Zoo story No 1 at the US box office

The cartoon critters of Madagascar ended the two-week reign of the final Star Wars movie at the US box office over the weekend, and Russell Crowe's boxing movie Cinderella Man opened a disappointing fourth.

Madagascar, about the residents of a zoo who break out and discover that life in the wild is not what they expected, sold about US$28.7 million ($41.4 million) worth of tickets.

The Adam Sandler comedy The Longest Yard inched up one place in its second weekend to No 2. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith dropped to No 3.