It pains me to say it but Russell Brand is shaping up to be a major attraction for US moviegoers. The British comic voices the lead character in Universal's Hop and stars in Warner Bros' Arthur remake – currently No 1 and No 2 in the US respectively. Hop has bounced to a tidy $68m after only 10 days and is on course to cross $100m unless it is overtaken next weekend by Fox's Rio, the latest movie from Ice Age creators Blue Sky Studios, which dominated the international charts at the weekend.
Back to Brand for a moment. He's got charm – no doubt about it – but he's not funny. Simple as that. Yet US agents and studio executives seem to love him, and his convoluted speech pattern is clearly bewitching the movers and shakers. Do audiences care? Best to reserve judgment until the movies have been around for a few more weeks. Hop is a sweet film, though. Arthur is a shame and like I said last week, it can't touch the original. At least a premium British export such as Simon Pegg is enjoying a great career in the US, while Ricky Gervais rides high as a rightly renowned TV star (although true movie success continues to elude him) and Steve Coogan still awaits the break (across the pond) that a man of his talents so deserves.
Good news for fans of intelligent action thrillers: Hanna, Joe Wright's excellent follow-up to the whimsical splinter that was The Soloist, debuted in third place on $12.3m according to Focus Features. It stars young Saoirse Ronan, with whom Wright worked on Atonement, as a trained killer wanted by Cate Blanchett's demure government operative. It's great fun and Wright keeps things cracking along.
The indie distributor FilmDistrict launched its second ever movie with Sony's TriStar label in the form of true-life drama Soul Surfer. It opened well enough in fourth place on $11.1m and stars the effortlessly good AnnaSophia Robb as young surfing champ Bethany Hamilton, who overcame the loss of an arm in a shark attack and had the courage to get back on her board. Helen Hunt and the insufferable Dennis Quaid add support, as does a solid Carrie Underwood in her feature acting debut. FilmDistrict is off to a strong start as a distributor after its horror release Insidious reached $27m in its second weekend.
North American top 10, 8-10 April 2011
1. Hop, $21.7m. Total: $68.2m
2. Arthur, $12.6m
3. Hanna, $12.3m
4. Soul Surfer, $11.1m
5. Insidious, $9.7m. Total: $27.1m
6. Your Highness, $9.5m
7. Source Code, $9.1m. Total: $28.6m
8. Limitless, $5.7m. Total: $64.4m
9. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, $4.9m. Total: $45.5m
10. The Lincoln Lawyer, $4.6m. Total: $46.5m
