Just when signs of box-office doldrums began worrying studio execs, a flock of escaped zoo animals saved the day.
DreamWorks' latest animation fest, "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa," surpassed all expectations for its opening weekend, bringing in $63.5 million and helping the industry deliver a resounding 29% increase in overall box-office take compared with a year earlier.
For all releases, the three-day sum is expected to total $145 million, according to box-office tracker Media by Numbers.
That's an about-face from the previous weekend, when a relatively weak slate of films drove down the gate 37% and had industry observers howling that perhaps Hollywood wasn't recession-proof after all.
"The economy may be in a recession, but this proves that when the kids want to go see a movie, their parents will pay," said Paul Dergarabedian, Media by Numbers president. "There's just nothing better than animated animals for kids."
The numbers bear that out. The sequel handily outperformed its 2005 predecessor, "Madagascar," which opened with a $47.2-million gate that, adjusted for inflation, still comes up $10 million short of the current release. The sequel also beat out this year's other big animated pics, including Disney's "Wall-E" and DreamWorks' "Kung Fu Panda."
Though released on a non-holiday weekend, "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" had the fourth-best opening weekend all year.
"The movie really exceeded all of our expectations and all the box-office predictors," said Anne Globe, head of worldwide marketing for DreamWorks.
And with no major youth-oriented films premiering next weekend, it has clear sailing until Nov. 21, when Disney's animated road trip, "Bolt," bows. And yes, it too has talking critters.
Beyond the seemingly bottomless well of the talking-animal genre, Globe said, the film's success could be chalked up to the fact that, after the elections and all the negative financial news, "the country was ready for a comedy."
Indeed, the weekend's second-grossing film followed suit. Targeted to a completely different audience, Universal's R-rated laugher "Role Models" brought in $19.3 million, nearly double most forecasts.
"Everybody was anxious to get on with life and laugh again," said Nikki Rocco, president of domestic distribution at Universal.
The film stars Paul Rudd, a frequent player in raunchy Judd Apatow comedies. Though Apatow had nothing to do with "Role Models," a popular connection between Rudd and the director-producer may have helped it over the weekend.
