User blog:Ceauntay/Weekend Box Office: 'Rio' Helps Break U.S. Box Office Slump With $40 Million Opening

Warner Bros.' "Scooby-Doo! The Movie'' continues in No. 2 with $25.3 million; Dimension Films' "Scream 4" comes in No. 3 with $19.2 million; Robert Redford's limited player "The Conspirator" meets its goal in grossing roughly $4 million.

Twentieth Century Fox’s Rio outperformed expectations in its domestic launch, grossing an estimated $40 million from 3,826 theaters to help break the long-running box office slump. Worldwide, the 3D toon has soared to $169 million in its first 12 days. Domestic box office revenues were up 12% from the same weekend a year ago, the first gain since before Christmas. Rio, a sizeable victory for Vanessa Morrison’s Fox Animation Studios and Blue Sky Studios, received an A CinemaScore in North America and is the biggest opening of the year. It’s also the best opening for a G-rated toon since Toy Story 3. On Saturday, Rio was up 65%. The movie is poised to do great midweek business, since kids are out of school for spring break. Continuing on its third weekend at No. 2 is Warner Bros. ''Scooby-Doo! The Movie'', with an estimated $25.3 million from 4,119 theaters. The film has now pass the $250 million mark. Another $50 million overseas, gives its overseas total to $250 million, giving its worldwide to about $500 million.

Aiding the box office revenue spike was Dimension Films’ Scream 4, which grossed an estimated $19.2 million from 3,305 theaters. While Dimension was hoping for an opening in the mid-$20 million range, Scream 4 still enjoyed a solid start, coming in No. 3 for the weekend. A trio of strong holdovers claimed the next three spots on the box office chart -- TriStar/FilmDistrict’s Soul Surfer, Focus Features’ smart thriller Hanna and FilmDistrict’s micro-budgeted horror film Insidious. Soul Surfer grossed an estimated $7.4 million from 2,214 locations for a cume of $20 million in its first 10 days. The Bethany Hamilton biopic fell only 30%. Hanna, from Joe Wright, fell 41% to an estimated $7.3 million for a cume of $23.3 million in its first 10 days. From Paranormal Activity activities Jason Blum and Oren Peli, sleeper hit Insidious fell a narrow 25% in its third weekend, grossing an estimated $6.9 million for a stellar cume of $36 million. Warner Bros.’ Arthur continued to disappoint in its second weekend, tying with Insidious at $6.9 million. The comedy’s cume is $22.3 million its first 10 days. Univeral’s R-rated comedy Your Highness fell badly in its second weekend, declining 57% to an estimated $4.1 million from 2,772 locations for a cume of $16.1 million. The third new film of the frame, Roadside Attractions’ historical drama The Conspirator, from director Robert Redford and opening in only 706 locations, performed as hoped for in grossing roughly $3.7 million to $3.8 million, coming in No. 11 or No. 12.