I'm sure execs at DreamWorks Animation (DWA) know it's tough to be a publicly-traded content company that is more directly tied to the film business than a huge conglomerate is; if they didn't, they know it today. No matter how great management thinks the next project is, moviegoers may simply not send it into the stratosphere in terms of the first-weekend gross.

Such is the case with DreamWorks Animation's latest project, Megamind. At first glance, it seems like an awesome hit. According to estimates over at Box Office Mojo, the cartoon came in first place at domestic theaters over the three-day period, beating out other new films from Time Warner (TWX) and Lions Gate Entertainment (LGF).

I found an interesting article in this morning's New York Post examining the poor performance of NBC Universal's Universal Studios of late. In fact, Jeff Zucker of NBC -- a part of General Electric (NYSE: GE) -- is "so concerned" about the unit's performance that he sent his chief financial officer to Hollywood for a month in order to "get more educated on the studio." Before I give my opinion on how to fix the studio (and you know I have one), let's take a look at how good the year has been.

Will Ferrell's Land of the Lost cost $100 million to make, but it brought in $44 million through last Friday. It is this catastrophic flop that caught the attention of Zucker and has him wanting answers from studio boss Ron Meyer. A source noted, "It's really the first time [Zucker] is asking Ron to explain things," as Meyer basically had free rein to run the studio. Zucker now wants to know Meyer's process for greenlighting movies and determining production and marketing budgets.

If this weekend's box office results say anything, it's that success in the movie business resists predictability. How else do you explain the money that Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) The Hangover is grossing? I haven't seen the film, so I'm sure there's something to it. Nevertheless, it just didn't seem like it would be a big hit. Guess the word of mouth on it has been pretty good.

Hangover, as of early estimates at Boxofficemojo, took in $33 million at domestic theaters over the past three days, good for first place. It beat Disney's (NYSE: DIS) Pixar project Up, which took in about $30 million and came in second. Hangover actually was the number-one movie last weekend as well. So far, it's taken in more than $100 million.

Disney (NYSE: DIS) and Pixar have a great thing going with their new cartoon Up. Last weekend, the movie debuted in the top spot. This past weekend, Disney just might retain that number-one designation. And if it does, I can tell you that this is cool news.

It's very close. As of this writing, early estimates at Boxofficemojo credit Up with a take of $44 million for the past three days at domestic theaters. Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) The Hangover is said to have grossed $43 million. If those numbers by any chance hold, then Up will be in first place and Hangover will come in second.

Mammoths and multiplexes go hand in hand, apparently, especially if said mammoths are of the CGI variety. According to Boxofficemojo, 10,000 B.C., Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) prehistoric epic, pounded the rest of its competition like an angry caveman warrior clubbing a saber-toothed tiger (I didn't see the film, but I assume this happened at some point during the plot). The film is estimated to have taken in over $35 million (final numbers are due later today) at domestic theaters over the weekend. Disney (NYSE: DIS) couldn't even come close to Time Warner -- its family comedy, College Road Trip, right now stands at a gross of $14 million, which was at least good enough for second place. Erstwhile Disney Channel phenomenon Raven-Symone star in the flick, so at least there was a little bit of synergy in that respect -- Disney is nothing if not about synergy, as we all know.

Sony's (NYSE: SNE) Vantage Point came in third, and Time Warner's Semi-Pro, starring the hilarious Will Ferrell, came in fourth. Lions Gate's (NYSE: LGF) The Bank Job, which achieved fifth position, actually did pretty well, considering that its per-theater average of approximately $3500 was much higher than the per-theater average for the two films above it.

I'm a big Will Ferrell fan. He has certainly created some legendary characters, such as in Elf and Old School.

Now, he has actually teamed up with Sequoia Capital to build a web site (the venture firm was not only an investor in Google but also YouTube). It's called Funny or Die.

And you can check out Ferrell's hilarious video on the front page.

The concept is simple: Upload videos and users can rate them as "funny" or "die." Perhaps it may be a way to find the next Ferrell or at least to have some good laughs.

Yes, there are a ton of video sites already on the internet. The problem, though, is getting critical mass in terms of traffic. However, having a high-profile comedian like Will Ferrell on your team is a good way to drive traffic right to your site. In fact, according to a piece in Reuters, there has already been 2 million streams.

To me, it's a killer concept. As for Ferrell, I have a feeling he'll be laughing all the way to the bank.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.