"Brave" leads the weekend box office

(CBS/AP) "Brave," Disney/Pixar's animated film "about the story of a young Scottish princess defying tradition that requires her to marry against her will, topped the weekend box office, earning $66.7 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Pictures: Stars come out to "Brave" premiere
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"Brave," the first Disney/Pixar film with a female protagonist, also earned $13.5 million in 10 overseas markets for a worldwide start of $80.2 million.

The 20th Century Fox action tale "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" opened far back at No. 3 with $16.5 million, behind "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted."

DreamWorks Animation's animated "Madagascar" sequel had been No. 1 for two weekends and added $20.2 million to raise its domestic total to $157.6 million.

"Brave" is the 13th-straight Pixar release to open at No. 1 since "Toy Story" launched Hollywood's age of computer animation in 1995.

"Their track record is just unbelievable," said Paul Dergarabedian, analyst for box-office tracker Hollywood.com. "The Pixar brand just carries so much weight with the audience, it doesn't matter almost what the story is about if it has the Pixar name."

The weekend's other new wide release, Steve Carell and Keira Knightley's apocalyptic romance "Seeking a Friend for the End of the World," misfired with just $3.8 million, debuting at No. 10.

Woody Allen's Italian romance "To Rome with Love" pulled in huge audiences in limited release, debuting with $379,371 in five theaters.