LOS ANGELES, California (AP) — Lionsgate’s Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family is expected to top the Easter weekend box office chart with a big and happy gross approaching US$30 million.

Tyler Perry’s films have generated over half a billion dollars in domestic revenue and the 10 feature films he has produced and directed since 2005 have had an average opening weekend of US$23.5 million. Of those, the films with Madea’s name in the title have been the most popular with audiences.

This weekend should be another great one for the celebrity birds of Fox’s Rio, with anticipated revenue of around US$20 million as kids on spring break continue to flock to theaters with their parents. The film was a bigger-than-expected hit in its debut last weekend at US$39 million and is currently the No 1 film in the world.

Fox’s Water for Elephants starring Twilight’s Robert Pattinson is likely to grab a third place debut with a gross in the low teens. Based on the best-selling novel by Sara Gruen, the film also features Reese Witherspoon and Academy Award-winner Christoph Waltz. Boasting major female appeal, Water for Elephants is likely to become a long-term alternative to the testosterone-driven summer blockbusters now on the horizon.

Jungle cats and bunnies will go at it for the weekend’s fifth position: Universal’s Easter-themed Hop should take full advantage of the holiday weekend and gross in the US$6 million to US$8 million range, while Disney Nature’s African Cats should land on its feet in the same territory.