WEEKEND BOX OFFICE

Hop was the big winner at the weekend box office with an almost stunning $38 million take placing it well above industry expectations. Unsurprisingly, the crowd was mostly families and kids under 12. But the parents on my Facebook and Twitter feeds who dared venture out to take in this kid flick were almost universally underwhelmed by it. The kids liked it though, so that's something. It also had the biggest opening weekend of any movie this year. Easter comes early!

Jake Gyllenhaal didn't embarrass himself with the strong, it not wildly impressive, $15 million box office for Source Code. This should mean they'll make their money back (it only cost about $32 million to make) but it continues to cast doubt on Jake's ability to open a movie above the $20 million mark which usually denotes a major "movie star". That's OK. We still like him and its glowing reviews should mean it'll play well in the next few weeks like The Lincoln Lawyer and Limitless, two other "adult movies" that have been money makers these past few weeks.

Insidious also did boffo box office, taking in over $13 million, above its expected $10 million. Horror movies don't tend to have the staying power of other sorts since their audiences tend to be aficionados of attending on opening weekend. But since it cost a paltry $1.5 million to produce, the film is already a big win and well into the black.

Sucker Punch continues to flop claiming the biggest percentage drop off of the previous weekend (-68%). Ha! That makes me laugh for some reason.

For those following The King's Speech with its new, freshly-scrubbed PG-13 rating, the movie did an OK $1.2 million which was good enough for 14th place on the list. I mean, if you haven't seen it by now, just wait until it's on DVD.