User blog:Ceauntay/Box office update: 'Scooby' feds off 'Hop' on Friday

Audiences apparently prefer their favorite talking dog who can solve mysteries. The animated film ''Scooby-Doo! The Movie''. The PG-rated ''Scooby-Doo! the movie'', which won last weekend with a larger-than-expected $114.2 million, topped the box office once again with an estimated $16.6 million on Friday. Warner Bros.’s $30 million animation should finish the weekend with about $50 million, bringing its two-week cumulative tally to $200 million, making it the first 2011 film to pass the $200 million mark.

Russell Brand's two films Hop and Arthur are in packed shaped. His hyprid-live action animation Hop came second with $5.5 million, and should be bringing its weekend total to $20 million.

In third with $4.5 million was Warner Bros.’ Arthur, a remake of the 1981 Dudley Moore comedy about a rambunctious playboy who’d inherit a fortune if he married the woman he doesn’t love (Jennifer Garner) instead of the woman he does (Greta Gerwig). Helen Mirren co-stars as Brand’s loyal nanny. The poorly reviewed PG-13 comedy cost $40 million to produce, and is on pace for a somewhat disappointing $13 million opening weekend. Chasing after Arthur was Hanna, which collected $4.1 million. Focus Features’ PG-13 thriller, directed by Atonement‘s Joe Wright, stars Saoirse Ronan as a teenage girl trained by her ex-CIA agent of a father (Eric Bana) to be an unstoppable assassin. Hanna scored the strongest reviews among new releases, and should close out the weekend with around $12 million. Fifth went to Your Highness and Soul Surfer, which earned $3.8 million and $3.7 million, respectively. Universal’s Your Highness, a medieval action stoner comedy (four words you don’t often see combined) featuring Danny McBride, James Franco, and Natalie Portman, was slapped with atrocious reviews. Made for $50 million, the R-rated film will likely finish the frame in sixth place with $10 million. Soul Surfer, on the other hand, should move up to fifth with a weekend catch of $11 million. In the PG biopic, AnnaSophia Robb plays surfing champion Bethany Hamilton, who lost her arm in a shark attack at the age of 13. The inspirational drama, which was marketed to Christian audiences by the young studio FilmDistrict (and distributed by Sony’s TriStar Pictures), received mediocre notices from critics. Check back here on Sunday for the complete box office report.
 * 1) Scooby-Doo! The Movie — $16.6 mil
 * 2) Hop — $5.5 mil
 * 3) Arthur — $4.5 mil
 * 4) Hanna — $4.1 mil
 * 5) Your Highness — $3.8 mil