Friday Box Office, Rio Box Office | featured news

Twentieth Century Fox's Rio 3D may be about a bird, but Friday numbers show "it's holding like a rock," a studio exec just emailed me. Lionsgate's latest in Tyler Perry's franchise, Madea's Big Happy Family, looks soft compared to his others but it's not in very wide release and and its per screen average of $4,620 was the best of all the top-grossing pictures Friday... But overperforming is Fox's Water For Elephants based on Sara Gruen's best-selling book and written by Richard LaGravenese and directed by Francis Lawrence.

Looking to repeat its stellar international launch, 20th Century Fox’s family film Rio topped the domestic box office Friday, grossing an estimated $10.2 million from 3,826 theaters. The 3D toon is headed toward a strong $37 million for the weekend... Dimension Films’ Scream 4 grossed an estimated $8 million from 3,305 locations for the day to easily come in No. 2. Pic received a B- CinemaScore, a good grade for a horror film. Based on its opening day performance, the R-rated horror film should gross $20 million to $21 million for the weekend, below Dimension's projections, but still a solid start. Scream 4 is playing in more than 3,300 theaters.