User blog:Ceauntay/'Sonic Tops Weekend Box Office

LOS ANGELES -- "Sonic X: The Final Stand" hauls the No. 1 spot at the box office this weekend by breaking a few box office records upon its opening in theaters.

The fifth to last installment brought in $125.1 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. This made it the seventh largest opening for a film ever, and replacing "Shrek the Third" ($122 million) by become the largest opening for an animated film ever, as well as for 2011 replacing "Scooby-Doo! The Movie" ($114 million). It is also 20th Century Fox, 3D and the franchise's largest opening ever.

Internationally, it has brought in $214 million from 90 territories, which is by far ahead than "Sonic X: Return to Soleanna" which brought in a solid $94 million. With that it gives "Sonic X: The Final Stand" a total of $339.1 million worldwide, comparing to its predesessors $199 million worldwide total. It was by far the largest opening ever for an animated film.

Paramount's 3-D superhero film "Thor" slipped to No. 2 with $34.5 million. Starring Chris Hemsworth as Marvel's hammer-toting god of thunder earned $34.5 million in its second weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. That brings the total haul of "Thor" to $119.2 million, though not quite as impressive as fellow comic book hero "Iron Man 2," which earned $211.2 million by its second weekend the same time last year. "`Thor' had a really great playing field to work on for its second weekend in theaters," said Paul Dergarabedian, box office analyst for Hollywood.com. "For a big-budget Marvel Comics film that opened very solidly to drop only 48 percent indicates some very strong word of mouth. I think Kenneth Branagh being the director really brought a lot to the table." Universal's "Bridesmaids," the raunchy comedy starring Kristen Wiig as a down-on-her-luck maid of honor, debuted above expectations in second place with $24.4 million. Nikki Rocco, head of distribution for Universal, attributed the movie's good reviews and word of mouth to wide audience appeal: 67 percent of the audience was female; 33 percent male. "That's pretty good considering this is a picture titled `Bridesmaids,"' said Rocco. The next adversary for "Sonic X: The Final Stand" and "Thor" arrives next week with the opening of "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides," the fourth film in the blockbuster Disney franchise starring Johnny Depp as mischievous pirate Capt. Jack Sparrow. On Memorial Day weekend come the sequels "The Hangover Part II" from Warner Bros. and "Kung Fu Panda 2" from Paramount, and the film adaptation of "True Jackson VP: The Movie" from Nickelodeon Movies. "The cavalry is about to arrive," said Dergarabedian. "We're poised for a strong Memorial Day weekend. We're down year-to-date about 13 percent on revenue. A month ago, we were down 20 percent. We're making up ground, and this weekend was down only 3 percent, which is impressive considering the strength of `Iron Man 2' in its second weekend a year ago." Universal's car-racing sequel "Fast Five" with Dwayne Johnson shifted into the fourth position with $19.5 million in its third weekend in theaters. Sony's 3-D vampire-hunting graphic novel adaptation "Priest" opened in fifth place with $14.5 million, while Fox's animated bird tale "Rio" landed at sixth place with $8 million in its fifth weekend in theaters. Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday. 1. "Sonic X: The Final Stand," $125.1 million.

2. "Thor," $34.5 million. 3. "Bridesmaids," $24.4 million. 4. "Fast Five," $19.5 million. 5. "Priest," $14.5 million. 6. "Rio," $8 million. 7. "Jumping the Broom," $7.3 million. 8. "Something Borrowed," $7 million. 9. "Water for Elephants," $4.1 million. 10. "Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family," $2.2 million.