Nickelodeon USA Airing "The Penguins Of Madagascar" Helps The Brand New DreamWorks Animation SKG Movie "Madagascar 3" Top The USA And Canadian Box Offices Charts

From Bloomberg:

'Madagascar 3' Is Top Weekend Film on Sales of $60.3 Million

DreamWorks Animation SKG (DWA)’s “Madagascar 3” opened as the top film at U.S. and Canadian box offices with $60.3 million in sales, edging out “Prometheus,” a science-fiction thriller from Ridley Scott.

"Prometheus," from News Corp. (NWSA)’s Twentieth Century Fox, the weekend’s only other new film in wide release, had $51.1 million in ticket sales, researcher Hollywood.com Box-Office said today in an e-mailed statement.

“Madagascar 3” sales beat the $53.8 million estimate of Box Office Mojo although revenue was less than the $63.1 million opening of “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa,” released in 2008. The animated 3-D movie received a marketing boost from a popular Nickelodeon TV show based on the penguin characters and ads featuring Chris Rock as a zebra performing a circus tune, Ben Carlson, co-founder of the research firm Fizziology, said in a June 7 interview. The film has little competition for family audiences until Disney (DIS)’s “Brave” on June 22.

“It’s a very solid opening and I expect this to play well over the next several weeks as most of DreamWorks films usually do,” said Paul Sweeney, a media and entertainment analyst for Bloomberg Industries. “You usually find animated movies do well when the kids are out of school, so they can go again and again and again.”

As of June 7, Los Angeles-based Fox ranked sixth in 2012 revenue with $419.1 million in domestic ticket sales. Walt Disney Co. was first with $780.5 million.

Detour to France

In "Madagascar 3," featuring the voices of Ben Stiller, Rock and Jada Pinkett-Smith, Alex the lion and his citified animal friends leave Africa to return to their home in New York’s Central Park Zoo. During a detour to France, they join a circus to escape the clutches of a relentless animal control officer.

You can read Bloomberg's full USA And Canadian Box Offices Charts report here on the official Bloomberg website, Bloomberg.com.