HANNAH Montana: The Movie shot to the top of the US film charts with a healthy $34 million over the weekend, thereby contributing to the biggest Easter weekend ever at the American box office.
In total, the weekend haul of $137 million easily surpassed the previous record of $132.1 million set in 2002, according to figures compiled by box office tracker Nielsen. This year’s top 10 was also up more than 62% over the same weekend last year, proving that cinema remains the top choice for entertainment when times get tight.
Ironically, the figures were achieved in spite of two other new releases performing relatively badly. Seth Rogen-Anna Faris comedy Observe and Report struggled to fourth place, with $11.1 million, while manga adaptation Dragonball Evolution under-performed with just $4.7 million, and landing at eighth spot.
But the figures were buoyed by the continued strong performance of franchise favourite Fast & Furious, which set its own record the previous week, and animated hit Monsters vs. Aliens, both of which continued to perform well.
The big winner, though, was Disney and Hannah Montana, whose success began in 2006 when Hannah Montana first hit the Disney Channel.
The franchise stars Miley Cyrus and her dad, Billy Ray Cyrus, and follows the fortunes of a regular teenage girl who secretly moonlights as a pop star.
The current film, directed by Peter Chelsom, finds Hannah’s dad dragging her back to their hometown in Tennessee, where she rediscovers the comforts of home.
It took $17.3 million on its opening Friday, which represents the highest opening day for a G-rated live-action film in industry history. While its three-day $34 million haul ranks second among Easter weekend debuts, behind only the $40.2 million opening of Scary Movie 4.
Commenting on the Hannah Montana success story, Chuck Viane, Disney’s distribution chief, told the Hollywood Reporter: “The most important thing is you have a real star here. All of the [people at] Disney Channel built her into the unbelievable star that she is.
“Peter Chelsom and [writer] Dan Berendsen delivered on the highest level. Our marketing crew hit all the right notes, and Miley worked her butt off to promote the film.”
Indeed, part of that promotion included the star making a handful of surprise appearances at movie theatres in America over the course of the opening weekend. Hence, the Cyruses made unannounced appearances in Salt Lake City and Knoxville as part of a new scheme called Opening Weekend Surprise.
Of the other two big performers, Fast & Furious took a further $28.8 million to take its US haul to $118 million (and making it the fifth movie of 2009 to cross the $100 million mark), and Monsters Vs Aliens added a further $22.6 million to its total, which now stands at $141 million.
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