FUN WORLD

How did it happen?

For one the movie is colorful and fun. Critics widely praised the animated movie, which featured the voices of Anne Hathaway and Jesse Eisenberg. “Exotic eye candy and infectious beats make for a fun animated frolic,” THR’s Megan Lehmann wrote in her review. It received a 72 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, which predicted “Rio will almost certainly delight kiddies with its vivid colors, high energy, and good humor.” It also received an A CinemaScore domestically.

Another factor: Great timing. A large swath of kids are not only out of school for spring break in the U.S. -- but also in Europe. That could explain why Rio earned an estimated $53.9 million in its second weekend overseas (it’s foreign cume: $129.1 million). “We got everybody. It’s working in every country on the planet,” Fox senior vice president of distribution Bert Livingston said. The film also benefits from being on screen during the Apr. 24 Easter holiday (if animated movies open close to Easter, they tend to amass huge grosses quickly).

The fact that the film had no major competition also likley helped. Pure animated films do better than CGI/live-action hybrids like Hop. Rio’s box office numbers will likely stay strong, as the movie won’t have any major competition until late May, when Kung Fu Panda 2 opens