The first Pixar movie to feature a female protagonist is the thirteenth consecutive Disney Pixar release to open in first place, going all the way back to 1995's Toy Story, the first ever digitally-animated movie.  The old-fashioned adventure story debuted with an estimated $66.7 million weekend haul, which is almost exactly in line with the reigning king of animation's recent efforts, save for the huge Toy Story 3, which opened with $110.3 million in 2010 and went on to become the biggest animated movie of all time. 

Roger Ebert has notably asserted that Pixar is the first studio to be a movie star, and the performance of Brave supports that claim.  Every single movie from Pixar has earned more than $200 million, but last year, the studio experienced its first critical disappointment with the sequel Cars 2.  Brave featured no brand name nor any notably marketable voice actors, and the marketing effort deliberately consisted of material almost exclusively from the film's first act.  Yet it opened big and has been well-received by audiences, suggesting that, like Pixar's past efforts, it'll hold strong for weeks to come.

Behind DreamWorks Animation's Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted in second place was an entirely different flavor, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.  20th Century Fox's take on the Seth Grahame-Smith-penned mashup novel opened to an estimated $16.5 million.  For an R-rated movie about Abe Lincoln beheading supernatural beings, that's not too bad, but the film from Timur Bekmambetov was a costly endeavor for the studio, which had the stones to release it without a more commercially viable PG-13 rating.  Last summer, Cowboys & Aliens took a similar approach, with a thoroughly ludicrous concept tackled humorlessly, and the lukewarm reception to both suggests that novelty concepts like these won't be flooding the marketplace anytime soon.

This week's only other wide release, the comedy Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, opened in tenth place with an estimate of $3.8 million.  That might not sound too good, considering the movie stars Steve Carell and Keira Knightley, but keep in mind that the film is in fewer than half the locations of, say, Rock of Ages, and was made on a small budget of just $10 million.

Outside of the top ten, Woody Allen's latest, To Rome With Love, began its limited release in just five theaters.  From that very small number of theaters, the ensemble comedy grossed $379,000.  That's a per-screen average of $75,800, which is phenomenal and far, far bigger than any other current release.

Check out the top ten estimates for this weekend:

1. Brave                                                                   $66.7 million        New Release

2. Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted                $20.2 million        $157.6 million

3. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter                     $16.5 million        New Release

4. Prometheus                                                        $10.0 million        $108.6 million

5. Rock of Ages                                                       $8.0 million         $28.8 million

6. Snow White and the Huntsman                          $8.0 million         $137.1 million

7. That's My Boy                                                      $7.9 million         $28.2 million

8. The Avengers                                                      $7.0 million         $598.3 million

9. Men in Black 3                                                     $5.6 million         $163.3 million

10. Seeking a Friend For the End of the World       $3.8 million         New Release

The upcoming Friday sees wide releases for Ted, Magic Mike, and Madea's Witness Protection.