PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Those Rio birds continues to fly high.

The animated attraction Rio, which had the year-to-date’s best opening last weekend, finished in first place at the box office for a second straight time, earning an estimated $27 million.

Close behind was Madea’s Big Happy Family, the new comedy from producer, director, and star Tyler Perry, which took in $26 million in its debut.

Third place with a total of $18 million was Water for Elephants, the debuting period drama based on the best-seller starring Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson.

The weekend’s third new attraction African Cats, the nature documentary, opened with a take of $6 million, good for sixth place.

With the high-profile summer movie season just two weeks away, this was a hopeful weekend for the industry following the recent dry spell, with totals well ahead of those on the counterpart weekend last year.

Reported by Bill Wine, KYW Newsradio