“Marvel’s The Avengers” dominated the American box-office for a third weekend in a row, taking in a whopping $ 55.1 million which brings its domestic coffers to $ 457 million and its global tally to $ 1.18 billion.
The real question was how would the new competition fare? The news is not good, all three wide-release films opened to disappointing numbers.
The most damaged was Universal’s mega-budget “Battleship” which opened in second place with just $ 25.3 million. Admittedly its made $ 215 million overseas thus far so the studio is cushioned from some of the fallout, but that is not a good number and it’s unlikely the film will cross the $ 100M domestic mark.
Sacha Baron Cohen’s “The Dictator” underwhelmed $ 17.4 million, quite far down compared to “Borat” with $ 26.5M and “Bruno” with $ 30.6M though it did open on a Wednesday (and has made $ 24.5M since then). Though reviews were stronger than for “Bruno”, a steep drop-off is expected.
“What to Expect When You’re Expecting” also opened in fifth place, the new parents-themed comedy taking a modest $ 10.5 million.
“Dark Shadows” meanwhile fell 57% in its second week to $ 12.8 million, not a good drop-off but not bad.
About The Critic
