LOS ANGELES (AFP) – The first big budget film of the summer season, "Fast Five," broke new records as it stormed to the head of the box office in its first weekend in theaters, industry data showed Monday.
Ticket sales of $86.2 million for the fifth volume in the high-speed car chase series, in which Paul Walker and Vin Diesel reunite with fellow "Fast" veterans, marked the biggest premiere for any film so far this year.
Tropical bird comedy "Rio," which had roosted atop the box office for two consecutive weeks, was knocked down to second place with $14.8 million, according to tracker company Exhibitor Relations.
In third place was the latest comedic offering from Tyler Perry, the critically-panned "Madea's Big Happy Family," which raked in $9.9 million in its second weekend.
Depression-era romance "Water for Elephants," starring British heartthrob Robert Pattinson and Oscar-winner Reese Witherspoon, took in $9.3 million to land in fourth.
In fifth place was coming-of-age flick "Prom," which earned $4.7 million for its cast of largely unknown actors, while moviegoers were similarly unimpressed by "Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil," a 3-D cartoon with ticket sales at $4.1 million.
The weekend box office hit list put "Soul Surfer" in the seventh spot with $3.4 million, telling the true story of church-going teen surfer Bethany Hamilton, who returned to the ocean after losing an arm in a shark attack.
Horror flick "Insidious," about a family in a haunted house, picked up nearly $2.7 million in eighth, followed by "Hop," a real-action-animation hybrid about the wayward son of the Easter Bunny, with a whisker less that also brought in $2.7 million.
Rounding out the top 10 for a second week in a row was Jake Gyllenhaal's acclaimed sci-fi thriller "Source Code," about a government experiment to find the bomber of a commuter train, which took $2.5 million.