Disney’s “Alice in Wonderland” pulled off an impressive three-peat win at the weekend box office, earning an estimated $34.5 million.
The film posted a modest 45 percent dip from its previous session for a 17-day tally of $265.8 million. Launched simultaneously in many foreign markets, “Alice” has fetched $565.8 million worldwide.
Fox’s family comedy “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” proved the strongest of the weekend’s three wide openers. Its $21.8 million performance outpaced pre-release projections to nail down the weekend’s silver medal position.
Sony’s action comedy “The Bounty Hunter,” starring Gerard Butler and Jennifer Aniston, also bowed strongly with $21 million. That was good for third place on the frame and roughly in line with expectations.
But Universal’s scifi thriller “Repo Men,” toplined by Jude Law and Forest Whitaker, underperformed expectations with $6.2 million in fourth place. Universal’s “Green Zone” dropped a big 58 percent in its sophomore session to register $6 million in sixth place, with $24.7 million in cumulative box office.
On an industrywide basis, the $122 million weekend represented a 21 percent improvement over the same frame last year.
Looking ahead, two pictures open in wide release on Friday. Paramount debuts 3D animated feature “How to Train Your Dragon,” while MGM unspools the R-rated comedy “Hot Tub Time Machine.”

Alice in Wonderland continued to do amazing business on Monday, grossing $9 million, with an average of $2,416 per screen even though kids were busy elsewhere, according to figures found at Box Office Mojo. After only four days, Tim Burton’s fantasy blockbuster has amassed $125 million at the domestic box office.
Alice in Wonderland stars Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway, Crispin Glover, and the voices of Stephen Fry, Barbara Windsor, and Michael Sheen.
At a very distant #2, Antoine Fuqua’s cop drama Brooklyn’s Finest, starring Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke, and Wesley Snipes, earned $1.07 million. At #3, Shutter Island, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo, took in $1.01 million. Martin Scorsese’s thriller should be crossing the $100 million mark before the weekend. (more…)

Actress Anne Hathaway is a sweetheart — in most of her roles, anyway.
From her first big role as a nice teenager in “The Princess Diaries” to playing an ingénue in the backbiting fashion film “Devil Wears Prada,” Hathaway knows how to play the good girl.
In recent years, the Academy Award nominated actress has shown her versatility in a variety of different roles, but she’s back to being “good.”
“Early Show” Special Correspondent and British TV personality Amanda Holden recently sat down with the star to discuss her career and latest role as the Good White Queen in “Alice in Wonderland.”
Holden asked Hathaway, “Is it a stretch to have so much goodness in all the roles you play?”
Hathaway laughed and said, “Most people ask that about the bad characters — that’s a stretch. Thank you. Terrible stretch — I am actually an awful person if you can’t tell. Yes, you know I wear white to distract -” (more…)