Box Office: Madagascar 3 Runs Rampant Over Prometheus

The ComingSoon.net Box Office Report has been updated with studio estimates for the weekend. Click here for the full box office estimates of the top 12 films and then check back on Monday for the final figures based on actual box office.

After a great kick-off week for the month of June, two movies battled it out to keep the box office love going. On Friday, it was a fairly close race between DreamWorks Animation’s threequel Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted and Ridley Scott’s sci-fi prequel Prometheus (20th Century Fox), but according to studio estimates, Madagascar 3 came out ahead by roughly $ 10 million to win the weekend with an estimated $ 60.4 million.

Once again featuring the voice cast of Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett Smith, David Schwimmer, Sacha Baron Cohen and Cedric the Entertainer as escaped zoo animals, DreamWorks Animation’s latest opened slightly higher than last summer’s Kung Fu Panda 2, but failed to equal the $ 63 million opening of its 2008 predecessor.

After launching a week earlier overseas, Ridley Scott’s Prometheus, starring Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce, Idris Elba, Logan Marshall-Green and Charlize Theron, won Friday with $ 21.4 million, just a million more than Madagascar 3, but showing true signs of fanboy frontloading it dropped to $ 16.1 million on Saturday and ended the weekend with an estimated $ 50 million in 3,394 theaters, roughly $ 14.7 thousand per site. The anticipated summer movie grossed $ 9.1 million of that amount in the 298 IMAX screens where it opened domestically with its global IMAX take increasing to $ 12.1 million. Internationally, Prometheus grossed $ 39.2 million to bring its overseas total to $ 91.5 million.

Charlize Theron’s other movie, the Universal Pictures hit Snow White and the Huntsman, co-starring Kristen Stewart and Chris Hemsworth, dropped to third place with $ 23 million having grossed $ 95.8 million domestically in the last ten days. Internationally, the fantasy revamp brought in $ 24.6 million in 52 territories this weekend to bring its global cume to $ 182 million.

Will Smith’s own sci-fi franchise Men in Black 3 (Sony) took fourth place with $ 13.5 million, bringing its North American total to $ 135 million. Internationally, it brought in an additional $ 38.3 million to bring its worldwide total to $ 488 million.

Currently the biggest blockbuster of the year (and highest-grossing movie since James Cameron’s Avatar), Marvel’s The Avengers took fifth place with $ 10.8 million with its domestic total at $ 572 million and global box office close to reaching $ 1.4 billion.

Remaining in sixth place, the British sleeper hit The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (Fox Searchlight) added another $ 3.2 million to bring its total gross to $ 31 million, followed by What to Expect When You’re Expecting keeping its 7th place showing with $ 2.7 million and $ 35.7 million total.

Peter Berg’s action flick Battleship (Universal) took eighth place with $ 2.3 million and $ 59.8 million total, which is only a tip of the iceberg compared to the $ 235 million the movie has grossed internationally for a global total of $ 295.4 million. Sacha Baron Cohen’s comedy The Dictator (Paramount) fell behind it with $ 2.1 million for ninth place with $ 55.2 million total.

Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom (Focus Features) finally broke into the Top 10 with $ 1.5 million after expanding into 96 theaters. It’s grossed $ 3.7 million so far with plans to expand nationwide on June 29.

The Top 10 grossed $ 165.9 million, up nearly 12% from last year when J.J. Abrams’ Super 8 topped the box office with just $ 35.4 million.

Although it dropped out of the Top 10, Lionsgate’s biggest hit to date, The Hunger Games finally crossed the $ 400 million mark this weekend, making it one of only 14 movies to make that amount domestically (not including inflation).

Opening in limited release was Daryl Wein’s rom-com Lola Versus (Fox Searchlight), starring indie darling Greta Gerwig, which took in roughly $ 34 thousand in four theaters in New York and L.A., while the Sundance comedy hit Safety Not Guaranteed (FilmDistrict), starring Greta’s Damsels in Distress co-star Aubrey Plaza, brought in $ 100 thousand in nine locations in New York, Los Angeles, Seattle and Portland, averaging roughly $ 11 thousand per site.

Click here for the full box office results of the top 12 films.