LOS ANGELES, Oct 3 (AFP) - "Shark Tale," an animated movie about a vegetarian shark and his undersea friends sea swam circles around the competition over the weekend in North America, likely setting a record for the best October opening ever, Sunday figures show.
"Shark Tale" took in an estimated 49.1 million dollars, the best October opening ever if the numbers hold up, according to the Encino, California-based Exhibitor Relations.
The movie is also on the road to becoming the fifth best animated opening of all time, behind mid-year's "Shrek 2," 2003's "Finding Nemo," "Monsters, Inc." and "Toy Story 2."
In a distant second place was "Ladder 49," a John Travolta -- Joaquin Phoenix fire rescue film heavy on heroism that pulled in an estimated 22.8 million dollars in its weekend debut.
Last week's number one, "The Forgotten," a spooky supernatural thriller starring Julianne Moore as a grieving mother who fears she is losing her sanity, came in third, pulling in 12 million dollars.
It was followed by the retro-futuristic "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" starring which stars Jude Law, Gwenneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie, which raked in 3.4 million, and baseball comedy "Mr. 3000," starring Bernie Mac as a retired player who returns to the game after his career legend is damaged, which pulled in 2.6 million dollars.
Rounding off the bottom five is the death row drama "Woman Thou Art Loosed" (2.5 million dollars), the British zombie comedy "Shaun of the Dead" (2.4 million dollars), the video game-inspired "Resident Evil: Apocalypse" (2.3 million dollars), the romantic comedy "First Daughter" (2.2 million dollars) and the thriller "Cellular" (2 million dollars).
More people are also apparently going to the movies: the top 12 films grossed an estimated 104.4 million dollars for the weekend, far ahead of the same weekend last year when the top 12 took in a combined 80.6 million dollars, according to Exhibitor Relations.