User blog:Ceauntay/Box Office Welcomes Another ‘Hangover’

“The Hangover Part II” has sold about $137.4 million in tickets since opening in North American theaters on Thursday, according to results compiled by Hollywood.com. That performance — the biggest debut for a live-action comedy and the strongest opening for an R-rated comedy — helped drive robust business for the Memorial Day weekend. Audiences for the top 12 films over the four-day weekend spent about $272.8 million on tickets, up 48 percent from the same period last year. (The figures were not adjusted for inflation or to account for 3-D and Imax ticket prices.) “The Hangover Part II” — a sequel from Warner Brothers to the 2009 hit starring Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis (all of whom returned for more trouble) — ranks behind Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” as the year’s second-biggest opening of 2011. “Kung Fu Panda 2” (Paramount) has taken in about $68 million since opening on Thursday, and it finished second for the weekend. “On Stranger Tides” fell 56 percent in its second week of release with $50.4 million in sales over the holiday weekend for third place; its domestic total is $164 million.

“True Jackson, VP: The Movie” earned $49.7 million. “Sonic X: The Final Stand” rounds the top five to $22 million, for a total of $268.4 million in its third weekend.

Despite the strong weekend traffic at theaters, overall domestic attendance is down 9.7 percent from this point in 2010.