Audiences swoon for 'The Proposal'

By Sarah Sluis

Sandra Bullock had her best opening ever with The Proposal. It's been nearly two months since a romantic comedy debuted in theatres, and audiences turned out in force. The film made $34.1 million, $11,000 per theatre, a sign the showings were packed with laughing audiences.

Even with The Proposal's strong performance, The Hangover held strong, slipping just 16.1% from last weekend, an even smaller drop than last week's 27% dip. It brought in $26.8 million and grabbed the #2 spot. The jackpot film (especially for the studio, since none of the stars receive back-end profits) has coolly raked up $152 million. How the male-bonding film holds when the machine-bonding film Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen releases this Friday is almost irrelevant. I've no doubt that any drop in performance will be a blip in its total box office, given its stellar results so far.

Up held onto its #3 spot, dipping 30% from last week. With a cumulative gross of $224 million, it already has surpassed the box office of last year's Wall-E, which finished 2008 at $223 million. Pixar always surprises: who would have thought the story about an old man, a boy scout, and a balloon-propelled house would beat the environmentally friendly, sci-fi comedy-action film? The studio's films are so original they defy comparison.

Opening at #4, Year One was the second primordial comedy to be received indifferently by audiences. Still, its $20.2 million gross surpassed Land of the Lost's $18.8 opening weekend. The Will Ferrell comedy has dropped 50% each weekend, now holding the #8 spot by bringing in $3.9 million. This summer, the teen comedy A-listers--Jack Black, Michael Cera, and Will Ferrell--just don't seem to be opening movies.

Despite its scathing reviews, Whatever Works ruled the specialty circuit this weekend. It brought in a stunning $31,000 per location, its nine theatres well-chosen for their proximity to Woody Allen fans.

This week, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen jumps the starting gun by opening Wednesday in 4,000 theatres. Interest for the sequel appears to be greater than for the first film. At MovieTickets.com, presales are outpacing all films with the top opening weekends. Transformers is going to open big. As a counterpoint, My Sister's Keeper will keep audiences in need of a good cry happy.