1. Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted- $60.35M
Forget acid spewing aliens, the biggest threat to Prometheus was a handful of animated talking zoo animals. Capping off a strong weekend with the top two movies earning over $50M, Madgascar 3 easily led the pack, which makes sense considering we haven't had a film like this in ages. A number of factors were at play here, with one being that there aren't any other movies targeted at kids, at least not until Brave hits in a couple of weeks. The film is also boosted by 3D prices, and the popular Nickelodeon TV series. Does this mean we'll see a Madagascar 4? Eh, maybe. These numbers are good, but not awesome by any means. However, the global numbers are even better, adding another $75M. As long as that keeps up there's really no reason to stop cranking these out every couple of years.
2. Prometheus- $50M
On WBAL this past Friday I predicted that Prometheus would be the top movie of the week, which just goes to show what I know. This is still a very good opening weekend, especially for a genre film that is largely connected to a thirty year old classic. Tack on another $90M on the foreign market and what you have is even more reason for Ridley Scott and 20th Century Fox to start talking sequels, but let's see how it does in the second week. Movies like this tend to tumble hard, but Prometheus has enough going on that many are going to want another crack at deciphering it.
3. Snow White and the Huntsman- $23M/$98.5M
Oooh, ouch. A 60% drop in the second week has to have Universal a little weary about moving ahead on that sequel. The film cost a pretty penny to make(about $180M), and is just reaching the break even point, but what has to concern them most is the middling response to it from critics and audiences. I think a sequel will still happen, though, with the studio likely having lower expectations for it.
4. Men in Black III- $13.5M/$135.5M
5. The Avengers- $10.8M/$571.8M
It's not going anywhere, folks.
6. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel- $3.2M/$31M
7. What to Expect When You're Expecting- $2.7M/$35.7M
8. Battleship- $2.3M/$59.8M
9. The Dictator- $2.15M/$55.2M
10. Moonrise Kingdom- $1.6M/$3.75M
Maintaining the best per site average of any film in the top 25, Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom added another 80 venues as it continues the slow roll out.
