Rio tops North American box office

Animated family comedy Rio has topped the North American box office according to initial figures. The film about a birdnapped macaw, which features the voices of Jesse Eisenberg and Anne Hathaway, took $40m (£24.6m) in its first three days.

It was the best opening weekend takings so far this year, beating another animated comedy, Rango, by $2m (£1.2m). Horror sequel Scream 4 - the first film in the franchise for 11 years - entered the chart at two with $19.3m (£11.9m). The movie reunites original cast members Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox and David Arquette.

However box office receipts for the film came in lower than industry expectations, as its previous two movies both managed in excess of $30m (£18.4m) in their opening weekends. A spokesperson for the Weinstein Co said that the long period between films may have affected its takings as the typically young teenage horror fan would have been too young for the franchise the last time around.

Last week's number one film, animated comedy Hop featuring the voice of Russell Brand, fell to number three after two weeks at the top spot. Director Robert Redford's Lincoln-assassination drama The Conspirator was the only other new entry at nine.

It took $3.9m (£2.4m) after a limited release in 707 cinemas, compared to an average 2,900 cinemas for the rest of the top 10. The movie stars Robin Wright and James McAvoy in a courtroom tale of a woman accused of aiding Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth.

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Funny Cartoon Movies For Kids

Funny cartoon movies for kids are becoming more and more prevalent these days, as studios are realizing they can make a large amount of money off these films, due to the fact that both parents and kids can attend and be entertained. Due to this, studios like Pixar, Dreamworks and Disney are producing more and more funny cartoon movies for kids to see, hoping to draw in the parents as well.

1. "Up." One of the most original films from Pixar, "Up" is both a funny cartoon movie for kids and a heartfelt story about life for viewers of all ages. A man whose wife dies attaches a ton of balloons to his house which causes it to float away, leading him on an exciting adventure. It's tough to not love a film that makes you feel just about everything.

2. "Surf's Up." A fun, funny cartoon movie for kids about penguins who also surf. In the movie, we go behind-the-scenes of the penguin surfing championships. What's not to love about that?

3. "Ice Age." An original tale about animals who are surviving the Ice Age on Earth, this funny cartoon movie for kids has been so popular that it has spawned a number of hilarious sequels, for parents and their kids alike to love. One of the best parts is the endless quest for a prehistoric squirrel trying to get a precious nut that he has buried.

4. "Shrek." An animated fantasy film that has modern comedy and the voices of stars like Mike Meyers and Eddie Murphy, "Shrek" is one of the highest grossing animated films ever made, spawning numerous sequels, many of which are unwatchable. However, the original is a very good and very funny cartoon movie for kids, even though a large green ogre and a talking donkey are its main characters.

5. "Toy Story." Unlike the "Shrek" series, every "Toy Story" movie has been incredibly well-made on all fronts. This funny cartoon movie for kids follow old toys who are trying to win the affection of their original owner back. But this is what Pixar does, striving for perfection and not a huge return at the box office, or so we are led to believe. "Toy Story" is one of the best funny cartoon movies for kids ever made and the second and third installments are almost as good.

6. "The Incredibles." Another gem from Pixar does their take on the superhero genre, adding all the elements that exist in any film to a wonderfully funny and entertaining story. The story follows a family of superheroes who have since settled down to live the middle-American family life when suddenly they must don their capes and costumes once again. What's even more entertaining is that the kids in the family, even the baby, must get involved and use their super powers to help save the day. This may be the perfect funny cartoon movie for kids.

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Goody on Film: For kids actors, how much is too much?

Is there a limit to what kids can - or, more to the point, should - do in movies? That question may pop up when "Hanna" opens on Friday, April 8. Director Joe Wright's film is tremendously entertaining, in large part because of his star, Saoirse Ronan, who is brilliant as a 16-year-old girl who, well, kills people. Lots of them, without hesitation or remorse.

Part of the conceit of the film is, of course, that she is indeed a kid who is doing this. We are meant to be shocked, and we are. But Ronan is a gifted-enough actress that we feel far more than surprise watching her break necks and fire guns.

Ronan is 16 in real life; she'll turn 17 a few days after the film opens. Certainly the violence she commits in the film makes us uncomfortable, but it's meant to. It would make us uncomfortable if a 35-year-old man was committing it. The effect is just more pronounced when it's a kid.

In this respect it takes us back to "Kick-Ass," in which 13-year-old Chloe Moretz played Hit-Girl, who sliced and diced bad guys in graphic ways while cursing like the proverbial sailor, only more so. This was, to some extent, played for laughs, which maybe makes it a little different, but the question was still asked: Should a kid this age be doing this, even in a fictional movie?

It's a question that people asked in 1976, when Jodie Foster, then 13, appeared in "Taxi Driver" playing a 12-year-old prostitute. (She got a best-supporting-actress Oscar nomination for her troubles.)

It's a tough spot. For realism, certainly, it helps not to have a 22-year-old pretending to be 10 years younger. But does it affect the young women playing the roles? I've spoken to Ronan and Moretz, and both seem like almost scarily well-adjusted kids. So if they - and their parents - are up to the task, sure. Let 'em act.

Speaking of movie violence, the folks at Complex.com have compiled a list of the 50 Most Memorable Movie Assassinations, just in time for the release of "Hanna" (while complaining that, as good as the movie is, Ronan's character kills people but doesn't technically assassinate them).

No. 1 on the list? A surprise, actually: The killing of Tony Montana in "Scarface." He goes down, of course, in a hail of bullets. From the write-up: "The lesson learned here: Don't do drugs. And always keep an M-16 grenade launcher handy."

Noted. It's kind of an odd idea for a list, but it's actually pretty cool once you dig in and start reading; there are some really powerful scenes here. Among the assassinations that make the top 10 are killings in "The Godfather," "Apocalypse Now" and "Malcolm X," among others. Without giving anything else away, I'd vote for their No. 2 as my No. 1; the scene didn't invent operatic violence, but it did perfect it. If you've been missing Arnold Schwarzenegger since he left office as governor of California, you're in luck.

If you haven't been missing him, he's going to be much harder to avoid. In addition to the already-announced "Governator" comic book and TV show he's creating with comic legend Stan Lee, Schwarzenegger is going to make an animated movie about the character, as well, that's scheduled to be released in 2013.

The character, the Governator of the title, is Schwarzenegger himself, fighting evil-doers as a superhero after leaving office. Insert your own budget-cutting jokes here. And then watch the trailer and decide whether you're excited to see Schwarzenegger back onscreen.

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