'Ice Age' opens hot with $46 million

Updated: July 15, 2012 - 9:41 PM

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NEW YORK - With Batman lurking, the prehistoric critters of "Ice Age: Continental Drift" ran off with the box office, earning $46 million in their opening weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The animated film from 20th Century Fox, the fourth in the "Ice Age" series and the first in 3-D, had already done robust business overseas before it opened in the United States. This weekend, it earned $95 million internationally, bringing its overseas total to $339 million.

The weekend was inevitably shadowed by two superheroes, coming a week after the debut of Sony's Spider-Man reboot, "The Amazing Spider-Man," and one week before the highly anticipated Batman sequel, "The Dark Knight Rises."

In its second week of release, "Spider-Man" earned $35 million, pushing it past $200 million domestically.

Seth MacFarlane's R-rated comedy hit, "Ted," which stars Mark Wahlberg and a talking teddy bear, added $22.1 million in its third week for a total of $159 million for Universal Pictures.

The weekend business was, as expected, below the corresponding weekend last year, when the final Harry Potter film, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2," set what was then a box office record of $169.2 million.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com:

1. "Ice Age: Continental Drift," $46 million.

2. "The Amazing Spider-Man," $35 million.

3. "Ted," $22.1 million.

4. "Brave," $10.7 million.

5. "Magic Mike," $9 million.

6. "Savages," $8.7 million.

7. "Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection," $5.6 million.

8. "Katy Perry: Part of Me," $3.7 million.

9. "Moonrise Kingdom," $3.7 million.

10. "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted," $3.5 million.

ASSOCIATED PRESS