The DreamWorks zoo toon Madagascar came in at number two at the box office in it's opening four-day weekend. The Memorial Day opener came in behind only George Lucas' Star Wars Episode III.

Madagascar captured an estimated $61M over the long weekend including $47.1M over the three-day portion and an estimated Memorial Day gross of $13.9M. The hefty sum was collected from a massive 4,131 theaters as the animated comedy became only the fourth film in box office history to bow in more than 4,000 locations, following in the footsteps of Spider-Man 2, Shrek 2 and Shark Tale.

Madagascar opened with near identical three-day sales as Shark Tale which bowed last October, against much weaker competition, with $47.6M on its way to $160.8M.

The new flick finds a foursome of New York City zoo animals on a journey to the wilds of Africa. Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett Smith, and David Schwimmer provided the main voices. Over four days, Madagascar averaged a muscular $14,766 per theater and played to a broad audience. Studio research indicated that 60% of the crowd consisted of families, 61% were under 25, and 55% were female. Reviews were mixed.

Source: Box Office Guru