold of the top slot, dethroning "Up" to the second. The flip-flop between #1 and #2 movies is a rare happening following the Sunday estimates, but "The Hangover" managed to pull that one through after strong attendance on Sunday, June 7.

Warner Bros. actually had expected that National Basketball Association playoff game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Orlando Magic on Sunday may affect the sales of the R-rated "The Hangover", but Warner head of distribution Dan Fellman said that more people turned up for the movie than anticipated. "The Lakers weren't the only winner (Sunday)," Fellman moreover gushed. "The Sunday boxoffice was sensational and driven by word-of-mouth."

Editors' Pick

The switching places between "The Hangover" and "Up" means that summer of 2009 is yet to produce a repeat #1 box office performances. Nonetheless, "Up" which slipped to the second position with the weekend bow of $44.1 million and the total cume of $175 million is still on track to become Disney/Pixar's latest $200 million blockbuster. Disney spokeswoman, Heidi Trotta, said the studio were happy to finish second.

Despite the trading places of the top two, the remaining movies at the top five still sat on their Sunday positions with a little changes on the ticket sales number. "Land of the Lost" was on the third slot by collecting $18.8 million, while "Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian" retained the fourth place with $14.6 million. The fifth spot belonged to "Star Trek" which added $8.3 million to its total of $222.7 million.

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