As you can see, I’m running out of clever Up-themed titles for the box office posts…
Anyhow, this weekend is starting off well. Even though Up ranked at #4 (behind The Proposal, Year One and The Hangover in that order) this Friday it still raked in an estimated $6,100,000! That’s an impressive number for Pixar’s fourth weekend because it’s right on track with what Finding Nemo brought in on the same day of release. It’s of note that Nemo was released on May 30th, 2003.
Let’s recap this past week’s many big accomplishments! Up out grossed Toy Story domestically, became the second highest grossing movie of the year, broke through the $200 million dollar mark and more!
Up is on track for yet another successful and record breaking week! For example, Friday it broke through Ratatouille‘s domestic take, let’s just hope it performs as well internationally as the aforementioned film did! The critically acclaimed movie also has the chance to fly above WALL•E this weekend, but it’s more likely to do so some time during the upcoming week.
I think it’s outstanding how quickly Up is breaking through all of these prestigious and hard to reach marks. Check out this graphic to get a better idea of what I’m talking about.
Update: Early reports are saying that Up ended with $21,336,000 for its fourth weekend placing it at #3! That brings the cumulative box office to an estimated $224,113,000, beating both Ratatouille and WALL•E domestically in the same weekend!! Very impressive!! I’m thinking Up could pass Cars very soon, we’ll see how Transformers and Ice Age affect it this coming week…
Mini Follow-UPdate: Box Office Mojo confirms and breaks down estimates: $6.1 mil Friday, $8.9 mil. Saturday, $6.4 Sunday. Up is #6 in Pixar’s highest grossers right now, but it’s not so far away from #5 (Cars), which in turn is not so far from where #2 (TI) is.
Update 2: Actuals are in and they’re much higher than predicted! Up raked in $23,492,677 bringing it to a total of $226,268,932! That’s $2 million more than early estimates because Sunday was extra prosperous.
The Up team must be VERY proud. Full weekend estimates and/or totals coming very soon!
(via Box Office Mojo)
Last modified: June 20, 2009
It’s too bad Ice Age 3 is going to hurt Up from reaching Nemo’s box office heights.
I would say Transformers will probably take more away than Ice Age. Demographics wise…
Yeah, I agree Transformers will hurt Up at the box office. Still, at least very young audiences will go see Up next week, since it will be the main option for them. But Ice Age 3 will take that competitive edge away from Up. Fortunately, Up’s positive reviews and word-of-mouth will give it legs throughout the remainder of the summer.
UP will hit 300mil. Ratatouille did well despite the arrival of Transformers a week afrter it’s release back in the summer of 2007. Though Ice Age 3 will hit it in it’s opening weekend, UP will have around 245mil by then, and it has a wealth of glowing word of mouth and positive buzz that will carry it even further. Though it will lose 3D screens, it will still be in plenty of theaters and 2D screens through Labor Day. The word of mouth is so strong it’ll carry it to 300mil and change. It won’t quite reach Nemo’s 339mil, but Nemo did not have to face a Transformers, Ice Age, and Potter later on during it’s run. Also, Ice Age 3 will do well, but it won’t top UP’s box office. I didn’t feel that way going into the summer because I thought UP’s premise would be such a tough sell to audiences, but it just goes to show that the best way to win audiences is with a great story. Up has struck an emotional chord with audiences, both young and old.