Family animated tentpole Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted landed at the top of the domestic box office with a stand-out $60.4 million opening, besting the $50 million scored by Ridley Scott's sci-fi epic Prometheus, The Hollywood Reporter said.
The DreamWorks Animation and Paramount threequel also ruled overseas – where competition was fierce – grossing a stellar $75.5 million from 28 markets for a worldwide opening of $135.9 million.
Still, Prometheus was no slouch for an R-rated, original tentpole, and did more than expected on the strength of Scott's fan base and 20th Century Fox's creative marketing materials.
Internationally, where it began rolling out the previous weekend to impressive numbers, Prometheus came in No. 2, grossing $39.2 million from 50 markets for a pleasing foreign cume of $91.5 million and worldwide total of $141.5 million. Reversing a downturn that has plagued the box office since early May, North American box office revenues were up nearly 30 percent from the same weekend last year when Super 8 opened.
Madagascar 3 – benefiting from the pent-up demand for family product – earned a glowing A CinemaScore. The threequel returns Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett Smith and David Schwimmer in the lead voice roles, while Frances McDormand, Martin Short, Jessica Chastain and Bryan Cranston join the franchise.
