Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted is a 2012 American animated comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation. The third in the Madagascar film series and the first to be released in 3D, it was directed by Eric Darnell, Conrad Vernon and Tom McGrath from a screenplay by Darnell and Noah Baumbach. The film stars Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, Andy Richter, McGrath, Chris Miller, Christopher Knights, John DiMaggio and Vernon reprising their voice acting roles from the previous installments, alongside new cast members Jessica Chastain, Bryan Cranston, Martin Short and Frances McDormand. In the film, the main characters—a party of animals from the Central Park Zoo whose adventures have already taken them to Madagascar and Africa—attempt to return to New York City and find themselves traveling across Europe with a circus while being pursued 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. It received generally positive reviews and was the eighth highest-grossing film of 2012 and the highest-grossing film in the franchise, with a gross of $746 million against a budget of $145 million. A spin-off, Penguins of Madagascar, was released on November 26, 2014.
