Overwhelmingly positive reviews for Disney and Pixar’s Up combined with over 1500 3D engagements translated to an estimated $21.4 million at the box office on Friday, easily besting the mixed-genre competition for a runaway win. Only Pixar’s Wall-E has brought in more dough on its opening day for Disney to the tune of $23.2 million last year.
As of today, the meta-score for Up at online review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes stands at 98%. A perfect score, accomplished by Pixar’s Toy Story and Toy Story 2, would have been achieved had it not been for three negative reviews — two from New York-based critics.
Wall-E went on to secure $63.1 million during its opening weekend, a figure Up hopes to challenge. Brad Bird and Pixar’s The Incredibles should remain the top Disney and Pixar weekend opener with its $70.5 million.
Up’s main new competition, Sam Raimi’s return to horror with also positively reviewed Drag Me to Hell, brought in $6.4 million or good enough for third place. Battling Up in the family demographic was Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian which managed $7.4 million and second place. A small chunk of those ticket sales likely came from Up sellout spillover.
Elsewhere at the box office, J.J. Abrams Star Trek is still giving it all she’s got by becoming the first film this year to cross the $200 million mark. It did so by pulling in $3.6 million Friday.
In case you haven’t caught Up yet at the theater, which I highly recommend doing, check out the new teaser trailer for Toy Story 3 that runs in front of it.
