Penguins p-pick up more viewers than Bond

Animation Happy Feet pips 007 at US box office.

by Amber Wilkinson

Bond may take on all-comers in the world of espionage - but he's been beaten by a tap-dancing penguin at the US Box Office.

Happy Feet - about a young penguin called Mumbles - is expected to net more than £22 million at the US Box Office in its opening week, pipping Bond to the post of top film by around £1 million.

The film features the voice of Elijah Wood as the tap happy penguin and is directed by Aussie George Miller, who was previously responsible for family hit Babe.

The makers of Bond can take some comfort from the UK box office figures, though, which show it taking more on its first day of release than any previous film in the franchise.

Columbia said it took £1.7 million in the UK on Friday - twice as much as the previous record holder Die Another Day.

Happy Feet opens in the UK on December 8. To view the trailer click here.

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