BOX OFFICE BEAT DOWN: Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa Busts Out of the Gate with $63.5 Million

Weekend Box Office

1) Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa $63.5 million.

2) Role Models $19.2 million.

3) High School Musical 3: Senior Year $9.2 million

4) Changeling $7.2 million.

5) Zack and Miri Make a Porno $6.5 million.

6) Soul Men $5.6 million.

7) Saw V $4.2 million.

8) The Haunting of Molly Hartley $3.4 million.

9) The Secret Life of Bees $3.1 million.

10) Eagle Eye $2.5 million

In a move nobody could have predicted, the DreamWorks animated sequel Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa broke out of the gate with the biggest opening weekend take of the fall, clearing more than $63.5 million. This is the biggest three day take since this summer's The Dark Knight, which brought in a record $158 million. The Ben Stiller/Chris Rock CGI comedy even beat out the highly anticipated Disney franchise High School Musical 3: Senior Year, which only made $42 million on its opening weekend. Does this mean we will see a Madagascar 3? Most certainly, and you can expect to see it in 3D.

This weekend's second highest grosser was the David Wain comedy Role Models, starring Seann William Scott and Paul Rudd. The hilarious buddy flick managed to grab a pretty healthy $19.2 million. Not too shabby for an R rated family film. This weekend's only other major release was Bernie Mac's last completed film Soul Men. Another R rated comedy, this one, also starring Sam Jackson, nabbed just $5.6 million for the sixth place spot.

Eagle Eye rounds out the top ten. This might be the last time we see it in the charts. It earned another $2.5 million, making its cumulated gross after 8 weeks on the charts $96 million. It should see its way to an even $100 million before year's end. After three week's on the charts, Clint Eastwood's film Changeling continues to climb, landing in the number four spot with another $7.2 million. That brings its cumulative gross to more than $20 million.

For the first time in a long time, it was the major release Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa that came in with the highest per screen average, making $15,656 on each of its 4,056 screens. In second place was indie newcomer The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, which earned a close $15,000 on each of its 17 screens for a weekend take of $255,000. In third place was JCVD, which saw Jean-Claude Van Damme as himself trying to thwart a bank robbery. It took in $11,650 on each of its two screens for a cumulative gross of $23,300.

Next week will be dominated by just one man, and that man is Bond. Look for Quantum of Solace to make bank when it drops next Friday, November 14th.