‘Madagascar’ Teems with Box Office Life
Propelled by a fantastic showing from Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, the Holiday season launched with slightly higher attendance than in 2007 and 2006, though it trailed the season's starts for 2001 through 2005. With the subsequent scheduling of another event picture, Quantum of Solace, Holiday business may not experience the second weekend lull of the past few years, when weaker titles were released. The Madagascar sequel grooved to $63.1 million on approximately 7,100 screens at 4,056 sites, handily swinging past the $47.2 million debut of its 2005 predecessor and ranking among the ten biggest animated starts of all time. Rendering Escape 2 Africa's opening even more impressive is that it had a non-holiday berth compared to the first movie's Memorial Day weekend, and its four-day attendance was still higher, reaching $68.3 million through Monday. The first Madagascar went on to gross $193.6 million by the end of its run, and the sequel's opening and timing portends a b...