“TITANS” CRUSHES EASTER RECORD

It had to contend with mostly negative reviews, the NCAA men’s basketball semifinals, Easter sunrise services (and therefore families going to bed early on Saturday night), a limited number of 3D screens (and no IMAX screens at all) as well as some potent competition from other marquee titles, but Warner Bros.’ Clash of the Titans nevertheless set a box office record for an Easter weekend by hauling in $61.2 million (or $63.9 million including Thursday-night previews). The previous record for an Easter opener was held by Scary Movie 4 with $40.2 million. It was not the biggest April debut, however. That record is held by last year’s Fast & Furious with $70.95 million, without the benefit of 3D premium pricing. The weekend turned out to be the clash for the 3D screens as well, with Paramount/DreamWorks holding on to most of them — and dropping just 34 percent from last week’s opening with $29.01 million. In its fourth week, Disney’s Alice in Wonderland, the other contender for 3D screens, dropped a typical 54 percent with $8.2 to bring its total domestic gross to $309.73 million. Tyler Perry continued to prove to be Lionsgate’s most reliable filmmaker as his Why Did I Get Married Too? opened in second place with $29.3 million, while Miley Cyrus proved that she didn’t need any help from Hannah Montana to sell $16 million worth of tickets over the weekend and $25.4 million when Wednesday and Thursday screenings are factored in. (By comparison, however, her Hannah Montana: The Movie opened in April last year with $39.6 million over five days.) Overall, the box office was up 14 percent from the same weekend a year ago.

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Box Office Mojo (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date):
1. Clash of the Titans, Warner Bros. , $61,235,105, 1 Wk., ($63,890,110 — From Thursday); 2. Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too?, Lionsgate, $29,289,537, (New); 3. How to Train Your Dragon, Paramount/DreamWorks Animation, $29,010,044, 2 Wks. ($92,135,916); 4. The Last Song, Disney, $16,007,426, 1 Wk. ($25,395,041 — From Wednesday); 5. Alice in Wonderland, Disney, $8,208,060, 5 Wks. ($309,733,753); 6. Hot Tub Time Machine, MGM, $8,070,716, 2 Wks. ($27,910,213); 7. The Bounty Hunter, Sony, $6,091,907, 3 Wks. ($48,853,453); 8. Diary of a Wimpy Kid, 20th Century Fox, $5,302,369, 3 Wks. ($46,013,347); 9. She’s Out of My League, Paramount, $1,516,952, 4 Wks. ($28,712,974); 10. Shutter Island, Paramount, $1,488,403, 7 Wks. ($123,440,937).