Los Angeles, June 06: North American moviegoers fell hook, line, and sinker for the fishy fable Finding Nemo, which sold about $70.6 million worth of tickets in its first three days, according to studio estimates issued on Sunday.
The computer-animated family movie, about an anxious clown fish who seeks to rescue his plucky son from an office aquarium, set a new opening record for a cartoon, surpassing the $62.5 million bow of Monsters, Inc. in November 2001. Both films were produced by Walt Disney Co. and Pixar Animation Studios Inc., whose partnership has now resulted in five consecutive No. 1 blockbusters, dating back to their first collaboration, 1995's Toy Story.

Nemo, which features the voices of Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, and Willem Dafoe, was directed and co-written by Pixar veteran Andrew Stanton. The film sent the Jim Carrey comedy Bruce Almighty to the No. 2 slot, with $35.6 million and a 10-day haul of $135.7 million.
The top 10 boasted two other newcomers. The Italian Job, a remake of an obscure 1969 Michael Caine crime caper, opened at No. 3 with a strong $19.3 million.
Wrong Turn, a low-budget teen thriller from 20th Century Fox, grossed a modest $5.01 million and just lost to the studio's X2: X-Men United, which made $5.03 million to claim the No. 6 spot.



The top five was rounded out by the Keanu Reeves sci-fi extravaganza The Matrix Reloaded, which fell two places to No. 4 with $15 million in its third weekend. Its 62 percent drop was the steepest in the top 10, and observers said the Warner Bros. release will struggle to reach $300 million, a target previously thought fairly easy. The total currently stands at $232 million.



Warner Bros.' distribution president, Dan Fellman, said the film should reach $275 million-$280 million in its main run, with figures bolstered when the film begins a large-screen run in IMAX theaters on Friday.



The No. 5 slot went to the Eddie Murphy comedy Daddy Day Care, which was also down two places, with $6.8 million in its fourth weekend. The film has earned $82 million to date. Columbia Pictures officials expect it to end up with slightly more than $100 million.



Overall receipts exceeded year-ago sales for the second consecutive weekend, according to tracking firm Exhibitor Relations. The top 12 films grossed $165.5 million, up 42 percent from last year, when The Sum of All Fears opened at No. 1 with $31 million. The main newcomer next weekend is 2 Fast 2 Furious, a sequel to the 2001 street-racing drama The Fast and the Furious.



The top 10 films for May 30-June 1 1. Finding Nemo, $70.6 million 2. Bruce Almighty, $35.6 million 3. The Italian Job, $19.3 million 4. The Matrix Reloaded, $15 million 5. Daddy Day Care, $6.8 million 6. X2: X-Men United, $5.03 million 7. Wrong Turn, $5.01 million 8. The In-Laws, $3.7 million 9. Down With Love, $1.6 million 10. Bend It Like Beckham, $1 million


Bureau Report