User blog:Ceauntay/RIO Tops? MADEA Flabby, Robert Pattinson-Reese Witherspoon's WATER FOR ELEPHANTS Overperforming: Box Office

Regardless of their religious preference, if any, 20th Century Fox executives apparently will have reason to rejoice this Easter weekend: both Carlos Saldanha's animated 3D feature Rio and the Francis Lawrence-directed period drama Water for Elephants, starring Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon, and Christoph Waltz, are performing above expectations. According to early, rough estimates found at Deadline.com, Rio collected $11m on Friday, maintaining its top spot at the North American box office. If figures hold, Rio may end up topping the weekend as well, pulling in $26m-$28m, or at the higher end of pundits' box-office predictions. Rio features the voices of Anne Hathaway, Jesse Eisenberg, Rodrigo Santoro, Jane Lynch, Tracy Morgan, Leslie Mann, Jamie Foxx, and George Lopez. The no. 2 movie on Friday was Tyler Perry's latest drag entry, Madea's Big Happy Family, which actually looks a little downcast after collecting an estimated $10.7m on Friday. If figures hold, Madea's Big Happy Family may reach Sunday with about $25m — in other words, smaller and unhappier than Perry's two previous Madea outings, Madea's Family Reunion (2006) and Madea Goes to Jail (2009), which opened (in February) with, respectively, $30m and $41m. (Madea's Family Reunion took in $10.46m — not adjusted for inflation — on its Friday debut; Madea Goes to Jail drew $14.74m.) Water for Elephants, on the other hand, may turn out to be Easter Weekend 2011's biggest surprise, pulling in $16m-$18m, when some had predicted box-office revenues to remain in the lower teens. On Friday, Water for Elephants earned an estimated $7m. Next in line were Hop with an estimated $4.2m on Friday, and newcomer African Cats with $3.5m. And ''Scooby-Doo! The Movie'' fell further to $3.4 million, but will be ahead of both of them by Sunday. Remember, those are early, rough estimates. Studio estimates for Friday will be released Saturday morning; bear in mind that it's possible Rio and Madea's Big Happy Family will end up switching places, as there's only a $300k gap separating them. Weekend estimates will come out Sunday. Photo: Water for Elephants (David James / 20th Century Fox / Regency)