"...Our early store checks and the opening weekend box office performance of Wall-E suggest to us THQ’s videogame title is on track to achieve expectations," said Stern Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia in a Monday investor note.

"Of course, there is still a long way to go," he added.

He expects the THQ-published Wall-E videogame to sell 5.2 million units during the publisher"s fiscal year, ending March 31, 2009. It would represent a 30 percent increase over the sales of THQ"s last Pixar-based game, Ratatouille.

Bhatia forecast the Wall-E game to ship over 1 million units during THQ"s June quarter.

The critical smash Wall-E film is also a big box office performer, generating sales of around $62.5 million in its first three days, according to Disney.

But Bhatia adds, "...We note that strong box office performance has historically been a necessary but not sufficient condition for success."

Stern Agee exhibited how 2003"s Finding Nemo generated box office revenues of $864 million. Sales of THQ"s Nemo game hit 5 million units in its first year.

2006"s Cars had worldwide box office sales of $462 million--about half of Finding Nemo"s--but sold considerably more videogame units in year-one with 8 million.

Last year"s Ratatouille game, a title based on a movie about a mouse with major culinary talents, sold four million units on $621 million in box office sales, according to Stern Agee.

THQ expects that Wall-E, which is about a robot, will translate to a game better than Ratatouille.

Colin Sebastian with Lazard Capital Markets said that Wall-E"s opening weekend "bodes well" for sales of the videogame.

"We also note that early reviews of the Wall-E video game are respectable (~70), but less relevant as the title is targeting a younger and casual audience. Importantly, we expect Wall-E to have "long legs" over the year, with a healthy portion of unit sales likely to come over the Nov/Dec holiday period," he said in an investor note Monday, adding that the sluggish economy is having little effect on game sales.

Both analysts reiterated their "buy" ratings for THQ stock.

Shares in THQ were up 49 cents to $20.24 in late afternoon trading.