By Chris Kavan - 06/18/12 at 12:33 AM CT
The box office looked a bit familiar compared to last weekend, as the top two films repeated, while newcomers failed to find much traction.
Madagascar 3 continued its impressive run, as families continued to turn out in droves. Adding another $35.5 million, and dipping just 41% (the second Madagascar dropped 44% and Toy Story 3 dropped 46% in their respective 2nd weekend outings) the animated hit has grossed $120.45 million so far, and is running ahead of both previous Madagascar films through the same time period. If it stays on track it could be headed to for a $180 million total - though its real challenge will be this coming weekend when Brave hits theaters.
In second place, Ridley Scott's Prometheus made an additional $20.2 million, though it was down a worrying 60% from its opening. By comparison, both Inception and Super 8 just 32% and 39% in their second weekends. The $88.9 million it has made puts it at the top of the list for any film in the Alien franchise - not accounting for inflation, of course. It has a lot of work if it wants to match its $130 million budget on the domestic front.
New arrival Rock of Ages hit a sour note with just $15.06 million in its debut. Apparently most people weren't in the mood for 80s nostalgia or Tom Cruise, as the film came in much lower than recent musicals Mamma Mia! ($27.8 million) and Hairspray ($27.5 million). I thought it was a lot of fun, but then again, I did see it for free - I highly doubt I would have ran out put it on my must-see list otherwise. The most female (63%) and older (74% over 25) gave the film an unenthusiastic "B" cinemascore.
Still, at least Cruise and co. can boast a better opening than Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg. Sandler's first foray into R-rated comedy territory, That's My Boy only managed a meager $13 million for fifth place. It was lower than last year's critically lambasted Jack and Jill ($25 million) and stinker Little Nicky ($16.1 million). In fact, you have to go all the way back to Happy Gilmore's $8.6 million opening to find a more disappointing Sandler outing. Granted, that film has now become a cult classic, so anything's possible - but one thing is for certain, audiences may be getting a bit tired of Sandler's schtick and it's probably time for a change.
Sandwiched between the two disappointing debuts was Snow White and the Huntsman in fourth place with $13.8 million. The darker take on the classic fairy tale has earned $122.6 million after three weeks and was down just 40% from last week - though it seems hitting its $170 million budget (at least domestically) looks out of reach.
Outside the top five, Men in Black III crossed the $150 million mark by taking in $10 million for a $152.6 million total. Still, it will have to rely on international audiences to help justify its $225 million budget.
Once again the highest per-theater average out of any film belonged to Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom, which expanded from 96 to 178 theaters and brought in an additional $2.18 million ($12,253 theater average). That bumped it up to 9th place from 10th place last weekend and it should continue to find success as it continues to expand.
Next week Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter rewrites history, Pixar delivers a female-driven film in Brave and Steve Carrell and Keira Knightly face the apocalypse in Seeking a Friend for the End of the World. We'll see which film will resonate with audiences.
