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Miley Cyrus is all smiles these days- the empire known as Hannah Montana has conquered television, movies and music over the last three years, with her latest film firmly at the top of the weekend box office. (picture courtesy of Reuters/Phil McCarten)

Box office pundits were predicting the new Hannah Montana movie to open anywhere between $17 million to $28 million over this Easter weekend- but the G-rated release ended up finding even more green in its basket.

Hannah is expected to finish somewhere in the $34 million range for the three-day weekend, good enough for first place, and securing the second-best-ever Easter weekend opening (2006’s Scary Movie 4 opened to $40.2 million.) And, with half of students off from school on Monday, Disney’s looking at a mighty potent four-day haul for Hannah.

(Last week’s No. 1, Fast and Furious, dropped to No. 2 with an estimated $28.8 million. Monsters & Aliens followed with an estimated $22.6 million.)

Walt Disney Pictures itself downplayed expectations (at least publicly) for the Miley Cyrus big screen vehicle. Chuck Viane, president of the studio’s domestic theatrical distribution, said “We would love to be in the high teens.” Such a performance would have put it on par with 2003’s Lizzie McGuire Movie, which also spun off from a popular Disney television program.

Starring Hilary Duff, Lizzie opened in 2,800-plus venues and pulled in $17.3 million in its opening weekend (around $20.6 million adjusting for inflation; debuting in 3,118 theaters, Hannah Montana grossed an estimated $17.4 million in its first day alone.

Clearly, 16-year-old Cyrus and her popular alter-ego are phenomena, whatever they touch turning to gold, platinum and any other chemical element one could imagine. The Disney Channel series, which follows the double-life adventures of teenage school girl Miley Stewart/pop sensation Hannah Montana, premiered to record ratings upon its debut on in March 2006. The series’ popularity led to a merchandising bonanza, with everything from dolls and lunchboxes to a clothing line satisfying the tween set’s every Hannah need.

Last year’s Best of Both Worlds concert film opened to a record-breaking $31.1 million at only 683 theaters (at $15 a ticket), ending its U.S. and Canadian run with $65.28 million. On the audio side, the two main Hannah soundtracks have sold 6.9 million copies in the USA, according to Nielsen SoundScan, with three other Hannah releases selling an additional 500,000-plus units. Furthermore, Breakout- Cyrus’ first non-Hannah-related album- itself has sold 1.4 million copies to date.

Hannah Montana: The Movie recently entered the Billboard 200 at No. 2 on sales of 139,000 units, making it the lowest-selling Miley/Hannahdebut among the four major albums. However, the movie should boost soundtrack sales, though probably not enough to challenge Rascal Flatts for the top spot- the country trio’s latest album is projected to sell around 300,000 units.

Both Cyrus and Peter Chelsom, the film’s director, have said there likely won’t be a Hannah sequel- though it would not be all that shocking if either of them reconsiders in the wake of this weekend’s box office receipts. Regardless of Hannah Montana’s future on the big screen, Cyrus hopes to continue with the series for at least one more season.

Eventually, though, as Cyrus gets older and the novelty reaches its maximum potential, Hannah Mania will run its course, making way for the next tween-set sensation. When that happens, will Cyrus’ fans continue to worship at the squeaky-clean alter of Miley? (Yes, her image remains just that, despite a “controversy” following a Vanity Fair photo shoot that left the impression she appeared topless, when she in fact was wrapped in a bedsheet.)

To her credit, Cyrus has been smart thus far in ensuring that she has her own identity. Preceding the release of Breakout, the second Hannah TV soundtrack cleverly featured a second disc titled- appropriately enough- Meet Miley Cyrus, giving fans the opportunity to sample what non-Hannah material she had to offer. And, she voiced Penny in Disney’s animated Bolt, which grossed $114 million at the domestic box office.

Even with successes outside the Hannah Montanarealm, there’s bound to be some concern that Cyrus has reached her zenith. How much bigger than Hannah can she get? How many 16-year-olds can lay claim to having their autobiography reach No. 1 on the New York Times’ children’s best seller list, let alone having an autobiography at all? No doubt that the memoir’s title- Miles to Go- probably is what Cyrus hopes indeed will describe her career to come.

Though while she sings of “The Climb” on her latest single, thanks to Hannah Montana, Cyrus and her star don’t really have one to undertake.

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