LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lionsgate's "Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family" is expected to top the Easter weekend box office chart with a big and happy gross approaching $30 million.
Tyler Perry's films have generated over half a
billion dollars in domestic revenue and the 10 feature films he has produced
and directed since 2005 have had an average opening weekend of $23.5 million.
Of those, the films with Madea's name in the title have been the most popular
with audiences.
This weekend should be another great one for the
celebrity birds of Fox's "Rio," with anticipated revenue of around
$20 million as kids on spring break continue to flock to theaters with their
parents. The film was a bigger-than-expected hit in its debut last weekend at
$39 million and is currently the No. 1 film in the world.
Fox's "Water for Elephants" starring
"Twilight's" Robert Pattinson is likely to grab a third place debut
with a gross in the low teens. Based on the best-selling novel by Sara Gruen,
the film also features Reese Witherspoon and Academy Award-winner Christoph
Waltz. Boasting major female appeal, "Water for Elephants" is likely
to become a long-term alternative to the testosterone-driven summer
blockbusters now on the horizon.
Jungle cats and bunnies will go at it for the
weekend's fifth position: Universal's Easter-themed "Hop" should take
full advantage of the holiday weekend and gross in the $6 million to $8 million
range, while Disney Nature's "African Cats" should land on its feet
in the same territory.
Copyright
2011 The Associated Press.
(AP
Photo/Matt Sayles)
