(P)G is for Box Office Gold

Posted on November 9, 2008 at 10:31 pm

madagascar2poster-60608.jpgMadagascar 2 (PG) made more than $63 million in its opening weekend. Just to put it in perspective, number 2 was the R-rated Role Models, at $19 million, which under normal circumstances would have been enough to make it number one. But $63 million puts “Madagascar 2” in the top 50 opening weekends of all time, around the level of “Wall?E” and “Lord of the Rings.”
Last week’s number 1 was the G-rated High School Musical 3, for the second week in a row. This week, at number 3, it continued to do well, increasing its total to a domestic $75 million and over $160 million world-wide.
Why does Hollywood keep having to re-learn the lesson that there is an enormous and enthusiastic audience for family-friendly movies?

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4 Replies to “(P)G is for Box Office Gold”

  1. Madagascar 2 was PG….
    Some animated movies have bombed actually, so I am not sure I would go as far as saying Hollywood trying to prove a point.

  2. You’re right on both counts and I’ll amend the post. But a lot of PG-13 and R-rated films bomb, too. But the proportion of family-friendly films is far lower than the audience will support, as these box office returns show.

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