Weekend Box Office: 'Rio' Soars Above Murderous 'Scream 4'
by Andy Neuenschwander
The movie, which features the voices of Anne Hathaway and "The Social Network" star Jesse Eisenberg, was expected to take the top spot but exceeded those expectations. The opening helped lift domestic box office grosses 12% over last year's grosses at this time. As "Rio" only cost $90 million to make, it has proved a huge success for Fox Animation Studios, which has only released a handful of films over the last 20 years ("The Simpsons Movie" and "Fantastic Mr. Fox" among them).
The other big contender this weekend was "Scream 4," which continues Wes Craven's slasher satire saga. "Scream 4" earned a healthy $19.2 million, a solid opening but one that was slightly under the studio's (Dimension's) hopes. The movie included familiar faces from the series in Neve Campbell, David Arquette and Courtney Cox, but also included young actresses Hayden Panettiere and Emma Roberts.
The semi-animated "Hop" lost some ground this week, most likely due to families going to see "Rio" instead. "Hop" fell 48% from last week and pulled in $11.1 million. The Easter-themed movie has a healthy cumulative total of over $80 million, and may see a slight bump (or at least less of a drop) this weekend due to the Easter holiday.
Coming in at fourth and fifth were "Soul Surfer" and "Hanna," each film neck-and-neck for the fourth spot. "Soul Surfer" seems to have the edge, having grossed $7.4 million to the $7.3 million for "Hanna."
The only other major new film this weekend other that "Rio" and "Scream 4" was Robert Redford's "The Conspirator," which details the events following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. The movie, starring James McAvoy and Robin Wright, grossed about $4 million, as expected by the studio.
- "Rio" - $40 million
- "Scream 4" - $19.2 million
- "Hop" - $11.1 million
- "Soul Surfer" - $7.4 million
- "Hanna" - $7.3 million