Up Makes it 10 in a Row for Pixar

Up soared to the top of the box office this weekend with an estimated $68.2 million, making it the 10th hit in a row for Pixar. A story about an old man and his swarm of helium balloons, Up was also Pixar’s first movie in 3-D, which made up about $35 million of the movie’s gross.

In second place was Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, which dropped 52.9 percent of its audience but still reached the $100 million mark with a weekend total of $25.5 million. In third was Drag Me To Hell, Sam Raimi’s much-awaited return to horror. The well-reviewed movie grossed a modest $16.6 million. Fourth place belonged to Terminator Salvation, dropping 62 percent in attendance with a $16.1 million for a $90 million total gross. By comparison, 2003’s Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines had already made an estimated $105 million by its two-week mark. And dropping from third place last week was Star Trek, rounding out the top five with $12.8 million.

In other new releases, two indies fared well: Departures, the Japanese-language Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film averaged a strong $8,078 in nine sites, bringing in $72,700, and the culinary school documentary Pressure Cooker brought in $10,900 at its one site.

Opening next week is Will Ferrell’s latest comedic effort, Land of the Lost (also co-starring Anna Friel and Danny McBride); Sam Mendes changes it up with the lighthearted Away We Go, starring John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph; director Todd Phillips takes us through The Hangover with soon-to-be-stars Zach Galifianakis, Bradley Cooper and Ed Helms; and Nia Vardalos comes back in a Greek way with My Life in Ruins.