'Up' flies high at weekend box office. Pixar toon nabs an estimated $68.2 million
Disney/Pixar's "Up" flew high over rivals to dominate the domestic weekend box office with an estimated $68.2 million at 3,766 playdates.
The "Up" launch marked the third biggest Pixar opening weekend after "The Incredibles" with $70.5 million and "Finding Nemo" with $70.3 million. The Mouse House reported 31% of the audience consisted of moppets, aged 2 to 11 -- allaying concerns that a pic starring a grouchy old man would present difficulties attracting kids.
"Up," buoyed by a massive promo push and laudatory notices, posted a stellar $18,110 per location average. It scored a 98% rating on the Rotten Tomatoes review site and an A plus on Cinemascore.
"Up" also received an extra lift at the box office from a record 1,530 3-D venues. Disney domestic distribution topper Chuck Viane said the 3D sites generated an average for "Up" -- Pixar's first 3D pic -- that was 2.2 times that of conventional locations.
"If there was any issue, it was that there were not enough 3D seats but that usually meant that people then went to a regular screen," Viane noted.
The frame's only other wide opener, Universal's horror entry "Drag Me to Hell," scared up $16.6 million at 2,508 as a counterprogrammer to up and Fox's second frame of "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonsian." That was below outside forecasts but in line with studio expectations, according to U distribution chief Nikki Rocco, who asserted that "Drag Me to Hell" should benefit in coming weeks from its positive reviews.
"Drag Me," marking director Sam Raimi's return to his horror roots, drew mostly from the under-25 demo and skewed slightly female.
The frame saw family films dominate as "Battle of the Smithsonian" sequel showed decent holding power, declining 52% for the three days to $25.5 million at 4,101 for a 10-day cume of $105.3 million. Fox senior VP Chris Aronson said the "Smithsonian" hold against competition from "Up" indicates that the marketplace expanded to accomodate both pics.
The sequel's already grossed 42% of the final $251 million domestic total for the original "Night at the Museum."
Warner Bros.' second frame of "Terminator Salvation" found traction elusive as it fell 62% to $16.1 million at 3,602. The fourth version of the franchise has cumed $90.7 million domestically in 11 days.
"T4" may have seen some of its potential audience opt for Paramount's "Star Trek," which remained a solid performer in its fourth frame with $12.8 million at 3,507. "Trek" has cumed $209.5 million, becoming the year's first title to cross the double century mark.
Sony's third weekend of "Angels and Demons" declined 48% to $11.2 million at 3,464. "Angels," which is performing far better outside the United States, has taken in $104.8 million in 17 days.
"Smithsonian" and "Angels" became the eighth and ninth pics to crack the $100 million mark at the domestic box office this weekend.
On the specialty front, Regent Releasing's launch of "Departures" scored $72,701 at nine screens, three months after winning the foreign language Oscar.
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98% Up 
44% Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian 
94% Drag Me To Hell 
34% Terminator Salvation 
95% Star Trek 
