NORTH AMERICA: 'Rio 2' Wins Close Three-Way Race on Monday with $2.68M

By Daniel Garris

After placing in a close third over the weekend, Fox's Rio 2 moved back into first place on Monday with $2.68 million. The 3D computer animated sequel from Blue Sky Studios was down just 43 percent from Sunday and essentially unchanged from last Monday, as the Monday after Easter is traditionally a very strong day for family films. Rio 2 has grossed a very solid $77.72 million through eleven days of release. That places the film 8 percent behind the $84.15 million eleven-day take of 2011's Rio (which fell 42 percent to take in $3.34 million on the Monday after Easter).

Disney's Captain America: The Winter Soldier placed in a very close second with $2.595 million. The blockbuster 3D superhero sequel from Marvel was down 55 percent from Sunday and down a healthy 25 percent from last Monday. Captain America: The Winter Soldier has grossed $203.096 million through 18 days and will soon surpass the $206.36 million final domestic gross of last year's Thor: The Dark World. The Winter Soldier is currently running 22 percent ahead of the $169.28 million 18-day take of The Dark World.

Heaven is for Real took third place on Monday with $2.49 million. The low-budget faith-based drama from Sony was down 61 percent from Sunday, which was quite understandable given the film's strong daily hold on Easter Sunday. Heaven is for Real surpassed the $30 million mark yesterday and continues to outpace expectations with an impressive six-day start of $32.04 million. That is 15.5 percent stronger than the $27.73 million six-day take of 2010's The Last Song. With the aid of strong word of mouth, Heaven is for Real is likely to hold up nicely going forward.

Warner's Transcendence claimed fourth place with $0.997 million. The pricey sci-fi film starring Johnny Depp was down 56 percent from Sunday. Transcendence has grossed an extremely disappointing $11.88 million in its first four days of release. That represents a very poor performance given the film's price tag and is quite similar to the $12.86 million four-day start of 2007's Grindhouse. Given its performance thus far, Transcendence looks to fade away from theatres quickly.

Open Road's A Haunted House 2 rounded out the day's top five with $0.665 million. The low-budget horror comedy sequel starring Marlon Wayans fell 62 percent from Sunday, which represented one of the day's poorer daily percentage holds among wide releases. A Haunted House 2 is performing below expectations with a four-day start of $9.51 million and is currently running 50 percent behind the $19.08 million four-day start of last year's A Haunted House.

After a lackluster start over the weekend, Bears experienced the day's strongest percentage hold among wide releases, as it was down just 28 percent from Sunday to land in sixth with $0.653 million. The latest nature documentary from Disneynature should have another great hold today thanks to Earth Day. Bears has grossed $5.43 million in four days, which places it 18.5 percent behind the $6.66 million four-day take of 2011's African Cats.