Derivative? Check. Well reviewed? Not really. Kicking crazy ass at the domestic box office? Oh, hell yes. I am, of course, talking about Warner Brothers’ The Hangover Part II, the film that has already broken the one day record for a live-action comedy with its stunning $31.7 million Thursday debut. That was on top of its $10.4 million midnight take – easily the highest of 2011. Day two for the Wolf Pack brought in an additional $30 million from 3,615 locations, giving the film a current estimate of $61.6 million in total. If projections hold, The Hangover II could end up with a five day total of over $135 million and a spot in the top five of all-time (four-day) Memorial Day Weekend debuts. On the strength of this sequel, Memorial Day 2011 is going to crush the total box office take of 2010 and could even end up topping the 2007 holiday – the most profitable on record. Thursday also saw the debut of Kung Fu Panda 2, which earned an estimated $18.98 million between Thursday and Friday and is now projected to earn $55 million over the four-day Memorial Day weekend. That would be a bit below the $60.2 million the original KFP took in over its first three days back in June of 2008, but projections are not always accurate. We’ll have updates and analysis as the holiday weekend progresses.
| Title | Friday | Total | |
| 1 | Hangover II | $30,010,000 | $61.6 |
| 2 | Kung Fu Panda 2 | $13,180,000 | $19 |
| 3 | Pirates of the Caribbean 4 | $10,852,000 | $124.4 |
| 4 | Bridesmaids | $4,644,000 | $73.2 |
| 5 | Thor | $2,410,000 | $152.7 |
