Box Office: ‘Alice in Wonderland’ Comes In First (Again) With $34.5 Million

Spring weather beckons, but where are all the kids? Not playing outside, apparently. Between “Alice in Wonderland” spending a third week at the top and the impressive opening of “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” it looks like all minors have been ignoring higher temperatures in favor of the frigid environment of darkened theaters. With $34.5 million this weekend, “Alice” has now brought in $266 million, which should put it among the top earners when 2010 comes to a close (particularly when you account for another $300 million from international audience’s pockets). However, it should slow down considerably with next week’s landing of 3D film (and audience sharer) “How to Train Your Dragon.”

People weren’t predicting huge numbers for “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” but it shouldn’t be too surprising that the bestselling children’s novel adaptation pulled in $21.8 million. Reviews weren’t too bad either, which shouldn’t hurt its future prospects. Jeff Kinney’s series has sold millions, and there are currently four books with a fifth on the way. It’s hard to imagine that a $15 million film (we’re guessing that film rights were one of the biggest parts of the budget) won’t be quite profitable for Fox, and we expect a sequel announcement soon.

The bronze belongs to “Bounty Hunter,” the dismally reviewed film that brought in $21 million. We’re guessing that Sony wanted the Jennifer Aniston-Gerard Butler movie to appeal to couples with its combination of action and romance, but the message it actually sends is, “I would rather watch this horrible-looking movie than actually talk to my significant other.” It seems that many (soon-to-be-non) couples fell for the ploy this weekend, but we’re predicting at least a 60% drop next week. “Hot Tub Time Machine,” anyone?

“Repo Men” comes in a distant fourth with $6.2 million. Between the bad trailers and worse reviews, we’re not surprised, even though we didn’t think the film was an absolute loss. Its embarrassing per-screen average of $2,440 makes things look even worse, as does its reported $32 million budget. Also in the running for a huge loss is “Green Zone,” which came in sixth place (behind “She’s Out of My League,” to add insult to injury). It earned just under $6 million over the weekend, bringing its total to a disappointing $24.7 million. The budget for the Universal film was reportedly $100 million, so don’t expect a “Green Zone 2” in 2012.

Also underperforming is Roman Polanski’s “Ghost Writer,” which picked up 595 locations and $2.9 million to come in 11th. It has made $6.2 million domestically and an equal amount overseas, which isn’t bad for the more arty (read: cheaper) fare that the controversial director has offered, but this thriller is supposed to have cost $45 million to make.

No word yet on theIn limited release of “Greenberg” the film won the specialty, per-screen average weekend box-office numbers taking in $120,432 on just 3 screens. Early numbers are in for the 244-screen mini-release for “The Runaways.” The Kristen Stewart-starring film earned $803,000 and a more telling $3,291 per-screen average (“Greeberg” had a $40,144 per-theater-average). It’s not a bad start, but we’re curious to see how the rock band biopic performs when it goes wide on April 9. The IMAX release “Hubble 3D” made a bit less money ($453,000), but it did it on fewer screens and averaged $11,615 each (we imagine the higher ticket fees didn’t hurt…).

1. Alice in Wonderland – $34.5 million ($266 mil.)
2. Diary of a Wimpy Kid – $21.8 million ($21.8 mil.)
3. The Bounty Hunter – $21 million ($21 mil.)
4. Repo Men – $6.2 million ($6.2 mil.)
5. She’s Out of My League – $6.02 million ($19.5 mil.)
6. Green Zone – $6 million ($20 mil.)
7. Shutter Island – $4.8 million ($116 mil.)
8. Avatar – $4 million ($737 mil.)
9. Our Family Wedding – $3.8 million ($13.7 mil.)
10. Remember Me – $3.3 million ($13.9 mil.)