‘Hannah Montana The Movie’ Is a Box Office Hit

Miley Cyrus proved that she remains the queen of preteenage girls, powering Walt Disney’s “Hannah Montana: The Movie” to first place over the weekend, with an estimated $34 million in tickets at North American theaters, breaking several minor box-office records.

The weekend’s two other new wide releases had a more difficult time establishing traction. Warner Bros.’ “Observe and Report” checked in at fourth place with $11.1 million, while Fox’s “Dragonball Evolution” was relegated to eighth place with just $4.7 million.

But fueled by big holdover numbers from “Fast & Furious” and “Monsters vs. Aliens,” ticket sales continued to tell an upbeat story.

The weekend haul of $137 million ranks as the top-grossing Easter weekend, surpassing the previous record of $132.1 million set in 2002, according to Nielsen. Boxoffice for the top 10 films was up more than 62% over the comparable weekend last year.

With “HMTM,” Disney continued to mine the successful teen franchise that began in 2006 when “Hannah Montana” first hit the Disney Channel. Starring Miley Cyrus and her dad, Billy Ray Cyrus, the series established the premise of a regular teen who secretly moonlights as a pop star and begat last year’s hit 3-D concert movie, “Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert.”

That film was originally booked in theaters for one week, which contributed to a boxoffice rush and a $31.1 million opening in just 683 theaters. Heading into last weekend, the cautious betting was that the “HMTM” wouldn’t beat that figure even though it was opening in 3,118 theaters.

1. Hannah Montana: The Movie $34,000,000 (Cumulative Gross $34,000,000)
2. Fast & Furious $28,783,000 (Cumulative Gross $118,042,000)
3. Monsters vs. Aliens $22,617,000 (Cumulative Gross $141,009,000)
4. Observe and Report $11,140,000 (Cumulative Gross $11,140,000)
5. Knowing $6,670,000 (Cumulative Gross $68,006,000)
6. I Love You, Man $6,412,000 (Cumulative Gross $58,997,000)
7. The Haunting in Connecticut $5,710,000 (Cumulative Gross $46,297,000)
8. Dragonball Evolution $4,650,000 (Cumulative Gross $4,650,000)
9. Adventureland $3,433,000 (Cumulative Gross $11,450,000)
10. Duplicity $2,997,000 (Cumulative Gross $36,848,000)
11. Race to Witch Mountain $2,000,000 (Cumulative Gross $62,056,000)
12. Sunshine Cleaning $1,804,000 (Cumulative Gross $7,223,000)