British actor and comedian, Russell Brand has dominated the weekend box office not just one but with two of his films: “Hop” and “Arthur”.

The Easter-themed animated hit, “Hop” has raked in $21.7 million and topped the charts for the second straight week. It was followed by the live-action comedy, “Arthur” which he starred with Helen Mirren recorded an estimated earnings at $12.6 million, ranking No. 2 during weekend’s top box office hits.

Though “Arthur” had performed well relative to its rival films at the opening weekend, The New York Times said it has remained a failure when you look at it in terms of the expenses incurred for the remake, which is recorded at an estimated $40 million.

The Times said that ticket sales made by Warner Bros. “Arthur” can be considered a ‘terrible result’ based on the expenses used to market the film.
The news website said that “Brand burnout” could also be a factor to consider why it has only earned $12.6 million for its opening weekend.

In the third place for the weekend opening is “Hanna” featuring Saoirse Ronan who appeared in “Atonement” with Keira Knightley. It earned a recorded $12.3 million in box office receipts, three hundred thousand dollars shy to get to the second place. “Hanna” is a story about a 16-year-old assassin trained by her own father played by Eric Bana.

No. 4 in the weekend’s box office is “Soul Surfer”, featuring Carrie Underwood in her big screen debut. “Soul Surfer” earned only $11.1 million at the box office. It was followed in fifth place by “Insidious” by Rose Byrne-Patrick Wilson which collected $9.7 million.

The New York Times noted that Natalie Portman’s “Your Highness” she starred with James Franco came out sixth place with $9.6 million. The film’s costs was estimated at $50 million, twenty percent higher than this week’s No. 2 at the box office, “Arthur”.

Other films which have made the top ten from April 8 to 10 include: “Source Code” ($ 9 M) – No.7; “Limitless” ($5.7M) No.8; "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules" ($ 4.9M) - No.9; "The Lincoln Lawyer" ($4.6M) - No.10.