Anne Hathaway and Jesse Eisenberg’s talking birds have edged out Tyler Perry’s sass-talking grandma at the weekend box office. Hathaway and Eisenberg’s animated family adventure “Rio’’ took in $26.8 million to remain the No. 1 movie for the second straight weekend, according to studio estimates yesterday. “Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family’’ debuted in a close second with $25.8 million, another solid opening for writer-director Perry, who also stars as boisterous, opinionated grandma Madea. Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson’s circus romance “Water for Elephants’’ premiered in third-place with $17.5 million. The weekend’s other new wide release, Disney’s nature documentary “African Cats,’’ opened at No. 6 with $6.4 million. Morgan Spurlock’s product-placement documentary “POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold’’ opened with fair but unremarkable business in limited release. (AP)
More guests named
The full list of confirmed guests and the seating plan for the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton were released by the British monarchy Saturday. Many of the 1,900 invitees had already been mentioned in the media weeks ago, including soccer star David Beckham and his wife, Victoria, musician Elton John, and director Guy Ritchie. But others, like soul singer Joss Stone and Mr. Bean actor Rowan Atkinson — a close friend of William’s father, Prince Charles — were new. St. James’s Palace also confirmed for the first time that Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa will be attending, despite British concerns about the treatment of activists there. Bahrain’s royal family ordered a wide-ranging brutal crackdown against pro-democracy demonstrators that started in mid-February. At least 30 people have died, including four in custody, and many well-known activists and lawyers have been imprisoned. About 40 other foreign royals from countries including Denmark, Norway, Spain, Thailand, and Morocco will be in attendance. (AP)
Pot accusation
Internet viral video hit Antoine Dodson is accused of possession of marijuana and other minor charges in his home state of Alabama. Dodson was booked on five misdemeanor charges after he was pulled over for alleged speeding early Saturday morning in Huntsville. He was booked at about 2:30 a.m. but has been released. Dodson became a reality sensation last year after a televised rant about a break-in at his sister’s apartment was turned into a viral video that catapulted the 20-year-old into television appearances, blog mentions, and other appearances. He could not be immediately reached for comment Saturday. A message on Dodson’s Twitter account about 11:30 a.m. read in part: “Just got out of jail off a weak charge.’’ (AP)
