Rio Is Neato!

The CG Animated film Rio nabs the top spot--helping break Hollywood's slump-Just ahead of its Blockbuster fueled Summer Season; Scream 4 takes its cut at #2...

Pamela McClintock of THR

Twntieth Century Fox’s Rio outperformed expectations in its domestic launch, grossing an estimated $40 million from 3,826 theaters to help break the long-running box office slump. Worldwide, the 3D toon has soared to $169 million in its first 12 days.

Domestic box office revenues were up 12% from the same weekend a year ago, the first meaningful gain since before Christmas.

Rio, a sizeable victory for Vanessa Morrison’s Fox Animation Studios and Blue Sky Studios, received an A CinemaScore in North America and is the biggest opening of the year. It’s also the best opening for a G-rated toon since Toy Story 3. On Saturday, Rio was up 65%. The movie is poised to do great midweek business, since kids are out of school for spring break.

Aiding the box office revenue spike was Dimension Films’ Scream 4, which grossed an estimated $19.2 million from 3,305 theaters. While Dimension was hoping for an opening in the mid-$20 million range, Scream 4 still enjoyed a solid start, coming in No. 2 for the weekend.

A trio of strong holdovers claimed the next three spots on the box office chart -- TriStar/FilmDistrict’s Soul Surfer, Focus Features’ smart thriller Hanna and FilmDistrict’s micro-budgeted horror film Insidious.

Soul Surfer grossed an estimated $7.4 million from 2,214 locations for a cume of $20 million in its first 10 days. The Bethany Hamilton biopic fell only 30%.

Hanna, from Joe Wright, fell 41% to an estimated $7.3 million for a cume of $23.3 million in its first 10 days.

From Paranormal Activity activities Jason Blum and Oren Peli, sleeper hit Insidious fell a narrow 25% in its third weekend, grossing an estimated $6.9 million for a stellar cume of $36 million.

Warner Bros.’ Arthur continued to disappoint in its second weekend, tying with Insidious at $6.9 million. The comedy’s cume is $22.3 million its first 10 days.

Univeral’s R-rated comedy Your Highness fell badly in its second weekend, declining 57% to an estimated $4.1 million from 2,772 locations for a cume of $16.1 million...

John Young of EW:

Animated tropical birds fly to 2011's best opening weekend; ''Scream 4'' disappoints with $19.3M start

Next Up: Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon carry Water for Elephants all the while falling in love; And Tyler Perry returns just in time to welcome  Madea's Big Happy Family...