Universal’s family film Hop featuring the voice of Russell Brand in the lead bounced to the top of the North American charts on an estimated $38.1m for the highest launch of the year-to-date.

The box office slump continued, however, as revenues fell 27% compared to this time last year. Vendome Pictures and producer Mark Gordon’s sci-fi thriller Source Code directed by the UK’s Duncan Jones in his follow-up to independent hit Moon opened through Summit Entertainment in second place on $15.1m and pairs Jake Gyllenhaal with Michelle Monaghan.

FilmDistrict was celebrating a highly promising maiden release as the horror film Insidious opened in third place on $13.5m. “This is a film that can spread out among people who normally don’t go to horror films because it’s not gore; it’s old school like Poltergeist,” FilmDistrict president of theatrical distribution Bob Berney said. “The reviews were great and we got a very large Latino audience. We will hold steady [on around 2,400 theatres] for a couple of weeks.”

Berney is busy preparing for the company’s second release next week in the form of the true-life drama Soul Surfer, which he said was tracking well. The executive added that trailers for August release Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark had drawn an enthusiastic response during Insidious screenings.

Last weekend’s champion Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules from Fox fell three places to number four on $10.2m for $38.4m and Warner Bros’ action fantasy Sucker Punch fell five places to number seven on $6.1m for $29.9m.

The Weinstein Company re-released The King’s Speech in its PG-13 version amid much fanfare but audiences appear to have had their fill of the best picture Oscar winner, which opened in 14th place on $1.2m from 1,011 theatres. The R-rated version grossed $135.5m.

Next weekend’s wide releases are: Warner Bros’ comedy remake Arthur starring Russell Brand; Focus Features’ action thriller Hanna starring Saoirse Ronan; Universal’s comedy Your Highness with Natalie Portman, Danny McBride and James Franco; and FilmDistrict’s Soul Surfer with AnnaSophia Robb and Helen Hunt.

Estimated Top 10 North America Apr 1-3, 2010
Film (Dist) / Est wkd gross / Est total to date

1 (-) Hop (Universal) UPI $38.1m –
2 (-) Source Code (Summit) Summit Int’l $15.1m –
3 (-) Insidious (FilmDistrict) IM Global $13.5m –
4 (1) Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (Fox) Fox Int’l $10.2m $38.4m
5 (3) Limitless (Relativity) $9.4m $55.6m
6 (4) The Lincoln Lawyer (Lionsgate) Lakeshore Int’l $7.1m $39.6m
7 (2) Sucker Punch (Warner Bros) WBPI $6.1m $29.9m
8 (5) Rango (Paramount) PPI $4.6m $113.8m
9 (6) Paul (Universal) UPI $4.3m $31.9m
10 (7) Battle: Los Angeles (Sony) SPRI $3.5m $78.5m

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