'Hop' Tops US Weekend B-O Again

APRIL 11, 2011 - Two Russell Brand movies led the North American weekend box-office. His animated Hop topped another ho-hum weekend as the four new nationwide releases were modest at best. The Easter Bunny comedy fell 42 percent to an estimated US$21.7 million. With a $68.2 million tally in 10 days, it continued to track closely to Rango at the same point. That is to say, it has been solid but not exceptional.

Arthur, starring Brand, opened in second with an estimated US$12.6 million on about 3,700 screens at 3,276 locations, but the less-hyped Hanna and Soul Surfer were relatively more impressive. Arthur marked Brand's first top-billed role, and its rampant marketing campaign was all about Brand's random antics. The remake will ultimately sell a small fraction of the tickets that the original did: the first Arthur was the fourth highest-grossing movie from 1981 with US$95.5 million or the equivalent of over US$260 million adjusted for ticket price inflation.

Here are the Top 5 North American B-O studio estimates for April 8 - 10, 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) $21.7 million ($68.2 million) 2

2. Arthur (Warner Bros.) $12.6 million ($12.6 million) 1

3. Hanna (Focus Features) $12.3 million ($12.3 million) 1

4. Soul Surfer (TriStar) $11.1 million ($11.1 million) 1

5. Insidious (FilmDistrict) $9.7 million ($27.1 million) 2