This weekend was won pretty handily by The Proposal. The Sandra Bullock/Ryan Reynolds romantic comedy exceeded expectations by pulling in more than $33.5 million. Frankly, I am surprised. I did not think this duo had the power to pull down the top spot, but then again, what do I know? Wait, don't answer that. I had no doubt it would have a decent open, just not this big. I wonder if the return of the big summer blockbuster next weekend urged couples to go out for some light fare without having to battle the geek crowds that will clog the cineplex next weekend? In any case, I have not yet seen it, so I cannot comment on the quality, but it is on my radar and I'll likely check it out within the next couple of weeks.
The big story this week continues to be the strong showings from both Up and The Hangover, finishing third and second, respectively. Both films have received rave reviews and the crowds have responded by going and going again. The former is poised to join Finding Nemo as the only Pixar films to cross the triple century mark. Honestly, I did not think it was going to have this much juice in it. It is an absolutely brilliant film, but it is decidedly non-traditional in the story it tells. I am very happy to see it succeed. As for The Hangover, it is well written and acted, and is uproariously funny, plus it is set to become only the third R-rated comedy to earn more than $200 million, joining Beverly Hills Cop and Wedding Crashers.
In fourth place is the Jack Black/Michael Cera team-up Year One. It is not getting that positive word of mouth it needs to succeed, especially in the wake of a critical thrashing. I suspect that this will not last that long. Funny thing is, I actually like the ancient road film. Perhaps if more people saw it as the movie 10,000 BC wanted to be, it would have done better.
There is really only one big story in the latter half of the chart, and that is the continuing success of Star Trek. From last week to this week, it actually did better! Unbelievable. I never would have thought that a Trek film would be doing this well and receive such great word throughout the mainstream, and that it is actually a good movie on top of it all! It will struggle to reach $300 million, but there is no way anyone cannot be happy with its performance.
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