Two Weeks, at the Most

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted is a 2012 American animated comedy film directed by Eric Darnell, Conrad Vernon, and Tom McGrath, and written by Darnell and Noah Baumbach. It is the third installment in the Madagascar film series, a sequel to Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008), it was produced by DreamWorks Animation. The film features Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, Andy Richter, and McGrath reprising their roles from the previous films, with Jessica Chastain, Bryan Cranston, Martin Short, and Frances McDormand joining the cast. In the film, the main characters—a party of animals from the Central Park Zoo whose adventures have already taken them to Madagascar and mainland Africa—attempt to return to New York City and find themselves traveling across Europe with a circus while being chased by the villainous head of Monaco's animal control service. DreamWorks Animation announced the third film in August 2008, three months before the release of the second film. As with the previous films in the franchise, the score was composed by Hans Zimmer. Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted premiered out of competition at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival on May 18, 2012, and was theatrically released in the United States on June 8 by Paramount Pictures. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise going towards its animation, characters, voice acting and humor. It was the eighth highest-grossing film of 2012, with a gross of $747 million against a budget of $145 million. A spin-off, Penguins of Madagascar, was released in 2014.