"Horton Hears a Who!" sat atop the box office again over the weekend, holding off openings of "Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns" and "Drillbit Taylor" to remain in the No. 1 spot, grossing an estimated $25.1 million.
The animated retelling of a Dr. Seuss story about a conscientious elephant has made $86.5 million in two weeks. It's the first movie of the year to hang on to the top spot two weekends in a row.
"Meet the Browns" was the fourth out of Perry's five movies to gross more than $20 million in its opening weekend, an impressive number for a movie that didn't cost much to make.
A small movie also made a big splash at the box office this weekend: "Under the Same Moon" had the highest-grossing opening weekend for a Spanish-language film, shattering the previous record by nearly $1 million.
The movie, about a boy's attempt to cross from Mexico into the United States to reunite with his mother, made $2.6 million, which propelled it to the No. 10 spot at the box office.
"This has never been done before," said Harvey Weinstein, co-chairman of Weinstein Co., which distributed the film with Fox Searchlight Pictures. "These are enormous numbers."
The previous record for a Spanish-language movie was set by "Ladron Que Roba a Ladron," which grossed $1.6 million in its opening weekend in 2007. But it opened in 340 theaters, whereas "Under the Same Moon" was shown in only 266.
The movie was successful because it opened in theaters frequented by Spanish speakers and in art houses throughout the country, Weinstein said. It also was unusual because it was released at the same time in Mexico and the United States. Many Spanish-language movies are released in Mexico six months before they open in the U.S.
The movie was marketed heavily to Spanish speakers through television and radio.
"This shows you can motivate a commercial audience through Spanish-language media," said Peter Rice, president of Fox Searchlight Pictures.
The success of "Under the Same Moon" and "Meet the Browns," which was popular with African Americans, illustrates that movies targeted at niche demographics can find success at the box office. "Under the Same Moon" grossed an average of $9,774 per theater, while "Meet the Browns" made $9,975 per theater, on average. "Horton" grossed about $6,337 per theater.
