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Los Angeles - A 3D animated movie about a hapless supervillain led the North American box office to its best weekend in more than three months, according to studio estimates issued on Sunday.
DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc's Megamind opened at No 1 with $47.7m, falling short of industry predictions of a $50m-plus opening. But a similar fate befell the studio's March release How to Train a Dragon, which went on to become a big hit.
Megamind revolves around a hapless criminal voiced by Will Ferrell, and is not to be confused with the recent hit cartoon Despicable Me, which revolved around a hapless criminal voiced by Steve Carell.
Due Date followed at No 2 with $33.5m, in line with expectations. The Warner Bros comedy stars Robert Downey Jnr and Zach Galifianakis as an odd couple forced to endure each other on a road trip, and is not to be confused with Planes, Trains and Automobiles, the 1987 comedy starring Steve Martin and John Candy.
Also new was prolific filmmaker Tyler Perry's latest exploration of the condition of black women, For Colored Girls. The Lionsgate adaptation of Ntozake Shange's play about a group of women dealing with abuse issues, opened at No 3 with $20.1m, also in line with forecasts.
The top-five was rounded out by the Summit Entertainment crime drama Red, starring Bruce Willis, holding steady at No 4 with $8.9m in its its fourth week; and last weekend's champion, the Lionsgate horror Saw 3D, which slid to No 5 with $8.2m. Their respective totals rose to $71.9m and $38.8m.
Sales for the top 12 films came in at about $146m, according to the box office division of Hollywood.com. It marks the highest tally since July 23-25, when reigning champion Inception drove sales to $155m.
