‘Wimpy Kid’ box office hit

Published 10:40 pm Monday, March 22, 2010

Young Grayson Russell’s movie “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” made a big splash this weekend, grossing more than $20 million at the domestic box office.

The adaptation of Jeff Kinney’s bestselling children’s novel fell short of unseating 3-D behemoth “Alice in Wonderland” from the top spot but edged out the Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler romantic comedy “The Bounty Hunter” by just a hair.

Grossing approximately $22.1 million, the film’s financial performance urged distributor 20th Century Fox to kick a sequel into developmental overdrive.

The film’s production budget topped out at approximately $19 million.

The Clanton native Russell is now officially a part of two highly successful Hollywood studio releases, including “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” and 2006’s “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.”

“Diary of a Wimpy Kid” is currently playing nationwide in theaters.