Madagascar 2 Tops Foreign Box Office
DreamWorks Animation Film Stars Ben Stiller, Jada Pinkett-Smith
Jan 5, 2009
Despite barely becoming a hit in North America, DreamWorks Animation's Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa has set foreign movie screens on fire, topping the international box office charts for 3 weeks in a row.
The sequel to 2005's Madagascar pulled $32.2 million this past weekend at 6,771 theatres in 60 countries. That brings its foreign total to $340 million, 2 million more than the first flick earned. Of course, Escape 2 Africa is showing no signs of slowing down, so it seems to be that rare sequel that's outperforming its predecessor.
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa Makes $517 Million Worldwide: Sequel Likely
The DreamWorks Animation film made its debut at #1 in Poland this past weekend, breaking box office records with a take of $3.8 million. At the same time, it earned an additional $4 million in Germany and $3.95 million in France.
Combined with its $177 million domestic total, that brings Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa's worldwide box office to $517 million, according to Box Office Mojo. Despite the fact that the flick cost $150 million to make, this pretty much ensures that DreamWorks Animation will green-light a Madagascar 3 in the not-too-distant future.
(Actually, DreamWorks Animation was so confident that this flick would be a hit that Madagascar 3 was scheduled for a 2012 release even before Escape 2 Africa hit theatres)
This means that both DreamWorks Animation films have now outperformed their chief CGI rival this past year: Disney/Pixar's WALL-E. That Andrew Stanton flick earned $223.8 million domestically, and $283.5 million in foreign box office. That puts WALL-E's worldwide total at $507.3 million.
However, WALL-E is still a going concern in Japan, where it topped the box office there. It snagged $3.7 million this past weekend, up 180% from the previous weekend. Disney suits can also take solace in the fact that the film is the heavyweight contender for next year's Best Animated Feature Film race at the Oscars, and could earn a Best Picture nomination as well.
That said, it would still take an upset of colossal proportions for WALL-E to take the top Academy award on February 22nd.
In contrast, Disney Animation's Bolt earned $11.9 million in 25 countries this past weekend. That brings its foreign total to $46.4 million which – combined with its $110 million in domestic box office – brings a worldwide total of $156.3 million. The Mouse House isn't admitting how much it cost this film to make, but $150 million seems to be a fair estimate, which means that Bolt is barely making a profit.
 |
