WEEKEND BOX OFFICE

As expected, Hop continued to dominate the box office over the weekend with an estimated $21.6 million take. It should continue to do well over the next few weeks as the holiday approaches.

Meanwhile, Arthur, Russell Brand's other effort, opened to a disappointing $12.6 million - well under the projected $18 million from the studio. This may lead to the end of Hollywood's love affair with Brand as he just doesn't seem to be leading man material as he can't open a movie. His Get Me to the Greek opened to $17.5 million and it was rated R - Arthur's PG-13 should have helped the film reach a broader audience but for once taste prevailed and moviegoers decided to pass. Studios will probably think twice before casting Brand as a leading man going forward. It seems a little goes a long way.

The happy surprise of the weekend was the phenomenal showing for Hanna. We expected it to only land mid-list with about $7 million. Instead it debuted to a very strong $12.3 million, just behind Arthur. Despite the fact that the film focuses on a young woman, the audience was 53% male. It's playing well in suburbs and small cities, too, thanks to its PG-13 rating.

Another big surprise was the big turnout for the Christian-skewing Soul Surfer which we had predicted to barely make it into the top 10 but instead it managed claw its way to the number 4 spot. Apparently several church groups organized buses to carry the faithful to the multiplex which aided this film's overall take.

Also outperforming expectations was Insidious which had the lowest week-to-week drop (-24%) for an impressive $10 million which means this little film that could isn't going anywhere and should be another feather in the cap for its filmmakers who already proved that low-budget horror can equal big box office bucks with Paranormal Activity.

Underperforming was Your Highness which didn't even break the $10 million mark. Guess this stoner comedy got lost in the shuffle despite featuring the ever-busy James Franco and recent Oscar winner Natalie Portman. Source Code tumbled 39% from last weekend but still made a respectable $9 million which means this movie, at the end of the day, will probably qualify as a success for Jake Gyllenhaal.