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Sandra Bullock’s ‘Proposal’ woos date crowds with $34.1M

Movie audiences accepted a proposal from Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds, who scored the summer’s first big romantic comedy hit.

Bullock and Reynolds’ “The Proposal” took in $34.1 million to open as the weekend’s No. 1 movie, according to studio estimates Sunday. The Disney flick delivered the biggest opening ever for Bullock, nearly double that of her previous best of $17.6 million for the 2007 paranormal thriller “Premonition.”

Bullock stars as a ruthless publishing executive who coerces her put-upon assistant (Reynolds) into a fake marriage so she can avoid deportation back to her native Canada.

“The Proposal” took over the top spot from the Warner Bros. bachelor-party comedy “The Hangover,” which slipped to second place with $26.9 million. A surprise smash hit, “The Hangover” raised its total to $152.9 million.

Disney’s animated adventure “Up” was No. 3 with $21.3 million, lifting its total to $224.1 million and following Paramount’s “Star Trek” as the second movie of 2009 to cross the $200 million mark.

Debuting in the fourth spot with $20.2 million was Sony’s caveman comedy “Year One,” starring Jack Black and Michael Cera as Neanderthals on a road trip after they are banished from their village.

Revenues this weekend were up slightly compared to the same period a year ago, but that followed three straight weekends of declining box-office receipts.

`Hangover’ hangs on as No. 1 movie with $33.4M

Hollywood is nursing another big hangover.

The Warner Bros. comedy “The Hangover” hauled in $33.4 million to remain the top box-office draw for a second-straight weekend. The tale of a Vegas bachelor party gone to extremes raised its total to $105.4 million after 10 days in theaters.

The action comedy “Up” from Disney and Pixar Animation came in a close second again with $30.5 million. That lifts its total to $187.2 million.

Debuting at No. 3 with $25 million was Sony’s action remake “The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3.” The subway-hijacking thriller stars Denzel Washington and John Travolta.

Eddie Murphy delivered a dud with the Paramount family comedy “Imagine That,” which opened with a lackluster $5.7 million.

‘Up’ maintains No. 1 box-office altitude with $44M

By DAVID GERMAIN
Two live-action comedies were unable to bring down the animated adventure “Up.” Disney and Pixar Animation’s “Up” reeled in $44.2 million to remain on top of the box office for the second weekend in a row, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The Warner Bros. bachelor-bash comedy “The Hangover” came in a close second with a $43.3 million debut. Will Ferrell’s action comedy for Universal, “Land of the Lost,” had to settle for a distant third with a $19.5 million opening.

“Up” was the first movie of Hollywood’s busy summer season to take the No. 1 spot for two straight weekends. But overall revenues fell for the second weekend in a row, putting the brakes on what has been shaping up as a record revenue year for the movie business.

The top 12 movies took in $164 million, down 6 percent from the same weekend last year, when “Kung Fu Panda” opened on top with $60.2 million, according to box-office figures compiled by Hollywood.com.

For the year, Hollywood has taken in $4.3 billion, up 12.5 percent from 2008 revenues. But studios have been unable to maintain the red-hot pace of the year’s first four months.

“Definitely, things have slowed,” said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. “But there are some potential saviors on the horizon.”

Three big sequels — “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” and “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” — open within three weeks of one another starting June 24.

With $137.3 million in the bank after just 10 days, “Up” is streaking toward the $200 million mark achieved by such previous Pixar hits as “WALL-E,” “Ratatouille,” “Cars” and “Toy Story 2.”

Revenues for most big movies typically drop 50 percent or more in the second weekend, but the audience for “Up” was down only 35 percent from its opening. That puts it in line with “Finding Nemo,” the top-grossing Disney-Pixar animated tale, said Chuck Viane, head of distribution for Disney.

“Up” likely will finish in the top three among Pixar flicks, Viane said. Leading the Pixar slate now are “Finding Nemo” with $339.7 million, “The Incredibles” with $261.4 million and “Monsters, Inc.” with $255.8 million.