Box Office Update: Crowd Pleasing Croods

Audiences warmed up to the CG enhanced prehistoric family The Croods very nicely at the cineplex over the weekend; The White House is taken over by North Korean terrorists actioner Olympus Has Fallen did quite well in 2nd place; Sam Raimi's hit prequel to The Wizard of Oz called Oz The Great and Powerful fell to third; The limited record breaker from last week Spring Breakers debuted wide in sixth place...

Pamela McClintock of THR:

A bumbling prehistoric family and a terrorist takeover of the White House galvanized weekend moviegoers as new entries The Croods and Olympus Has Fallen took the top two spots at the North American box office.

Croods opened to a solid $44.7 million from 4,406 theaters after receiving a pleasing A CinemaScore. That's welcome news for Jeffrey Katzenberg's DreamWorks Animation, whose previous film Rise of the Guardians was a box-office dud.

Following the travails of a prehistoric family, Croods is the first DWA title to be distributed by Fox via the studio's new distribution and marketing deal with Katzenberg's company. The voice cast is led by Ryan Reynolds, Emma Stone and Nicolas Cage.

The animated 3D tentpole, opening just ahead of DWA's March 2010 event pic How to Train Your Dragon ($43.7 million), is benefiting from a dearth of family product in the marketplace, evidenced by a sizeable 63 percent family bump from Friday to Saturday.

Fox and DWA are anticipating strong midweek business thanks to spring break and millions of kids being out of school. Croods cost a reported $135 million to make.

Antoine Fuqua's Olympus Has Fallen overperformed in its debut, grossing $30.5 million from 3,098 theaters to become one of the few R-rated action pics of the year to work so far. The movie also marks a comeback for Gerard Butler, who has suffered a string of box office bombs.

Olympus Has Fallen, receiving an A- CinemaScore and fueled by older moviegoers, also marks the biggest opening to date for distributor FilmDistrict. Millennium Films fully financed and produced the $70 million pic, which features Butler as a disgraced presidential guard who is called back into action when North Korean terrorists take over the White House. Roland Emmerich's White House Down, opening in June, is similarly themed.

Olympus Has Fallen also stars Morgan Freeman, Aaron Eckhart, Melissa Leo and Ashley Judd.

New Paul Weitz specialty comedy Admission, starring Tina Fey and Paul Rudd, opened on the soft side, grossing $6.4 million to place No. 5. Focus Features had hoped for slightly more, but believes Admission will benefit from word of mouth among older females. However, moviegoers only gave the film a B- CinemaScore, matching mixed reviews.

Focus' financial exposure is limited considering Admission, playing in more than 2,000 theaters, cost a modest $13 million to produce. The comedy tells the story of a straitlaced Princeton University admissions officer (Fey) whose life takes an unexpected turn when she makes a recruiting trip to an alternative high school run by a former classmate (Rudd).

Harmony Korine's outrageous indie comedy Spring Breakers, which expanded nationwide Friday, isn't that far behind Admission despite only playing in only about 1,100 theaters. The R-rated pic grossed $5 million, a solid number for upstart distributor A25 Films.

Spring Breakers, starring James Franco, Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Benson, scored the best limited release of the year last weekend when opening in three theaters in New York and Los Angeles. The pic's cume is $5.4 million

Below are the top 10 film estimates for the March 15-17 weekend frame at the domestic box office.

1. The Croods, 1/4,046, Fox/DreamWorks Animation, $44.7 million

2. Olympus Has Fallen, 1/3,098, FilmDistrict, $30.5 million

3. Oz the Great and Powerful, 3/3,805, Disney, $22 million, $177.6 million

4. The Call, 2/2,507, Sony/TriStar, $8.7 million, $30.9 million

5. Admission, 1/2,160, Focus Features, $6.4 million

6. Spring Breakers, 2/1,104, A24 Films, $5 million, $5.4 million

7. The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, 2/3,160, Warner Bros./New Line, $4.3 million, $17.4 million

8. Jack the Giant Slayer, 4/2,560, Warner Bros./New Line, $3 million, $59 million,

9. Identity Thief, 7/2,166, Universal, $2.5 million, $127.7 million

10. Snitch, 5/1,807, Lionsgate/Participant, $1.9 million, $40.3 million

Next Up: The once delayed for 9 months action sequel G.I. Joe: Retaliation is finally ready to thwart  Cobra Command's latest evil plan; For a bit of counter programing the film adaptation of Twilight Series author Stephenie Meyer's book The Host hopes to start a whole new franchise; Tyler Perry says anyone of us can give into Temptation; Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper go toe to toe as they travel to The Place Beyond The Pines which starts a limited run.