By Chris Kavan - 04/11/11 at 12:54 AM CT
Russell Brand can be called the new king of the box office, even if the top film may not be the one he preferred.
The animated film Hop scored its second #1 showing, bringing in $21.7 million after falling 42% from its opening last weekend. The film now boasts a $68.2 million total - in line with the other recent animated film Rango and while it is a solid showing, it's not enough to bolster a sagging box office.
Brand's new film, Arthur, was quite a bit behind in #2. The $12.6 million opening was a quite a bit less than the comparable Get Him to the Greek, which opening with $17.6 million. Remakes are always iffie, and it doesn't help that Brand can't quite be considered a household name, at least not to Americans.
In third place was the action film Hanna. The $12.3 million was just behind Arthur, and considering it opened in 700 fewer theaters than Arthur, it can be considered a hit. While it can't boast Bourne-type numbers, the low-key push and generally positive critical reception was enough to drive in audiences.
Also scoring well with audiences was the indie inspirational film Soul Surfer. In 4th place with $11.1 million, it garnered a rare A+ from CinemaScore's movie poll. Not surprising it drew a largely young, female audience.
On the other end of the spectrum, Your Highness didn't get medieval on anyone's radar, as the comedy, despite having some pedigree names, managed a weak 6th-place $9.5 million. It couldn't match up to Pineapple Express or Year One among similar titles. It just goes to show, big names don't always equal big openings.
Amongst the other holdovers, the horror film Insidious held up the best - falling only 26.5% to wind up in 5th with $9.7 million. The low-budget film has now earned just over $27 million and is a good sign that the people behind Paranormal Activity know how to market a good horror film.
Also holding up well were the two action / sci-fi films Source Code and Limitless. Both managed to drop less than 40% with Source Code coming in 7th with a hair over $9 million while Limiteless was 8th with just under $5.7 million. The $63.4 million total for Limiteless blasts by its $27 million budget while the $28.6 million total for Source Code is also a good sign that it will blow past its $32 million budget.
Two big films opening next week are another film looking to continue the animated hit trend, Rio and a franchise looking to regain its footing: Scream 4. We'll see if anything can help bolster the box office.
Comments
Chris Kavan - wrote on 04/11/11 at 09:09 PM CT
Looks like Russell Brand wasn't so lucky after all - Hanna managed to overtake Arthur after the final numbers were tallied. Hanna is officially in second place with $12.4 million while Arthur lost ground and ended up in 3rd with $12.2 million.
