'Toy Story' drop-kicks 'Karate Kid' in record setting haul

(Disney/Pixar.)

"Toy Story 3" scored the biggest-ever opening for animated filmmaker Disney/Pixar, with an expected box office haul of some 109 million dollars, industry experts said Sunday.

The movie is the latest chapter of the popular tale of toys come to life from pioneering digital studio Pixar, which launched the first installment of the movie in 1995, in the process ushering in a new era in computer animation.

The movie's record-setting opening at theaters across North America drop-kicked hit flick "The Karate Kid" into second place, with 29 million dollars in ticket sales, according to movie tracker Exhibitor Relations.

In third place was action-comedy "The A-Team," a remake of the classic 1980s television action series about four soldiers of fortune.

The new-look "A-Team," starring Liam Neeson, earned 13.8 million dollars in its second weekend - about half the earnings of its opening weekend.

Raunchy comedy "Get Him To The Greek" netted the fourth place spot with 6.1 million dollars in ticket sales.

"Shrek Forever After" was bumped down to fifth place, with a 5.5-million-dollar weekend take. The early summer blockbuster has brought in a total of 222.9 million over five weeks.

"Prince of Persia: the Sands of Time" with Jake Gyllenhaal kept its sixth place with 5.3 million dollars, ahead of comic book adaptation "Jonah Hex," which settled at 5.1 million in its opening weekend.

Action-comedy "Killers," starring Katherine Heigl and Ashton Kutcher, came in eighth with 4.8 million dollars. It was trailed by "Iron Man 2" with 2.7 million and canine comedy "Marmaduke," which also brought in 2.7 million.

oh/sg