"Proposal," "Year One" face off at box office

The combined box office from this weekend's new wide releases could well match that from the year-earlier debutantes. But it's the latest frame's strong holdovers that could carry the industry to its first year-over-year weekend uptick in four sessions.

Warners' R-rated "Hangover" dropped a skimpy 27 percent last weekend and is likely to ring up another $20 million or more during this frame. Disney/Pixar's animated "Up" is likely to tally a similar gross its fourth frame.

It will bear watching how Sony's remake of the hijacking thriller "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3" holds up over its sophomore session. But the Denzel Washington/John Travolta drama ought to be able to gross north of $10 million and round out the weekend's top five in solid fashion.

"It's looking to be another hard-fought weekend," Disney distribution chief Chuck Viane said.

Among this session's new limited releases is Sony Pictures Classics' Woody Allen-directed comedy "Whatever Works," starring Larry David and Evan Rachel Wood. It opens in nine theaters in New York and Los Angeles.

On Sunday, Fox will offer sneak previews of the animated sequel "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" in 325 locations.

Since the summer season kicked off May 1, flat business has diminished a once-strong improvement in year-to-date box office grosses to less than 6 percent through last weekend, according to Nielsen EDI. The uptick is a bit more modest than it might otherwise be because 2009 has one fewer weekend as the result of calendar fluctuations.