Animated movie Rio has set a very impressive record for a 2011 opening weekend with a $40 million box office tally. Not so shabby if you consider the movie itself cost $90 million to make! They almost recouped their entire film budget in one weekend!

Rio is a a Brazil-set adventure about the world’s last two blue macaws which are voiced by Social Network’s Jesse Eisenberg and Anne Hathaway. I hope and pray these two got points on this film.

The production company responsible for the hit is also responsible for such box-office gold as Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who and the Ice Age.

Rio was up against cult-classic Scream 4 this weekend but managed to earn 58 percent of its coin from 3-D theaters and has received raved reviews.

According to Entertainment Weekly’s ‘Inside Movies’ this weekend’s box office receipts were as follows:

1. Rio — $40 mil
2. Scream 4 — $19.3 mil
3. Hop — $11.2 mil
4. Soul Surfer — $7.4 mil
5. Hanna — $7.3 mil

Did you see Rio this weekend? Did you see any of these movies this weekend?

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Don’t shoot the messenger Bieber haters. Justin Bieber has passed Michael Jackson’s box-office record. The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Justin Bieber’s ‘Never Say Never’ has earned more at the box office domestically than the posthumus Michael Jackson movie ‘This Is It’:

Through Sunday, Justin Bieber had earned $72.2 million at the domestic box office. Sony’s This Is It grossed $72.1 million domestically.

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Keep in mind, Justin Bieber has passed Michael Jackson in the domestic markets. Not so in the overseas department. Michael Jackson’s ‘This Is It’ has earned $189.1 million overseas. Internationally Justin Beiber has earned $10.8 million which they say is still a good amount considering concert video movies don’t usually do well at the box office.

Ask the Jonas Brothers. Their film made $4 million internationally. I’m sure you and I would love to make $4 million internationally (or domestically for that matter) but that’s petty cash to people who earn millions a year.

Have you seen either Justin Bieber or Michael Jackson’s movie? Did you like them?

Photo: Steve Searle/WENN

According to Box Office Mojo Avatar made $75 Million over the weekend earning $212,268,000 since its December 18 premiere.  These figures are to be updated this afternoon!

In second place was Sherlock Holmes earning $65,380,000 over the weekend.

Alvin and The Chipmunks:  The Squeakquel made a very respectable $50,200,000 for third place.

It’s Complicated took fourth place honours earning $22,114,000 over the weekend.

Sherlock Holmes made $10 Million more than anticipated.   Warner Brothers’ distribution Chief Dan Fellman said:

“We’re thrilled,” “We were looking for somewhere in the low to mid-$50 million range and we have been very pleased with that, but when Christmas Day came around we blew away every record in the book.“

Bert Livingston of 20th Century Fox (Avatar) echoed those sentiments:

“What a weekend,” “I don’t ever remember that big a diversity. When the third picture does $50 million, you’ve got a good marketplace. When Christmas Day falls on a Friday, it’s the best day it could possibly be.

Did you see any of the movies this weekend?

The Fast and the Furious are at the top of the box office this opening weekend and also have made the most of any movie in 2009 thus far:  $72.5 Million in Canada and the United States.  Second to them, Monsters vs. Aliens which brought in $59.3 Million in it’s opening weekend.   Monsters vs. Aliens came in second place this weekend with $33.5 Million and in third place was ‘The Haunting in Conneticut’ taking in $9.6 Million this weekend.

All in all, The Fast and the Furious had ticket sales (worldwide) of $102.6 this weekend.  Not bad for the fourth instalment of the series and considering the terrible reviews it has received.

Surprise, surprise!!  So many factors in play to make this a record breaking opening:  Heath Ledger’s final performance, the history of Batman itself and let’s not forget the hype leading up to it!!!

The movie set a one day box office record of $66 Million outdoing the record of $59.8 million opening day set last year by Spider-Man 3.  There is hopeful speculation that it will surpass the opening weekend record of $151.1 million, also held by Spider-Man 3.

The Dark Knight has already smashed the record of the previous Batman instalment Batman Begins, which only took in $48.7 million in its first three days back in 2005.

The president of box office tracker Media By Numbers, Paul Dergarabedian:

“We’ve really never seen anything like this.”   ”The death of a fine actor taken in his prime, a legendary performance, and a movie that lives up to all the hype. That all combined to create these record-breaking numbers.”

The buzz before Heath Ledger’s desk was already high for Dark Knight and his subsequent death only further fueled that buzz.

Have you seen it yet?  Do you plan on it?

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