Box Office Review: Madagas-go!

Is there anything funnier than animals who can talk? Yes. Many things. | Photo courtesy of DreamWorks Animation

Madagascar 2: Escape to Witch Mountain blew through expectations this weekend as it hauled in a huge $63.5M from easily fooled children. Similarly, Role Models topped early estimates by bringing in a cool $19.2M and further validating Universal's strategy of pitting R-rated fare against family films. HSM3 slipped in its third frame, but not too badly ($9.2M/$75.7M) while Changeling continued to do good business despite basically sucking ($7.2M/$20.5M). Zack and Miri Screw finished fifth with a decent take of $6.5M ($20.9M).

The bottom half of the top 10 was led by the unfunny Soul Men ($5.6M). After that it was the pornographic Saw V ($4.2M/$52.3M), the meh The Haunting of Molly Hartley ($3.4M/$10.2M), the mild The Secret Life of Bees ($3.1M/$29.9M) and the crappy Eagle Eye ($2.5M/$96.4M). In limited release, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas ($15,000 per theater) and JCVD ($11,650) both did well while Repo: The Genetic Opera ($6500) and Gardens of the Night ($3750) were only okay. House ($978) fell flat and will finish deeply in the red.