‘Rio’ makes nest atop the US box office

LOS ANGELES—Audiences swarmed theaters for tropical bird comedy “Rio,” which nestled into its perch at the top of the box office for a second week, industry data showed Monday.

The 3-D cartoon about pet macaw Blu voiced by “Social Network” star Jesse Eisenberg, which bolts from chilly climes to the beaches of Rio de Janeiro, made $26.3 million in the Friday-to-Sunday period, according to box office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

After last week scoring the best debut weekend of the year, the film has made just over $80.8 million since its opening.

In second spot was the latest comedic offering from Tyler Perry, with the critically-panned “Madea’s Big Happy Family” that made $25.1 million in its opening weekend.

In third place, starring British heart-throb Robert Pattinson and Oscar-winning actress Reese Witherspoon, was the Depression-era romance “Water for Elephants,” taking in $16.8 million also on its debut.

Easter romp “Hop,” the real-action-animation hybrid about the wayward son of the Easter Bunny and which had spent two weeks at the top, earned another $12.2 million on the Easter weekend for a domestic total of just over $100 million.

“Scream 4,” the latest in director Wes Craven’s irony-drenched horror-comedy franchise, slipped three spots to fifth in its second week with $7 million.

In sixth, also on its debut, was Disney nature flick “African Cats,” narrated by Samuel L. Jackson, which documents the lives of a number of big cats on the African savanna, making $6 million in box office receipts.

The weekend box office hit list put “Soul Surfer” in the seventh spot with $5.4 million, telling the true story of church-going teen surfer Anna Sophia Robb who returns to the ocean after losing an arm in a shark attack.

Thriller “Hanna,” about a teenage assassin raised in the wilds of North Finland, earned $5.3 million for eighth spot, while horror flick “Insidious,” about a family in a haunted house, picked up $5.2 million in ninth.

Rounding out the top ten was Jake Gyllenhaal’s acclaimed sci-fi thriller “Source Code,” about a government experiment to find the bomber of a commuter train, which took $5.1 million.