Box office report for June 4, 2012: “Snow White & the Huntsman” is the fairest at the box office with No. 1 debut
The fairy-tale actioner “Snow White & the Huntsman” was the fairest of the them at the weekend box office, with a higher-than-projected $56.3 million domestic debut, reports the Associated Press.
The latest big-screen fairy-tale adaptation opened with a total about $20 million higher than industry expectations. Without the built-in business that generally goes with a sequel, “Snow White” was a question mark as a draw for young males who typically make up most of the action crowd, according to the AP. The movie wound up drawing a fairly even audience, with female fans accounting for 53 percent of viewers.
It also proved the fairest of them all in this year’s battle of the Snow White movies. In one weekend, “Snow White & the Huntsman” pulled in nearly as much as the $62.4 million that this year’s previous Snow White adventure, “Mirror Mirror,” took in domestically over its entire run, according to the AP.
“Mirror Mirror” was a fairy-tale comedy that appealed mainly to female crowds. Drawing well among male and female fans, “Snow White & the Huntsman” is an all-out action flick, with “Twilight” star Stewart as the princess, aided by a rugged man of arms (“Thor” star Hemsworth) to lead a battle against the evil queen (Oscar winner Theron).
“Snow White” bumped Sony’s “Men in Black 3″ from the No. 1 spot and into second-place with $29.3 million. The three-quel, starring Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin, raised its domestic total to $112.3 million after two weekends and added $78.6 million overseas for an international take of $274.6 million and a worldwide gross of $386.9 million.
According to the AP, Marvel’s superhero super-blockbuster “The Avengers” remained strong at No. 3 with $20.3 million, boosting its domestic total to $552.7 million. “The Avengers” climbed past “The Dark Knight” at $533.3 million to become No. 3 all-time on the domestic revenue chart, behind “Avatar” at $760.5 million and “Titanic” at $658.5 million.
Adding $12.4 million overseas, “The Avengers” pushed its international haul to $802.5 million and its worldwide earnings to $1.36 billion. That raised it past last year’s “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2″ at $1.33 billion to put “The Avengers” at No. 3 in all-time revenue worldwide, also behind only “Avatar” ($2.8 billion) and “Titanic” ($2.2 billion).
Big as “The Avengers” has been, it was this summer’s only hit until last weekend, with other May releases such as “Dark Shadows” and “Battleship” falling flat domestically. Despite strong revenues for the top three movies, domestic business was down for the third-straight weekend compared to last summer, according to the AP. Receipts totaled $142 million, off 11 percent compared to the same weekend a year ago, when “X-Men: First Class” led with $55.1 million.
Overall revenues are running neck-and-neck with the summer season of 2011, when Hollywood took in record cash between the first weekend of May and Labor Day. Box-office analysts had expected this summer to hurtle beyond that record, but so far, only a handful of films have paid off.
The next big box-office thing: Three-time Oscar nominee Ridley Scott’s “Alien” forerunner “Prometheus” opens in U.S. theaters Friday. The 20th Century Fox release got off to a solid start overseas with $35 million in 15 markets ahead of its domestic debut, according to the AP.
Though not a direct prequel, “Prometheus” stars Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender and Theron in a sci-fi adventure that takes place decades before the action of “Alien” and is set in a similar world as that 1979 horror tale from filmmaker Scott.
1. “Snow White & the Huntsman,” $56.3 million ($39.3 million international).
2. “Men in Black 3,” $29.3 million ($78.6 million international).
3. “The Avengers,” $20.3 million ($12.4 million).
4. “Battleship,” $4.8 million ($1.5 million international).
5. “The Dictator,” $4.7 million ($6.5 million international).
6. “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” $4.6 million ($557,000 international).
7. “What to Expect When You’re Expecting,” $4.4 million ($3.7 million international).
8. “Dark Shadows,” $3.9 million ($7.2 million international).
9. “Chernobyl Diaries,” $3 million.
10. “For Greater Glory,” $1.8 million.
-BAM
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