Via Box Office Mojo, The Numbers, and other sources:It was great news and somewhat disappointing news for British comedic actor Russell Brand at the box office this weekend. His starring turn as the animated "E.B." in the family film "Hop" retained the #1 spot at the box office for a second weekend in a row. His lead performance in the remake of Dudley Moore's 1981 comedy, "Arthur", opened at #2. While "Hop" easily won the weekend, "Arthur" underperformed expectations and may slide to #3 when the actual figures are reported Monday afternoon. At this time, Brand stars in the Top 2 films in the country - an impressive feat not to be discounted.
NEW OPENINGS:
"Arthur" vastly underperformed the expectations Warner Bros. placed upon it. Tendering a $40 million budget, studio executives pegged "Arthur" to fall in the $18-$20 million range for its opening. This expectation matched our own Robert Hamer's prediction in his Weekend Openings column. Landing at an estimated $12.6 million take, that $40 million budget may be tough to achieve domestically, as word-of-mouth and reviews sour the interest. Brand will likely not suffer much from this professionally as he remains a star on the rise.
A look at the surprise breakout of "Hanna", a snubbing of "Your Highness", and a good showing for "Insidious", along with everything else from the weekend after the cut.
