The animated family feature pulled in $40 million at the box office this weekend.
"Rio" features the voices of Anne Hathaway and Jesse Eisenberg telling the tale of romance and smuggling involving rare birds.
It was the biggest debut so far this year.
The other big new release, the slasher-comedy "Scream 4" opened with a lukewarm $19.3 million.
The top 10 movies of the weekend were:
1. "Rio," $40 million.
2. "Scream 4," $19.3 million.
3. "Hop," $11.2 million.
4. "Soul Surfer," $7.4 million.
5. "Hanna," $7.3 million.
6. "Arthur," $6.94 million.
7. "Insidious," $6.9 million.
8. "Source Code," $6.3 million.
9. "The Conspirator," $3.92 million.
10. "Your Highness," $3.9 million.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
