'Hangover' hurls up huge numbers with $86.5M debut

  By DAVID GERMAINLOS ANGELES -- Hollywood's hangover is a lot bigger the second time around.

"The Hangover Part II" hauled in $86.5 million in its first weekend, putting Hollywood on course to set a new revenue record for the long Memorial Day weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.

From Friday to Sunday, Hollywood's domestic take totaled about $220 million. Once Monday's receipts are counted, the industry should finish the four-day weekend with around $270 million, easily topping the $254.6 million Memorial Day record set in 2007, said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com.

"The Hangover" sequel did nearly twice the business of the original blockbuster comedy in its $45 million opening weekend two years ago.

In its first four days since opening Thursday, the Warner Bros. sequel has taken in $118.1 million and is on track to finish the long Memorial Day weekend with about $140 million in the bank.

The first "Hangover" did not hit the $100 million mark until its second weekend. The movie went on to gross $277 million domestically.

"The Hangover Part II" reunites stars Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis as they awake in another haze and attempt to piece together the mayhem of their drunken night in Bangkok.

Overseas, the sequel opened in 40 other countries and added $59 million.

DreamWorks Animation's "Kung Fu Panda 2" opened solidly with a $48 million weekend, though it came in well below the $60.2 million debut of the first installment three years ago.

Since opening Thursday, "Kung Fu Panda 2" has pulled in $53.8 million. Distributor Paramount estimates the sequel will reach $68.2 million when the holiday weekend closes.

With voice stars Jack Black and Angelina Jolie returning, "Kung Fu Panda 2" follows the menagerie of martial-arts heroes as they face a villain aiming to conquer ancient China with gunpowder and cannons.

"Kung Fu Panda 2" also took in $57 million in 11 overseas markets, including $18.5 million in China.

After a No. 1 debut the previous weekend, Johnny Depp's "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" slipped to third-place with $39.3 million. Distributor Disney estimates the sequel's domestic revenues will reach $163.6 million by the end of the holiday weekend.

"On Stranger Tides" also has taken in nearly half a billion dollars overseas, with its worldwide total through Monday estimated at $646.5 million.

Director Terrence Malick's sweeping drama "The Tree of Life" drew huge crowds in limited release, debuting with $352,320 in just four theaters in New York City and Los Angeles.

That gave the film a whopping average of $88,080 a theater, compared to a $23,923 average in 3,615 cinemas for "The Hangover Part II."

"The Tree of Life" stars Brad Pitt, Sean Penn and Jessica Chastain in the story of a grown son reflecting on his boyhood with his two brothers, saintly mother and loving but domineering father.

The film, which won the top honor at the Cannes Film Festival the previous weekend, expands to more theaters Friday.

(Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Entertainment »

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United apologizes for reusing 9/11 flight numbers

  By JOAN LOWYWASHINGTON -- United Airlines apologized Wednesday for briefly restarting use of flight numbers of two planes that crashed after being hijacked by terrorists on Sept. 11, 2001.

Spokesman Rahsaan Johnson blamed the reuse of flight numbers 93 and 175 on a "technical error." He said the airline has taken steps to have the numbers removed from its computers.

"We apologize for the error," Johnson said in an interview. "The numbers were inadvertently reinstated."

United flight 93, heading to San Francisco from Newark, N.J., crashed in Shanksville, Pa., killing all 44 people aboard. Flight 175, from Boston to Los Angeles with 65 people aboard, crashed into the south tower of the World Trade Center in New York.

Johnson said he didn't know when the flight numbers went back into use, but it was probably just in the past few days. The airline stopped using the flight numbers shortly after Sept. 11.

A notice posted Tuesday on the airline schedule website Airlineroute.net said United planned to reactive the two flight numbers Saturday, but that Continental Airlines would operate the flights in a code-sharing arrangement. A code share allows one airline to book seats on a flight operated by a second airline. Often the flights operate with the name of the airline that did the booking rather than the airline operating flight.

United and Continental recently merged and become United Continental Holdings Inc., but are in the process of combining their operations. Under the merger agreement, the combined airline will fly under the United name.

The notice on Airlineroute.net said the new flight 93 would fly from Houston to San Jose, Calif., and that flight 175 would operate from Boston to Newark.

"Out of respect for those who lost their lives and those who will always remember our heroes, United Airlines must what should have already been done -- immediately and permanently retire these flight numbers," said Greg Davidowitch, president of the Association of Flight Attendants.

The union is competing with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers to represent flight attendants at the combined United.

(Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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