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" Fast Five " has left the competition in the dust with an $83.6 million debut to grab the No. 1 spot at the weekend box office, according to studio estimates Sunday. Universal Pictures' fifth movie in " The Fast and the Furious " franchise was by far this year's biggest opening. Its take was more than double the previous best of $39.2 million for " Rio ," the 20th Century Fox animated hit that slipped to No. 2 with $14.4 million. The No. 1 movie the two previous weekends, " Rio " raised its total to $103.6 million. "Fast Five" set a record for best April debut ever, speeding past the $71 million haul of its predecessor, "Fast & Furious," two years ago. The movie reteams stars Vin Diesel and Paul Walker as outlaw driving aces and adds Dwayne Johnson as a federal agent on their tail. The action expands beyond the franchise's traditional racing scene into a broad crime romp. "Summer began April ...

Looks like the combined power of Tyler Perry in a fat suit, the draw of Robert Pattinson and a group of big cats wasn’t enough to challenge animated birds as Rio has continued its box office domination across the world and in the US this Easter weekend. Across the pond, the feathered friends from Fox and Blue Sky earned $26.8 million, bringing the movie’s US total to $81.2 million. Somewhere, we’re pretty certain executives and about to ask what other ideas the Blue Sky team have for Blu and company. Still, Perry won’t be too upset as Madea’s Big Happy Family locked down second place easily with $25.7 million.  Who really watches these movies? Bet he digs the suit and wig out of the closet again soon enough. R.Pattz/Reese Witherspoon romance Water for Elephants , meanwhile, did decent business, taking in $17.5 million for third place. In fourth we find Hop hanging on to a solid level of ticket business, earning $12.4 million after four weeks on release. After that we see ...

Dimension Films' " Scream 4 " comes in No. 2 with $19.2 million; Robert Redford's limited player "The Conspirator" meets its goal in grossing roughly $4 million. Twentieth 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 past $169 million in its first 12 days. Make sure to read my reviews on Hanna and Rio . Domestic box office revenues were up 12% from the same weekend a year ago, the first significant gain since before Christmas. With studios readying their summer slates, the boost couldn’t have come at a better time. Rio, a sizeable victory for Vanessa Morrison’s Fox Animation Studios and Blue Sky Studios, received an A CinemaScore and is the biggest domestic opening for a G-rated toon since Toy Story 3. On Saturday, Rio was up 65%, thanks to good word of mouth. The movie is poised to do great...

The biggest box office headline of the weekend was overseas, where 20th Century Fox’s toon Rio opened to $55 million to score the top debut of 2011 for any title anywhere. In the U.S., Russell Brand’s new comedy Arthur lost badly to holdover family film Hop, which the British actor voices. If Rio maintains its momentum when opening domestically on April 15, it will be an important psychological win for the movie industry, which has been weathering the worst box office slump in years. The biggest three-day opening so far this year internationally was a tepid $28.7 million for Battle: Los Angeles; domestically, it was $38.1 million for Rango. “This is a fantastic start for a new franchise. With consistently stellar reviews and excellent word-of-mouth around the world -- as well as no significant family competition ahead -- we are well established to take advantage of the school holidays which begin in the coming weeks, including this week in the U.K. and Australia,” Fox Intl. co-pr...

Updated: Released hours ago, According to THR   Angry Birds Rio is already the No. 1 iPhone and iPad paid game app in the U.S. and 49 foreign markets, including all major territories except Japan. On behalf of 20th Century Fox and Rovio, I am pleased to announce that Angry Birds Rio is now available worldwide! The Angry Birds find themselves in the magical city of Rio where they must save their friends Blu and Jewel – two rare macaws and the stars of the upcoming Fox motion picture, RIO. Starting today, the game can be downloaded from the App Store for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad , from the Mac App Store for Mac computers, and for Android devices in the Amazon Appstore. The game was developed in conjunction with Twentieth Century Fox, and features the animated stars of the studio’s upcoming film, RIO. RIO opens nationwide on April 15th. Users of Angry Birds Rio will have the ability to directly buy tickets to see the film with a new In-App ticketing feature vi...

Anne Hathaway and Neil Patrick Harris Lend Their Voices To 'Rio' The lovely and talented Anne Hathaway and Neil Patrick Harris (Doogie Howser to me) are in Negotioation to lend their voices to "Rio," the next collaboration between Blue Sky Studios, Fox Animation and director Carlos Saldanha, all of whom are riding the $882 million global tsunami of "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs." "Rio," which follows the adventures of a nerdy macaw who lights out from his small-town Minnesota cage for the exotic Summer Olympic city of Rio de Janeiro, is scheduled for an April 8, 2011, release. Like "Dinosaurs," it will be filmed in 3D digital animation. Hathaway and Harris have done animation before. Hathaway voiced the lead role of Red in the Weinstein Co. release "Hoodwinked!" in 2005, and Harris voiced a character in Sony Pictures Animation's "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs." Fox would not confirm casting. With the thre...