'Hop' Beats 'Source Code' at US Weekend B-O

APRIL 4, 2011 - Cartoon flick Hop hatched an estimated US$38.1 million on approximately 4,700 screens at 3,579 locations, narrowly edging out Rango to claim the highest-grossing opening weekend of 2011 so far (if the estimate holds). It was also a larger start than G-Force and Beverly Hills Chihuahua but below the two Alvin and the Chipmunks movies among similar titles. Easter comes late this year (April 24), so Hop is well-positioned to play well all month.

Strangely, up until now, Hollywood hasn't really exploited the Easter holiday in movies. Otherwise, Hop seemed derivative of Alvin and the Chipmunks and many others (the chicks looked like a combination of Despicable Me's minions and Madagascar's penguins), but that's a proven formula for attracting families.

In second, Source Code generated an estimated US$15.1 million on close to 3,400 screens at 2,961 locations. That was peanuts compared to the starts for its fellow sci-fi thrillers currently in the cinemas, Limitless and The Adjustment Bureau,

Here are the Top 5 North American B-O studio estimates for April 1 - 3, 2011 weekend, in terms of rank, Movie name (studio), Weekend takings in USD, (Cumulative gross, USD) and week on chart, courtesy of Boxofficemojo. (US$1=RM3)

1. Hop (Universal) $38.1 million ($38.1 million) 1

2. Source Code (Sum.) $15.0 million ($15.0 million) 1

3. Insidious (FD) $13.4 million ($13.4 million) 1

4. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (Fox) $10.2 million ($38.3 million) 2

5. Limitless (Relativity) $9.4 million ($55.6 million) 3