Top Shelf at the Box Office: 6/15/09

Turns out the battle between The Hangover and Pixar's Up wasn't just a one-rounder. The two evenly matched but completely different flicks decided to extend this fight into the next round. Unfortunately for Pixar, the result remained the same as the the unexpected powerhouse comedy reigned supreme yet again.

1. The Hangover- $33.4M/$105M

Nobody could've seen it coming just how huge of a hit this film would be. Thanks to a remarkable ad campaign that highlighted just a few of the eye catching moments without giving away the joke, The Hangover has far exceeded expectations and typical returns for a comedy of this sort. In fact it only slipped in estimated 26% from last week, best of the top 10. Personally I'm just glad it's doing well enough that maybe people will stop talking about Wedding Crashers and Knocked Up as the best comedies of the last few years.

2. Up- $30.5M/$187M

Pixar's Up is well on it's way to taking the top spot as highest grossing film, rapidly gaining on both Monsters vs. Aliens and Star Trek. By comparison to last year's hit, Wall-E, Up is actually performing better by the tune of some $20M. Not too shabby.

3. The Taking of Pelham 123- $25M

Yet another mediocre Denzel Washington film doing middling business at the box office. I'm sure this is probably about what the studio expected, but that alone tells me that there aren't a ton of expectations for Denzel films anymore. This opening is about what all of his films make, which is average. Pelham's advertising was bland and uninspiring. The only real reason to see this thing is if you want to see Washington vs. Travolta, otherwise there were better options elsewhere.

4. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian- $9.6M/$143M

It won't go away. In fact it's pulling ahead of more recent films, a testament to this film's staying power and continued popularity.

5. Land of the Lost- $9.15M/$35M

On the other hand, this turkey is fading fast. It dropped 51% from last week and fell behind Museum 2, which has been out seemingly forever at this point.

6. Imagine That- $5.7M

I got somethin' you can imagine: an Eddie Murphy family film that's actually good. Both critically and commercially. What was the last one? Meet Dave? Crashed 'n burned. This one, which had an awful ad campaign featuring imaginary faeries from CNBC or something, was dying on the vine the instant it was announced. At this point, Murphy can't buy a hit film and I'm starting to wonder how much longer studios will invest in him.

7. Star Trek- $5.6M/$232M

8. Terminator Salvation- $4.7M/$114M

Continues to kick much robot ass overseas, where it was the numero uno film for a second straight week. That alone might be reason enough to continue the franchise.

9. Angels & Demons- $4.2M/$123M

10. Drag Me to Hell- $3.86M/$35.1M

Also: One of the most anticipated films for me is Moon, a sci-fi film starring Sam Rockwell and directed by Duncan Jones(David Bowie's son). At only 8 sites, it clocked in at a hefty $145,000. Moon will be expanding to more theaters over the course of the next month and I can hardly wait.

Francis Ford Coppola's new film, Tetro, starring Vincent Gallo as part of a family of contentious artists, opened well at only 2 sites for a total of $38,000. Tetro will be expanding to more markets in the coming weeks.