SUBMITTED BY pimpjoe_esb

May 4, 2006 — Fox's "Ice Age: The Meltdown" will surpass "Shrek 2" by this weekend as the biggest-grossing pic ever in Mexico.

Through Tuesday, "Meltdown" (known here as "Ice Age 2") had earned nearly $28.6 million compared to the nearly $27.8 million earned by "Shrek 2" in 2004.

Twentieth Century Fox Mexico marketing director Juan Carlos Lazo estimated the film -- now in its fifth week -- would earn more than $29.2 million during its run.

Lazo said Fox Mexico spent a year ramping up the marketing blitzkrieg, which included "very strong investments" in TV ads rolled out by promotional sponsors, including Domino's Pizza, L'Oreal and Mexico's bread/snack giant Bimbo.

Lazo said Fox had more than doubled the number of promotional sponsors involved to 27 compared with the original pic's tally.

"When the first 'Ice Age' came out, people obviously didn't know the characters. But when we began to sell licenses this time, a lot of people bought it up," he said.

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