NEWSMAKERS | Comedy ‘Hop’ skips to box-office lead

NEWSMAKERS

Comedy ‘Hop’ skips to box-office lead

LOS ANGELES

The Easter Bunny has hopped into the top spot at the weekend box office.

Russell Brand’s family comedy “Hop” debuted at No. 1 with $38.1 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

With Brand providing the voice of the reluctant new Easter Bunny, “Hop” bounded well beyond the expectations of industry analysts, who had figured the movie would debut in the $25 million range.

Released by Universal, “Hop” matched the year’s best debut, “Rango,” which opened a month ago with $38.1 million.

Jake Gyllenhaal’s action thriller “Source Code” debuted at No. 2 with $15.1 million. The haunted-house tale “Insidious” opened at No. 3 with $13.5 million.

A Summit Entertainment release, “Source Code” stars Gyllenhaal as an Army officer tracking down a terrorist bomber by entering the mind of a man aboard a train that’s about to be blown up.

“Insidious,” released by Film District, features Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne as a couple with three young children who encounter an eerie force after moving into a new house.

The previous weekend’s top movie, “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules,” fell to No. 4 with $10.2 million, raising its total to $38.4 million.

Though “Hop” was among the year’s best openings, it was unable to lift Hollywood out of a box-office slide that has persisted since late last year.

Prince Harry emerges as cool face of royalty

LONDON

He’s been filmed trekking through the Arctic, gives a smoldering look from the cover of a men’s magazine and is being targeted by legions of young women who only a few years ago would have been lusting after his older brother.

With all the attention being paid to Prince Harry, you might forget that Prince William’s the one getting married.

“He’s a cool guy, he’s an action man, and he obviously enjoys quite a good time,” said Robert Johnston, associate editor at GQ magazine, which featured a front-page, black-and-white photo of the 26-year-old royal. “It’s quite a potent mix.”

This week’s magazine shows a pensive prince, square-jawed and tousle-haired, his lips curling into a smile. GQ’s story covers Harry’s high-profile polar expedition with Walking With The Wounded, a U.K. charity devoted to helping injured veterans.

It’s work that has commanded a fair amount of television time given the dramatic crises gripping the Middle East, North Africa, the Ivory Coast and Japan.

Camera crews have tracked the prince as he goes through his punishing Arctic training, plunging into ice-cold water and struggling across the fields of blinding snow on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard. Clips of Harry, sporting stylish sunglasses and a wisp of stubble, have played better than those of his balding older brother, who was last pictured in faded green overalls showing his grandmother around a Welsh helicopter bay.

The British monarchy’s female fans have noticed.

“Will’s a bit more like Charles, more serious. Harry’s a bit more like Di,” his popular and glamorous mother, said Katie Steward, a 44-year-old bartender who planned to watch the royal wedding procession April 29.

Fulham unveils statue of Michael Jackson

LONDON

A statue of Michael Jackson has been unveiled outside the stadium of Premier League side Fulham, commemorating the late singer’s friendship with the club’s chairman.

Mohamed Al Fayed danced with children in front of the statue of the “King of Pop,” who died in 2009, after it was unveiled prior to Fulham’s home match with Blackpool at Craven Cottage on Sunday.

Al Fayed says “people will queue to come and visit it from all over Britain, and it is something that I and everybody else should be proud of.”

The statue had been slated to be erected outside Harrods department store, but those plans were shelved when Al Fayed sold the business last year.

Associated Press