Madagascar 3:  Europe’s Most Wanted tops weekend box office earnings with a reported $60 million in tix sales.  Surprised?  If you are then you are a true dumbass.  The animated film, which features the voices of Jada Pinkett-Smith, David Schwimmer, Ben Stiller, Chris Rock and Jessica Chastain, arrived in theaters with a tag reading ‘a sure thing’.   Sorta like hiring an escort from UES flesh peddler Anna Gristina and hoping against hope that your happy endings don’t surface as the judicial proceedings continue.

Marking the 3rd installment of an already successful franchise – one which has spawned its own Penguin’s TV spin-off – also happens on being a genre which mandates a minimum of at least two tickets per household.  Good, bad or indifferent parents must accompany their chatty brats to a viewing.  This equates to a one for the price of two in our books.

And if you think that having a parental figure in attendance is going to keep them damn kids from talking throughout the movie, well then you are truly a dumbass as them damn kids get the talking while a movie is playing bug from who else?  Their parents!

So although we are on the bandwagon to view the continuing saga of the animated jet-setters, the real numbers for this are in the half zone of what is reported, as parents accompanying their kids to the flick should get a free pass!

And this would put Pinkett-Smith’s hubby – Will Smith, who incidentally attended the NY premiere along with their fashion forward pre-teen’er Willow to the prem – back on the top post.

But however you wish to approach it – it seldomly comes to pass that the number one & two slots would be appointed to our Afro-American sweethearts.  And that is historic no matter how you slice it.

So kudos to Mr. & Mrs. Smith on a job well done.

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