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Disney's 'Brave' Tops Box Office Charts

Disney's new animated movie, Brave, about a rebellious, red-headed princess battled to the top of movie box office charts over the weekend, scoring US$80 million in ticket sales around the world.

The fairy tale from Disney's Pixar studio pulled in US$66.7 million at domestic theaters from Friday through Sunday, plus US$13.5 million from international markets. Brave easily topped new historical/horror mashup Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, which finished the weekend in third place.

The 3D Brave is set in the ancient Scottish highlands and centers around horseback-riding teen princess Merida, who defies her mother and her kingdom's traditions. Merida, voiced by Scottish actress Kelly Macdonald, must then use her courage and archery skills to undo a curse.

The movie brings the 13th consecutive No. 1 opening to Pixar, which has become Hollywood's most reliable studio during its 17-year history of making films. Starting with Toy Story in 1995, its 12 films before Brave have generated more than US$7.2 billion in worldwide ticket sales, according to Hollywood.com.

Its 2010 film Toy Story 3 was the biggest selling film that year, with US$415 million in U.S. ticket sales and nearly US$1.1 billion worldwide.

Brave is a departure for Pixar, and is its first film to feature a strong female as the lead character, following a long Disney tradition with female heroines that in recent years have included Mulan and Pocahontas. Brave cost about US$185 million to make.

Ahead of the weekend, industry tracking suggested Brave would secure between US$55 million and US$60 million in domestic ticket sales, putting the film line with most of Pixar's recent debuts, but the film topped expectations.

Brave knocked another animated family film, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, to No. 2 after its two weeks in the top spot. The movie about a pack of escaped zoo animals took in US$20 million at North American (U.S. and Canadian) theaters over the weekend, and the worldwide total since its debut rose to US$157.6 million.

In third place on domestic charts, thriller Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter rung up a solid US$16.5 million. The movie imagines the 16th U.S. president fighting creatures of the night that are plotting to take over the country. Benjamin Walker stars as the axe-wielding Lincoln in the US$70-million 3D production.

The movie rung up another US$8.1 million in international markets.

Distributor 20th Century Fox, a unit of News Corp, had projected domestic sales would hit around US$15 million for the weekend.

In fourth place, Alien director Ridley Scott's movie, Prometheus, about explorers searching for the origins of mankind added US$10 million in domestic sales to bring its global sales after three weeks to US$108.5 million.

Another new release, Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World pulled in US$3.8 million, for a disappointing 10th place. The dark comedy starring Steve Carrell and Keira Knightley tells the story of a man who goes on a road trip as an asteroid speeds toward Earth.

The film, which cost less than US$10 million to make, played in 1,618 theaters, fewer than the 3,000-plus for the weekend's other big movies.

The fifth spot went to Universal's Snow White And The Huntsman, which took in US$8 million domestically to bring its four-week global total to US$137 million.

Madagascar 3 was produced by Dreamworks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc. News Corp movie studio 20th Century Fox released Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and Prometheus. Focus Features, a unit of Comcast Corp's Universal Pictures, released Seeking A Friend.