Shark Tale: $118.7 million just in 3 weeks

The submarine gangsters of the animated film "Shark Tale" were the biggest fish in the pond last weekend, beating out a clique of puppet terrorists for top place at the North American box office. The Dreamworks studios hit raked in 22 million dollars, boosting its domestic haul in three weeks in release to 118.7 million dollars, according to final figures from box office trackers Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc., reports Turkish Press.

According to the Washington Post, with the convincing grosses racked up by "Shark Tale," DreamWorks' animation division has come into its own. "Shark Tale" is the second animated film from the distributor to cross the $100 million mark this year, "Shrek 2" being the other; only Disney has ever had two animated films surpass that level in the same year.

In a replay of last weekend, Universal's "Friday Night Lights" held the second spot, this time taking in $12.2 million. The Billy Bob Thornton starrer, helmed by Peter Berg, held up well as its total moved to $37.8 million after 10 days in release.

The feature movie, from the makers of the hit animated television show South Park, stars a cast of clunky marionette superheroes battling terrorists led by North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il, earned $12.1 million.

The movie, which opened less than three weeks ahead of the &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/politics/2000/11/09/788.html ' target=_blank>US presidential election, had generated enormous controversy for its irreverent portrayal of the US war on terror, one of the key electoral themes.