The Taking of Pelham 123 opened in 3^rd place with $23.4M, less than most industry expectations and less than my $28M prediction, but nonetheless was a decent debut.  Pelham now ranks as Denzel Washington’s third best opening behind American Gangster (2007, $43.5M) and Inside Man (2006, $29M). Many thought that pairing Washington with Travolta would have brought in more box office gold much like Denzel’s team-up with Russell Crowe did in Gangster, but Pelham opened in a more crowded summer field whereas Gangster opened in the quieter month of November. Perhaps it would have fared better had it been a fall release. The Taking of Pelham 123 should gross about $70M-$75M by the time it reaches its final stop.

Eddie Murphy once again tried to lure in family audiences with Nickelodeon’s Imagine That, but fell way short of the mark, grossing only $5.7M for a lonely debut in 6^th place. This was very close to my $7M forecast and also very close to the dismal opening of Eddie’s last box office failure, Meet Dave ($5.3M). Imagine That is the latest in a string of commercial failures for Murphy in the last few years and it is time for him to try something new. As far as family films go, Eddie should only appear in animated movies and save his live action films for grown up audiences. Imagine That will be lucky to make $15M by the end of its run.

Among holdovers, The Hangover had a great second weekend, dropping a slim 26% to gross $33.4M and secure the #1 spot again this weekend. This was very close to my $31.5M projection. The Hangover has reached a staggering $105.4M in just 10 days at the box office and at its current pace it will likely reach $200M by the time the party is over. Pixar’s Up continued to fly high in its third weekend, collecting another $30.5M, right on target with my $30M prediction and bringing its total to $187.2M. To see how the rest of my predictions fared, check out the chart below.