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In a somewhat surprising tie for second place (at least until actuals come in) is The Croods, the animated caveman flick from DreamWorks Animation and Fox. After an Easter Weekend where the Friday figure dropped only 8% but the weekend fell 39% to $26.7 million, The Croods bounces back nicely with a reversal of fortune. Although the Friday figure dropped 44% from the holiday Good Friday, the weekend decline is only 21%, giving The Croods a third weekend gross of $21.1 million. Last weekend, The Croods had a weekend multiplier of 2.5 because of Good Friday and a reduced family audience on Easter Sunday; this weekend, it moves back to the norm with a weekend multiplier of 3.52, meaning the majority of audiences came to theatre on Saturday and Sunday.

With a solid Easter Monday ($5 million) and this strong weekend, The Croods has lifted its domestic total to $125.8 million, crossing the $100 million mark on Wednesday, its 13th day. That’s the same amount of time it took Shrek ($42.3 million opening, $267 million finish). The Croods won’t see the fantastic legs that Shrek had, but at this point, $200 million isn’t out of the question. When we started the box office journey with The Croods, I had some concerns for the picture, given its $43 million opening and $135 million price tag. In the end, The Croods is going to be a strong success for DWA, as it adds an overseas gross approaching $200 million to that solid domestic total. Rise of the Guardians this isn’t.

Currently tied for second is to G.I. Joe: Retaliation, which had a middling debut last weekend at $40.5 million and a four-day take of $51 million. Because G.I. Joe: Retaliation opened on Thursday last week, the drop-off in the second frame is more muted. This weekend, Retaliation earned $21.1 million, giving the sequel a drop of 48%. The original G.I. Joe, Rise of the Cobra, earned $22.3 million in its second weekend, after opening to $54.7 million. Obviously, the same audience is showing up. After two weekends, the original had earned $98.6 million, whereas the sequel has brought its total up to $86.7 million.

Fourth spot goes to Jurassic Park 3D, but don’t let the ranking fool you – it had a strong weekend for a re-release. Jurassic Park 3D earned $18.2 million from 2,771 venues, giving it an average of $6,585. Universal spent $10 million updating the 1993 classic (before marketing etc.), and the move to 3D is definitely going to pay off. As mentioned, Universal wanted to not only make money on this re-release, but also stoke interest in Jurassic Park IV, which is scheduled for release in June of 2014. This 3D re-release is a little ahead of Titanic 3D, which opened to $17.3 million over the same weekend last year. The norm for these is to fizzle out quickly, but I bet Universal will be more than happy with $20 million.

Fifth goes to Olympus Has Fallen, now in its third weekend. After a strong opening ($30.4 million) and a tough second weekend against G.I. Joe, Olympus bounced back. The Gerard Butler flick earned $10 million in its third frame and fell 29%. It has now surpassed its $70 million production budget with a gross so far of $71.1 million, and looks to finish right around $100 million.

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