'Rio' speaks louder than 'Madea,' repeats at No. 1

LOS ANGELES (AP):

Anne Hathaway and Jesse Eisenberg's talking birds have edged out Tyler Perry's sass-talking grandma at the weekend box office.  Hathaway and Eisenberg's animated family adventure Rio took in US$26.8 million to remain the No. 1 movie for the second-straight weekend, according to studio estimates yesterday.

Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family debuted a close second with US$25.8 million, another solid opening for writer-director Perry, who also stars as boisterous, opinionated grandma Madea.

Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson's circus romance Water for Elephants premiered in third-place with US$17.5 million.

"It's nice to have two movies in the top-three," said Bert Livingston, distribution executive for 20th Century Fox, which released both Rio and Water for Elephants.

The weekend's other new wide release, Disney's nature documentary African Cats, opened at No. 6 with US$6.4 million.

Morgan Spurlock's product-placement documentary POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold opened with fair but unremarkable business in limited release.

The latest from the maker of the hit documentary Super Size Me took in US$135,139 in 18 theatres, averaging US$7,508 a cinema. That compares to an US$11,254 average in 2,288 theatres for Madea's Big Happy Family, which had by far the best cinema average among the top-10 movies.

Box-office slide

Hollywood scored its second-straight weekend of rising revenues, good news for studios that have been in a box-office slide since last fall.

Receipts totalled US$138 million, up 39 per cent from the same weekend last year, when How to Train Your Dragon was No. 1 with US$15.4 million, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com.

The upward trend likely will continue next weekend with Fast Five, the latest movie in The Fast and the Furious action franchise, expected to have a huge opening, said Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian.

"I think we're going to have three up weekends in a row, and for us, that's a roll. We've been down for so long," Dergarabedian said. "It really points out how cyclical this business is."

A love-bird story centred on rare parrots, Rio raised its domestic total to US$81.3 million. The movie has taken in US$204.7 million more overseas, for a worldwide haul of US$286 million.

Above industry expectation

Rio held on well to its audience, revenues dropping a scant 32 per cent in the second weekend, while Water for Elephants came in a bit above industry expectations.

Adapted from the best-selling novel, Water for Elephants features Witherspoon as the star of a Depression-era circus, with Pattinson co-starring as a veterinarian who falls for her despite her jealous, tyrannical husband.

"It felt like old-time film-making for me and I think for the audience," Livingston said. "I think it's going to play for a long time. People are going to talk about it."

While Perry's latest 'Madea' flick was unable to knock Rio off its perch, the filmmaker has been a prolific and consistent box-office earner, averaging two movies a year for distributor Lionsgate over the last four years.

"He has the most loyal fan base that I certainly have ever been associated with," said David Spitz, head of distribution for Lionsgate. "They just continue to come out and flock to the cinemas and see his movies, whether it's a drama or comedy. He knows how to speak to his audience."

• Here are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theatres, according to Hollywood.com:

1. Rio, US$26.8 million.

2. Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family, US$25.8 million.

3. Water for Elephants, US$17.5 million.

4. Hop, US$12.5 million.

5. Scream 4, US$7.2 million.

6. African Cats, US$6.4 million.

7. Soul Surfer, US$5.6 million.

8. Insidious, US$5.4 million.

9. Hanna, US$5.3 million.

10. Source Code, US$5.1 million.