1. Up - $44.2 million ($137.3 million)

2. The Hangover - $43.2 million ($43.2 million)

3. Land of the Lost - $19.5 million ($19.5 million)

4. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian - $14.6 million ($127.3 million)

5. Star Trek - $8.4 million ($222.8 million)

6. Terminator Salvation - $8.1 million ($105 million)

7. Drag Me to Hell - $7.3 million ($28.5 million)

8. Angels and Demons - $6.5 million ($116 million)

9. My Life in Ruins - $3.2 million ($3.2 million)

10. Dance Flick - $2 million ($22.6 million)

 

Up stuck around at #1 for the second week in a row, making $44.2 million for a two week total of $137.3 million. Meanwhile, the hilarious Vegas comedy known as The Hangover debuted #2 at the box office with $43.7 million. Despite shiteous reviews, Land of the Lost debuted #3 at the box office with $19.5 million, while Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian fell two spots to #4 at the box office with $14.6 million, raising its three week total to $127.3 million. Star Trek stayed in the #5 spot this week as well, earning $8.4 million, and raising its five week total to $222.8 million.

 

The Guardian recently spoke with Mickey Rourke about playing the villain in Iron Man 2. Here is an excerpt.

 

In Iron Man 2, in which he plays Tony Stark's tattooed Russian nemesis, Ivan, is possibly the biggest movie yet in Rourke's new career. For Rourke this means going to Russia, drinking vodka and visiting jails to study prison tattoos and find his character's tics. "I decided to do half my role in Russian," he beams, "and that's hard because the Russian language doesn't roll off the English-speaking tongue very easily. I spent three hours a day with a teacher, and after two weeks I know four sentences! Let me see, it's sort of like... 'Yezzamee menya... Yezzamee manya obott... Er, nemaboootty menya...'"

 

This goes on for quite some time. "It means," he says, finally, "If someone kills me, don't wake me up, because I'd rather be dead than live in your world."

 

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GN recently tracked down Guillermo del Toro to get some inside info about the status of The Hobbit. The film's future now seems to be in question, as the estate of J.R.R. Tolkien has filed a lawsuit against New Line, claiming they have not been paid the full 7.5% of the profits they are owed from the Lord of the Rings films and merchandise. They are also seeking to terminate any rights New Line has to make films based on any other Tolkien book, which would include The Hobbit. The trial is scheduled for this fall.

 

"Believe it or not, I try not to follow that because it would make my nights a little too disturbing. So, you know, I'm gonna keep working every day designing and writing with Peter [Jackson] and Fran [Walsh] and Phillipa [Boyens] until somebody tells me the lawsuit is going to affect that, you know? Other than that I try not to be a part of it."  

 

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Chris Pine (Star Trek) has signed on to star in Unstoppable with Denzel Washington. Tony Scott is set to direct the film, which is scheduled for production in the fall. Washington will play an experienced train engineer who has to jump on board a locomotive with a young conductor to chase down a runaway train carrying a cargo of toxic chemicals.