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The penguins simply will not stop marching.

Kim Hollis: Happy Feet performed a feat last seen by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest when it finished in the number one spot for a third straight weekend. Its $17 million this weekend gives it a running total of $121 million. Where do you rank this performance among recent CGI flicks?

Reagen Sulewski: Considering that this is the year that the bubble finally burst for CGI animation, this is a great performance, akin to an Ice Age.

Tim Briody: It's pretty impressive considering how many have just up and died this year. And further proof that penguins are money.

Kim Hollis: Yup. It's a penguin world. We're all just living in it.

David Mumpower: Given that the studio in question is Warner Bros., a bunch not known for their animation, it's massive. This is their Ice Age. Introducing a new animated franchise is always a challenge, but they have succeeded in impressive fashion.

Joel Corcoran: Definitely up there with Ice Age and Madagascar. And if you're measuring actual performance against expectations, I think it should be set in the lofty atmosphere of Shrek and Monsters, Inc.

Kim Hollis: I seem to be the only person in the world who had these kinds of high expectations for Happy Feet.

Tim Briody: I never saw it coming. It took me a while to get past the title, actually.

David Mumpower: I agree with Joel. Relative to expectations, I don't know of anyone other than Kim who was certain this would be over $100 million after three weekends. We are talking about a $160-$175 million earner that was completely beneath radar.

Reagen Sulewski: Well, you and me, Kim. Those were some really cute animals that brought in pretty much every six-year-old out there.

Kim Hollis: Right, you drilled it on opening weekend, Reagen.

David Mumpower: What was your opening weekend forecast again, Reagen? I don't recall.

Reagen Sulewski: $44.7 million.

Joel Corcoran: I had an inkling when I called my brother and in the background I heard my toddler nieces screaming "Play the penguins again, daddy! Play them again! Again!" But I didn't think it would be quite this big nor as enduring.

James Bond can stop any villain in a penguin suit but not the penguins themselves.

Kim Hollis: The shockingly competitive race between Happy Feet and Casino Royale continues as the latest Bond flick earned another $15.1 million, giving it a grand total of $115.9 million. Has Sony succeeded in reinvigorating the Bond franchise?





Joel Corcoran: God, I hope so...

Reagen Sulewski: I would say undoubtedly so. I'm not surprised that people were curious about the new Bond and the new approach, but I am a bit surprised that it's held on this well. It's such an oddly paced film.

Tim Briody: Die Another Day was the highest grossing Bond movie ever, so some might argue that it didn't need reinvigorating, but doing a reboot since Pierce Brosnan didn't want to do another one was the completely right idea.

David Mumpower: Tomorrow Never Dies earned $125 million. The World Is Not Enough earned $127 million. Die Another Day earned $160 million. I wouldn't say that the franchise was in any real trouble, but this is unquestionably another huge hit for the Broccoli family.

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