For the second weekend in a row, the furry appeal of ‘Hop’ was too much for audiences (perhaps sedated or heavily drugged) to resist. The Russell Brand-voiced Easter Bunny movie made it to the #1 spot again. That’s interesting because, in doing so, it easily trumped another Russell Brand movie (one in which he is actually, you know, seen).

At #1 again, ‘Hop‘ added an impressive $21.8 million to its haul. That’s a little more than 40% down from last weekend, but considering how undeniably terrible the movie is, it should horde its earnings like an overeager kid plucking Easter eggs out of the garden. It’ll be interesting to see if ‘Hop’ can maintain the lead next week, when the heavily hyped ‘Rio’ opens everywhere. In the eternal struggle between birds and bunnies, who will come out on top? Or, more importantly, who cares?

Real-life Russell Brand was no match for animated Russell Brand, as ‘Arthur‘ debuted in the #2 slot with a disappointing $12.5 million. Maybe the British comedian is more palatable when you don’t actually have to watch him on screen. (I must admit that I thought he was a scream when he pitch-hit for Regis last week.) Or maybe people have misplaced fondness for the original film (which isn’t that great a movie, FYI). Who knows? For whatever reason, the remake just didn’t connect like everyone was hoping (wishing? praying?) it would.

From the disappointment of ‘Arthur’ to a surprising over-performer, Focus Features’ release of Joe Wright’s brilliant ‘Hanna‘ took in more than it was expected to – enough to secure the #3 spot with $12.2 million. The modestly budgeted action movie (really more of a feminist fairy tale) seemed to thrill in all the right ways. I saw this movie again with a regular audience on Saturday night, and the packed house absolutely loved it. People yelped in delight during Saoirse Ronan’s escape sequence. I’m not going to lie – I was kind of shocked by this. The movie often pushes its strangeness to points of uncomfortable extremity. It was nice to see a middle-class Northeastern audience accept it like this – which seems to have been the case nationwide.

In the fourth spot was ‘Soul Surfer‘. It garnered a $10.5 million return, which isn’t too shabby considering how god-awful it looks and how God-filled it is. (It’s chock full of heavy-handed Christian platitudes – ick). I’m sure it cost nothing to produce, but with the right amount of marketing savvy, it will earn a tidy profit. It’s sort of like passing the collection plate around…

The last of the big releases this week took in the least at the box office. Universal’s expensive R-rated comedy ‘Your Highness‘ didn’t even make enough to squeeze into the Top 5, having to settle for #6 with $9.6 million. It lost the #5 spot to ‘Insidious‘, which in its second week proves that people have no taste in horror movies. It’s a real shame that ‘Your Highness’ tanked, because the movie is great. It’s better than ‘Hot Tub Time Machine’ or ‘Pineapple Express’ or (as I wait for the waves of angry comments) ‘The Hangover’. It’s unique and different and totally awesome. And yet no one showed up. Maybe opening ‘Arthur’ the same weekend split the audience? Or maybe nobody cares or knows about the medieval flicks that the movie lovingly sends up?

That’s about all there is of note or interest to report with the box office, besides the mighty tumble of the very-good-indeed ‘Source Code‘, which fell from #2 to #7 this weekend under the crush of new movies (but still only slipped 39%). It has “cult classic” written all over it, already.

The Top 10:

01 ‘Hop’ (Universal) – $21.8 million

02 ‘Arthur’ (Warner Bros) – $12.5 million

03 ‘Hanna’ (Focus) – $12.2 million

04 ‘Soul Surfer’ (Sony) – $10.5 million

05 ‘Insidious’ (FilmDistrict) – $10 million

06 ‘Your Highness’ (Universal) – $9.6 million

07 ‘Source Code’ (Summit) – $9 million

08 ‘Limitless’ (Relativity) – $5.5 million

09 ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2’ (Fox) – $4.5 million

10 ‘Lincoln Lawyer’ (Lionsgate) – $4.5 million