I remember there was this really cheesy, guilty pleasure movie from the ’80s that starred Michael Caine as a vacationer in the exotic city of Rio De Janeiro. The tile of that romp was what the producers of WATER FOR ELEPHANTS were probably saying after this weekend's results — "BLAME IT ON RIO!"

After a splash world premiere in the Brazilian capital, RIO shot out of the gate and pulling in huge numbers across the globe. The movie passed $286 million and shows no sign of slowing down. It met fierce competition over the weekend as Tyler Perry once more tried to claim box office supremacy with his umpteenth Madea sequel, MADEA’S BIG HAPPY FAMILY. 

RIO swallowed up $26.3 million but MADEA was nipping on the blue bird's tail feathers with just over $25 million. 

Coming in third was Reese Witherspoon getting all hot and bothered for Robert Pattinson's sculpted abs in WATER FOR ELEPHANTS. Failing to reach projections of around $19 million, the sappy romance didn't fizzle, but it didn't actually sizzle, either. Reese really needed a hit with this one, but the movie only cost $38 million so "Little Miss Type A Personality" might just get lucky.

The Easter long weekend also delivered for that little bunny that could. HOP passed the $100 million mark with a $12.2 million take for fourth slot. The movie will probably start to see a slide as most holiday films do after the holiday passes. 

Rounding out the top five was SCREAM 4 with $7 million. The third sequel in the series just passed the $30 million mark, but I wouldn't be racing to greenlight Scream 5. 

COUPLE OTHER NOTABLES

Coming in sixth was Disney's AFRICAN CATS — the second annual Earth Day documentary from the Mouse House. It's notable because it opened in less than half of the theatres as SCREAM 4 and was only a million short of the top five. It's a cute little tale about a family of cheetahs and a pride of lions. This is a great movie to take the kids to if you get a chance. I got a chance to see it with my gran and we loved how beautiful the movie was.

Another notable movie is INSIDIOUS which only cost $1.5 million and will likely pass the $50 million mark in weeks to come. What a return on an investment! I wish I was a producer on that! Now would someone please give stars Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne their due in higher profile movies.

IN OTHER NEWS

Those Aussie folks down under not only get a jump on a new day, long before us, but they also got a delicious treat on the weekend. Both THOR and FAST FIVE opened against each other in the kangaroo continent and posted highly impressive numbers. FAST FIVE looks to be white hot as it opens this Friday in North America. The movie is being touted to open higher than THOR will a week later. It is no wonder Universal is running like crazy to get FAST SIX into production. Who thought in a million years that this would be a franchise that wouldn’t slow down? Just this time folks make sure to keep Vin Diesel's ego in check.

As for THOR, it’s sure to be the first blockbuster starring a hammer-throwing hero. Oh, wait there was that THOR in ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING? Does that count?