Weekend Box-Office: June 8-10, 2012

Animals eat aliens!

For genre fans, Ridley Scott’s psuedo-prequel PROMETHEUS was certainly one of the summer’s most anticipated offerings. But it’s difficult to compete with CG creatures in an established series, as MADAGASCAR 3: EUROPE’S MOST WANTED proved by taking the top spot.

Ben Stiller’s digital mammal led the third MADAGASCAR kidflick to #1 with a $60.3 million opening, not quite besting the $63.1M opening of MADAGASCAR 2 but coming in far above the first MADAGASCAR’s $47.2 initial weekend. The Dreamworks beasts also chewed up an additional $75M overseas, but will have to stay hungry to consume close to MADAGASCAR’s $532M and and MADAGASCAR 2’s $600M global totals.

As for PROMETHEUS, the R-rated sci-fi journey collected a respectable $50 million on its North American launch (the movie has already grabbed $91.5M from earlier release in other parts of the world). If you voted in last week’s poll predicting its opening $$$, you can check to see how close you came compared to others.

PROMETHEUS’ worldwide total more than covers its supposed $125M production cost, but it will be interesting to watch how word-of-mouth affects its future — exit crowds gave it a ‘B’ CinemaScore (compared to MADAGASCAR 3’s straight ‘A’ grade), which isn’t quite the “must-see” status that can make an INCEPTION-sized hit. While most audiences seemed to appreciate PROMETHEUS’ spectacle, logic lapses and unanswered questions (including how it ties to ALIEN) provided dismay and aggravation for some viewers.

Last weekend’s top draw SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN brought in another $23.1M (a nearly 60% drop) as it edges toward the $100 million mark. Kristen Stewart’s batte-ready fairy tale heroine currently has a $182M worldwide total. Meanwhile, MEN IN BLACK III has landed another $13.5M, but its $135.5M US total is just a little over a quarter of its current $487.6M global haul. And six weeks after they assembled, THE AVENGERS are still fighting strong with another $10.8M as they search for more records to break.

As has been the case for much of the summer, the second half of the chart is a single-digit struggle. THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL has been one of the summer’s best counterprogramming attempts, and now Wes Anderson’s MOONRISE KINGDOM expands onto a few more screens to offer another alternative to the expensive flash-and-dazzle (its $16k per-screen average is still the highest in the Top 10). BATTLESHIP continues its slow submergence, and DARK SHADOWS somehow clings to the chart despite a pitiful $877 per-screen.

Next weekend, Tom Cruise is the frontman of 80s nostalgia in ROCK OF AGES, and there’s also the Adam Sandler/Andy Samberg father-son comedy THAT’S MY BOY. Which big summer movie (so far) has disappointed you the most? VOTE HERE!