Our favorite rom-com star, Sandra Bullock, was back in her element this weekend, helping The Proposal take the top slot, knocking back stiff competition from The Hangover , UP and The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 . The other newbie of the week, Year One, premiered in a mediocre fourth place — looks like nobody is buying the prehistoric comedy trend. Even if it does involve Michael Cera in a loincloth.
Considering 71 percent of the movie-going audience considers themselves part of a “couple,” it’s hardly a surprise that The Proposal brought in $34.1M in it’s first weekend; it’s the first star-driven romantic comedy to come out since May’s utterly forgettable Ghosts of Girlfriend’s Past . The film gives Sandra Bullock her first box office topper since 1999’s Forces of Nature . Is this proof that hope floats? Or that audiences enjoy seeing Sandy paired with a younger dude?
Though The Hangover lost the top spot in week three, sales-wise it fell a minuscule 18 percent to bring in $26.9M ($152.9M overall). The sleeper hit has already outsold recent R-rated comedies like Sex and the City, Knocked Up and Superbad , with some predicting it to slide in as the third highest grossing R-rated movie ever.
After this week’s top two, All About Steve (starring Sandra Bullock and Bradley Cooper) is looking more and more like a hit waiting to happen.
UP stuck right on The Hangover’s heels for the third week in a row, bringing in $21.3M ($224.1M overall) with a small 31 percent drop. Pixar’s most recent baby has already floated past WALL-E and is performing just 2 percent behind the studio’s number one film, Finding Nemo . Some are worried that the July 1st opening of the Ice Age sequel will hurt its numbers, but we have faith in Ed Asner.
Things were rough for Year One in it’s opening weekend, selling just $20.2M — a slight improvement over this summer’s other prehistoric flop Land of the Lost. With Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen dropping on Tuesday, we can expect to see this one take a significant hit, as most of it’s target audience is drawn away. Suddenly that Arrested Development movie doesn’t sound like such a bad idea, right Cera?
Rounding out the top five this week was the remake of The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 , which despite taking a 52 perecent tumble, is still on par for the recent grosses of stars Denzel Washington and John Travolta. Studios, take note, remaking a classic, does not a classic make!