Bullock and Reynolds' "The Proposal" took in 34.1 million U.S. dollars to open as the weekend's No. 1 movie, according to studio estimates Sunday.

A poster of "The Proposal" [imdb.com]

The Disney flick delivered the biggest opening ever for Bullock, nearly double that of her previous best of 17.6 million U.S. dollars for the 2007 paranormal thriller "Premonition."

Bullock stars as a ruthless publishing executive who coerces her put-upon assistant (Reynolds) into a fake marriage so she can avoid deportation back to her native Canada.

"I think the market was ready for a really fun, broad romantic comedy," said Mark Zoradi, president of Disney's motion-picture group.

"The Proposal" took over the top spot from the Warner Bros. bachelor-party comedy "The Hangover," which slipped to second place with 26.9 million dollars. A surprise smash hit, "The Hangover" raised its total to 152.9 million dollars.

Disney's animated adventure "Up" was No. 3 with 21.3 million dollars, lifting its total to 224.1 million dollars and following Paramount's "Star Trek" as the second movie of 2009 to cross the 200 million mark dollars.

Debuting in the fourth spot with 20.2 million dollars was Sony's caveman comedy "Year One," starring Jack Black and Michael Cera as Neanderthals on a road trip after they are banished from their village.

"June is officially comedy month at the theaters. Comedy is really ruling things," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com.

While some of June's comedies performed well, the month generally has been a downer for Hollywood, which tore through the first part of the year with a record box-office pace.

Revenues this weekend were up slightly compared to the same period a year ago, but that followed three straight weekends of declining box-office receipts.

1. "The Proposal," 34.1 million dollars.

2. "The Hangover," 26.9 million dollars.

3. "Up," 21.3 million dollars.

4. "Year One," 20.2 million dollars.

5. "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3," 11.3 million dollars.

6. "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian," 7.3 million dollars.

7. "Star Trek," 4.7 million dollars.

8. "Land of the Lost," 4 million dollars.

9. "Imagine That," 3.1 million dollars.

10. "Terminator Salvation," 3.07 million dollars.

(Xihua News Agency June 22, 2009)