Avengers Outguns Battleship at US Weekend B-O

MAY 21, 2012 - The Avengers held on firmly to the Number One spot over the weekend in North America, breaking more records in the process. Audiences were not very excited about the new releases as the big-budget actioner Battleship suffered a poor opening in second place. Sacha Baron Cohen's comedy, The Dictator, failed to match the raunchy funny man's past performances, and the all-star pregnancy comedy, What to Expect When You're Expecting, debuted in fifth with weak results.

It was the first time in 14 years that the normally-busy weekend before the Memorial Day holiday frame failed to deliver any US$35-million+ openings causing the top ten to fall below both last year's and 2010's levels.

Overseas, The Avengers banked another US$56 million in its fourth round for a $111.1 million global weekend. The international gross has rocketed to US$723.3 million, bringing the worldwide tally to a staggering US$1.18 billion. This puts The Avengers at Number 4 on the all-time global list right behind Avatar, Titanic, and the final Harry Potter sequel. In another week or so, The Avengers will beat the Hogwarts clan and settle into what should be its final resting place with a bronze box office medal.

Meanwhile, Universal suffered a pricey misfire with the big-budget Battleship which just didn't connect with moviegoers. Costing at least US$209 million to produce, with no other studios sharing the financial risk, the naval adventure opened to only US$25.4 million.

Here are the Top 5 North American B-O studio estimates for May 18-20, 2012 weekend, in terms of rank, (previous week ranking), Movie name (studio), Weekend takings in USD, (Cumulative gross, USD) and week on chart, courtesy of Boxofficemojo. (US$1=RM3)

1. (1) Marvel's The Avengers (BV) $55.0 million ($457.0 million) 3

2. (-) Battleship (Uni.) $25.3 million ($25.3 million) 1

3. (-) The Dictator (Par.) $17.4 million ($24.4 million) 1

4. (2) Dark Shadows (WB) $12.7 million ($50.9 million) 2

5. (-) What to Expect When You're Expecting (LGF) $10.5 million ($10.5 million) 1