Penguins beat Bond at UK cinemas

Happy Feet has also spent three weeks on top in North America

Why the penguins did so well

The penguins of Happy Feet have knocked James Bond off the number one slot at the box office in the UK and Ireland.

The cartoon went straight in at the top, taking £2.77m and narrowly beating Casino Royale, which generated £2.74m, into second place.

Romantic comedy The Holiday, with Kate Winslet and Jude Law, was new in third, while Aardman's animation Flushed Away dropped from number two to number four.

And family comedy The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause was down two to five.

Bollywood success

Also falling in this week's chart was Deck the Halls, in which two neighbours compete to have the most spectacular Christmas illuminations, which dropped one place to six.

Sacha Baron Cohen's parody of a Kazakh journalist, Borat, spent its sixth week on the chart.

UK & IRELAND FILM CHART

• 1. Happy Feet (£2.77m)
• 2. Casino Royale (£2.74m)
• 3. The Holiday (£2.3m)
• 4. Flushed Away (£1.2m)
• 5. The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (£734,000)
• 6. Deck the Halls (£370,000)
• 7. Borat (£336,000)
• 8. Baabul (£290,000)
• 9. The Covenant (£181,000)
• 10. Pan's Labyrinth (£178,000)

It was down three places to seven but has now generated £23.4 million in the UK and Ireland since it was released.

Baabul, a Bollywood film starring Amitabh Bachchan, was new at number eight.

It opened on only 45 screens - 90% fewer than Happy Feet - but earned a total of £290,000.

This meant it brought in more money per screen than any other film in the top 10.

Supernatural drama The Covenant entered the chart at nine, and Guillermo del Toro's movie Pan's Labyrinth was down one place to 10.

RELATED INTERNET LINKS
Movies
Happy Feet
Casino Royale
The Holiday
Flushed Away
The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause
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