"Madagascar 3" Opens Strong

I definitely did not see this one coming. DreamWorks' Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted has taken in $60 million over the weekend. Adjusted, this isn't too bad, considering that the previous film's adjusted opening weekend total is $69 million. It looks like nothing wore off for this film, as I was expecting this one to somewhat disappoint on opening weekend considering how Kung Fu Panda 2 and Puss in Boots did on their opening weekends. The marketing for this film was a step up from the campaigns for those films, but there was a little too much reliance on the "afro circus" joke. I bet that one is drilled in everyone's heads now...

Opening against Ridley Scott's Prometheus, the third installment in DreamWorks' zoo animal franchise took #1. Prometheus still did very well for an R-rated science fiction film, opening with a strong $51 million. It seems like DreamWorks made sure that this sequel was no dud, and from the critical reception its gotten, it is supposed to be a very fun romp that should delight everyone. I haven't seen it yet, but I will review it as soon as I do, which I'm hoping is some time this week.

Now I'm not sure how the word of mouth will be, but I'm thinking it'll be strong since it seems like families really enjoyed this film along with the critics. How Brave and Ice Age: Continental Drift will affect it, I don't know, though I have a feeling the Pixar epic will take a lot out of DreamWorks' comedy when it opens. When is the last time a DreamWorks film opened so close to a Pixar film? That's certainly a rarity, but with May 2012 being crowded, they kind of had no choice. Little did they know that most of May's releases would do rather poorly as The Avengers would dominate the month before a 3D release came into town.

Anyways, it started off with a bang. Hopefully it does well in the long run, as DreamWorks does need another $200 million hit since the two sequels they released last year had trouble reaching that mark. I can't say anymore since I haven't seen the film, but apparently it's a winner, so hooray for DreamWorks! The fact that it did so well is also proof that people are still going to see animated films, despite last year's underwhelming box office performances. With that, I have a feeling Brave and Ice Age: Continental Drift are bound to do very, very well. Animation might've ran into a bit of a ditch last year, but box office as a whole last year wasn't up to snuff. With 2012 booming with runaway hits, these animated films will do better than they did last year and maybe even the year before that.

What's your take? Are you surprised? Or were you expecting the film to make this much? Sound off!