"Madagascar 2" goes wild at North American box office

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DreamWork Animation's animated sequel "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" opened wildly this weekend in U.S. and Canadian theaters, beating industry expectations and virtually dispersing an impression that there is an economic recession underway.

Cast member David Schwimmer (C), who gives voice to Melman, poses with characters from the movie at the premiere of "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" at the Mann Village theatre in Westwood, California October 26, 2008. The movie opens in the U.S. on November 7.

The family comedy about a group of New York Zoo animals' journey to Africa took in 63.5 million dollars over the three-day period in North America, far surpassing the 47.2-million-dollar debut of the original film in 2005, according to studio figures released Sunday.

"Madagascar 2" also scored the best opening of the year for a family film, overpassing "Wall-E" and "Kung Fu Panda" which opened with about 63 million and 60 million dollars respectively in summer.

Meanwhile, Sony's latest James Bond film dominated overseas box office over the weekend as "Quantum of Solace" claimed the top spot in each of the 60 markets with a collective take of 106.5 million dollars.

Universal's R-rated comedy "Role Models" opened in No. 2 in North America this weekend with an unexpected 19.3 million dollars, followed by Disney's "High School Musical 3" with 9.3 million dollars.

The Disney teenager sensation, which was the box office leader in last two weeks, has grossed 75.7 million dollars in North America since it opened as the first big-screen version of the original television movie franchise.

Angelina Jolie-starred "Changeling," a Universal production directed by Oscar-winning veteran Clint Eastwood, was steady in No.4 with 7.3 million dollars, while comedy "Zack and Miri Make a Porno" from Weinstein Co. dropped two spots to No. 5 with 6.5 million dollars.

With help of the surprising performance of "Madagascar 2," the top-selling 12 movies took in about 128.8 million dollars this weekend in North America, a 32 percent increase from the same weekend last year.

Hollywood is expected to see a bumper start of the upcoming holiday season as the 007 film "Quantum of Solace," which has grossed 160.3 million dollars overseas, opens domestically Friday, followed by Summit Entertainment's vampire romance "Twilight" and Disney's animated canine comedy "Bolt" next week.