Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa lit up the box office over the weekend, earning $63.5 million according to Paramount's Sunday estimate. That's the fifth best weekend in November (see complete list), and the second-best outside the Harry Potter franchise, behind only The Incredibles. Madgascar's earnings helped propel the weekend as a whole to a 32% increase from last year, which leaves 2008 leading 2007 by a fraction, year to date.

The biggest surprise of the weekend was the strong opening for Role Models, which opened with an estimated $19.25 million, somewhat ahead of expectations. Soul Men was more disappointing, earning $5.6 million. Just outside the top 10, Rachel Getting Married had another good week as it expanded to 391 theaters and picked up $1.66 million.

In the lower reaches of the chart, two limited releases topped $10,000 per theater: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas earned $255,000 in 17 theaters, while JCVD picked up $23,000 in two.

- Weekend Estimates

Date posted: 2008-11-09