BOX OFFICE BEAT DOWN: The Hangover Hangs in at Number One with $33.4 Million

Weekend Box Office:

1) The Hangover $33.4 million
2) Up $30.5 million
3) The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 $25 million
4) Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian $9.6 million
5) Land of the Lost $9.1 million
6) Imagine That $5.7 million
7) Star Trek $5.6 million
8) Terminator Salvation $4.6 million
9) Angels & Demons $4.2 million
10) Drag Me to Hell $3.8 million

Todd Phillip's surprise hit of the summer The Hangover held its first place position for a second straight week in a row. The R rated comedy, which stars Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and Zack Galifianakis as three friends searching for their groom the day after the bachelor party, scored an impressive $33.4 million, pushing its cumulative take past the hundred million dollar mark. Having earned $105.3 million, The Hangover has surpassed most other second week grosses this year.

Coming in with a strong second place finish was Disney/Pixar's Up, which pulled in another $30.5 million. The film, which follows a 78-year-old balloon salesman named Carl Fredricksen (Ed Asner) as he fulfils his lifelong dream of visiting the wilds of South America, has now earned $187 million, pushing it further up Pixar's all-time best list. It has successfully moved ahead of A Bug's Life to become the number nine most successful Pixar film of all time. Look for it to continue to climb up this chart for the rest of the summer.

This week's new releases didn't fair quite as well. Tony Scott's remake of The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, which stars Denzel Washington and John Travolta going head to head in a hostage negotiation situation, opened at number three, bringing in just $25 million. The biggest loser of the week was Eddie Murphy, whose kid friendly flick Imagine That dropped in at number six, earning a measly $5.7 million.

Quite a few indie films opened on the arthouse circuit this week. Robert Kenner's documentary Food, Inc. had the highest per screen average, scoring an impressive $21,000 on each of its three screens for a total of $63,000. Coming in a close second was Duncan Jones' sci-fi thriller Moon, starring Sam Rockwell. The film took in $18,125 from its eight screens, bringing its cumulative take to $145,000. And in third place was Francis Ford Coppolla's family drama Tetro, which earned $15,650 playing on just two screens for a total take of $31,300.

Next weekend will be a comedy showdown as Jack Black and Michael Cera live through Year One, Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds get engaged in The Proposal, and Larry David grumbles himself through Woody Allen's latest comedy Whatever Works. Who will win is anybody's guess.