‘Madagascar 3′ Beats ‘Prometheus’ with $60.4 Million Debut

DreamWorks Animation’s Madagascar 3: Europe Most Wanted jumpstarted sagging ticket sales which had plagued the box office for the past few weeks. Distributor Paramount Pictures reported an estimated $60.4 million opening weekend, which is on par with the last installment of the franchise which went on to gross $604 million worldwide.

The movie reunites audiences with Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Gloria the Hippo, and Melman the Giraffe as they continue to try to return home to their Central Park Zoo but end up joining a traveling circus in Europe instead. The recent lack of family-oriented film likely contributed to the animation over-performing at the box office. Audiences gave the film an average CinemaScore of “A” with kids under the age of 12 making up 28% of ticket sales.

Meanwhile, Ridley Scott’s R-rated science-fiction film Prometheus debuted to a healthy $50 million. The film not only marks the director’s return to his sci-fi roots but also to box office success as this is Scott’s best opening weekend since 2001′s Hannibal ($58 million).

The movie had a surprisingly effective marketing campaign which combined mystery-filled trailers and clever viral spots such as Michael Fassbender touting the advantages of androids to “carry out directives that my human counterparts may find distressing or unethical.”

Prometheus‘ audience skewed 57% male and 64% over the age of 25. It remains to be seen whether the $130 million film will have legs as it received an average CinemaScore grade of “B” but Fox certainly hopes it has a new franchise in the making.

This weekend’s strong receipts have contributed to ticket sales being up 29% compared with the same weekend in 2011.