"The Hangover," an R-rated comedy about a lost weekend of intense male bonding in Las Vegas, might have ruled the box office so far this month, but it seems that moviegoers were ready for the softer side of funny.
"The Proposal," starring Sandra Bullock as a high-powered publishing executive who, to get her green card, pretends to be engaged to her long-suffering assistant, played by Ryan Reynolds, opened No. 1 at the box office with $34.1 million in ticket sales, beating even the most optimistic projections.
Comedies drove the box office this weekend, with "The Proposal," "The Hangover" and even the prehistoric-themed "Year One" performing well enough to end a three-week mini-slump at the ticket window.
Two exceptions -- Will Ferrell's "Land of the Lost" and Eddie Murphy's "Imagine That" -- continue to be huge disappointments.
The total box office gross for the weekend was $147 million, a 2.85% improvement on the same weekend a year ago. Hollywood needed the boost as the last few weekends fell below the average box office of June 2008, leading some analysts to wonder if the summer tallies, which were strong in May, had a case of June gloom.
The clouds lifted a little this weekend, and with Paramount Pictures' "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" opening Wednesday and Warner Bros.' latest installment in the "Harry Potter" franchise coming in the next few weeks, late June and July should be solid.
"Transformers" already is off to strong start overseas, where it took in $20 million in Britain and Japan.
After a summer of action and raunch, clearly there was room for a film aimed at women, and the performance of Disney's "The Proposal" should again dispel the myth that movies with strong female appeal can't perform as well as those targeting men.
Women made up about 63% of the audience for "The Proposal."
For Bullock, "The Proposal" is her biggest opening as a top liner, almost doubling the 2007 thriller "Premonition." Reynolds' star also will probably be on the rise based on the success of the film.
Industry projections had "The Proposal" opening in the mid-$20-million range. Even Disney was caught off guard by the strength of "The Proposal."
"We never expected to double the best Sandra Bullock movie ever. . . . The word of mouth took over," said Chuck Viane, president of domestic distribution for Walt Disney Studios.
