'Kung Fu Panda 2,' 'The Hangover Part II' Lead Busy Weekend At The Box Office

5/25/2011 2:46 PM ET

(RTTNews) - While "Pirates of the Caribbean" should still draw a sizeable crowd this weekend, "Kung Fu Panda 2" and "The Hangover Part II" are ready to hit theaters and take over the box office, which could make Memorial Day weekend the busiest of the year at the movies. Aimed at completely different demographics, "Kung Fu Panda 2" and "The Hangover Part II" will reach theaters on Thursday and are set up for tremendous worldwide box office runs.

Though animated films were formerly dominated by Pixar/Disney, Paramount/Dreamworks has found a way to tap into the sizeable family demographic in recent years. The original "Kung Fu Panda," released in 2008, was a big hit with younger audiences as it went on to gross $66 million its opening weekend and $215 million domestically. It was a big hit overseas as well, helping it haul in a spectacular $631 million worldwide.
But while the first "Kung Fu Panda" ended up as one of the most impressive earners of 2008, the ceiling for the sequel is considerably higher. More than any demographic, family audiences tend to massively support sequels, as has been seen with the "Shrek" and "Toy Story" franchises as well as much smaller releases like "Alvin and the Chipmunks." Following its own blueprint from the "Shrek" series, Paramount/Dreamworks is releasing "Kung Fu Panda 2" just three years after the original, which should guarantee that family audiences are still very familiar with the characters.
Also contributing to the auspicious outlook of the weekend for "Kung Fu Panda 2" is a general lack of competition for younger family audiences, even though "Pirates" will provide at least a little competition. "Rio" has pretty much owned the younger portion of the family demographic for a little more than a month, but it doesn't have much appeal left as it heads into its seventh weekend in theaters. "Kung Fu Panda 2" should earn somewhere in the neighborhood of $80 to $85 million for the three-day weekend and surpass $100 million when the Monday holiday is included.
Also getting released on Thursday is "The Hangover Part II," the follow-up to the biggest R-rated comedy of all-time. After "The Hangover" grossed nearly $500 million worldwide in 2009 and become somewhat of a phenomenon, the sequel brings back all of the main characters and could end up with the biggest comedy opening of 2011. This time around, the story goes abroad to Thailand, following the recent trend of taking sequels out of the U.S. to attract an even wider international audience.
Even though "The Hangover Part II" has been mostly panned by critics so far, it's very unlikely that will affect weekend numbers. Both "Meet the Fockers" and "Little Fockers" were also heavily criticized but still managed to put up enormous overall box office totals, a trend that will likely continue with "The Hangover." With its tremendous built-in audience, look for "The Hangover Part II" to surpass $50 million for the three-day weekend and to post a five-day opening total closer to $75 or $80 million domestically.
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