This weekend a no-star comedy, “The Hangover,” did more than twice the business of a big-star vehicle with tons of (cheesy) special effects: “Land of the Lost.”

Hollywood execs will be mulling over this situation, as usual, by floating absurd notions. Maybe they’re telling each other “dinosaur pictures don’t work” or “Bradley Cooper is a much bigger star than we thought.” No. Uh-uh. Here’s the dirty little secret to a hit movie: Come up with a great storyline and promote it endlessly. What are the big hits this summer? “Up,” which has a 98 percent favorability rating on Rottentomatoes.com. “Star Trek,” which is at 95 percent. “The Hangover,” which is at 76 percent.

What movies are under-performing? Look at the approval numbers for “Terminator: Salvation,” “Angels & Demons,” and the “Night at the Museum” sequel. (The tongue-in-cheek “Drag Me to Hell,” which received a lot of unearned praise from critics, is not fooling audiences and hasn’t caught on, but it didn’t cost a lot either.)

Story, in other words, rules. But no, Hollywood will come up with some cockamamie lesson like, “Maybe we should make more cartoons about crotchety 87-year-old men?”