Pixar’s UP Soars above Competition With 68 Million

The fact that Pixar would take number one this weekend with its tenth feature release, “Up”, was never in question.  The Disney-based studio has built a reputation for quality and success that has stood unchallenged for over a decade.  The only real question for “Up”, the first of Pixar’s toons to be released in 3D, was how high it would soar.  The film’s cranky old man protagonist was a potential stumbling block as was the continued presence of the similarly family-geared “Night at the Museum” sequel.  So how did “Up” fare?  With $68 million over its first three days, the animated adventure bested Pixar’s $63 million take for “Wall-E” in 2008 and came within spitting distance of the $70 million starts from the studio’s top two earners – 2004’s “The Incredibles” and 2003’s “Finding Nemo”.