The animated flick Rio had a terrific opening weekend, netting $40 million, well ahead of the competition and grabbing the highest 2011 opening thus far. Scream 4, grabbing $19 million, was quite a disappointment as Scream 2 opened to $32.9m in 1999 and Scream 3 got $34.7m in its opening weekend 11 years ago.
Hop continued its strong run, finishing in third with $11 million. It has now earned $82.6 million in three weeks. Soul Surfer showed consistency, with a second straight 4th place finish. It earned $7.4 million its second weekend, totaling a hair under $20 million.
The Conspirator opened nicely in 700 theaters, to the tune of $3.9 million. Meanwhile, niche-flick Atlas Shrugged: Part 1 brought in the Objectivist crowd in 300 theaters. It gated a noteworthy $1.6 million for a nice $5,590 per theater average.
Next week sees the arrival of the highly-anticipated Water for Elephants which should win easily (although it will have to tangle with Rio‘s second weekend). Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family should earn a fair amount, as Perry always seems to draw a crowd. Also, the documentary African Cats gets 1,200 theaters and should earn a few million. Some of the large markets will get a nice choice of limited releases: POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold opens this weekend, shortly after buying the naming rights to my hometown of Altoona, Pennsylvania.
Foreign films Stake Land Dum Maaro Dum, Incendies, Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen, The Warring States, and Zokkomon will all get limited releases this Easter Weekend.
Check out the top 10 (movie – weekend; total)
1. Rio – $40,000,000 (debut)
2. Scream 4 – $19,279,000 (debut)
3. Hop – $11,167,000; $82,609,000
4. Soul Surfer – $7,400,000; $19,997,000
5. Hanna – $7,327,000; $23,327,000
6. Arthur – $6,940,000; $22,348,000
7. Insidious – $6,857,000; $35,983,000
8. Source Code – $6,300,000; $36,990,000
9. The Conspirator – $3,924,000 (debut)
10. Your Highness – $3,924,000; $15,952,000
Which did you see? What will you look into next weekend?