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Weekend Box Office - Elephants, Big Cats and Madea, Oh My

By InCinemas / 25 Apr 2011 (Monday)

What could be more charming than a computer animated parrot? According to this weekend's box office, neither a mad black woman's latest family outing nor big wild cats. Nope, not even Twilight idol Robert Pattinson watering circus animals.

Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family came the closest to toppling last weekend's number one Rio, but with $25.8 million Madea fell just short of the mark. Rio banked just under $27 million to remain at the top of the chart for a second weekend in a row.

Robert Pattinson, fresh off his turn as Edward the pretty boy vampire, didn't stir up much excitement with his latest film Water for Elepahants. Getting a sleepy opening, it scrounged up only $17 million for a distant third place.

When whoever it was that invented Earth Day (Al Gore will no doubt happily take credit for it) set it aside on April 22, they clearly didn't consider the possibility that once every few decades the quirky rules that dictate the arrival of Easter place it unusually late in April. As such, this year visions of Easter bunnies and Good Friday services overshadowed the enviro-celebration and consequently Disney's traditional Earth Day nature flick.

But then again, Earth Day movies have never done particularly well on opening weekend, and this year's entry African Cats was no exception, settling for sixth place with only $6.4 million.

For the full weekend top ten results, check out the chart below.

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Weekend Box Office - Elephants, Big Cats and Madea, Oh My