It looks like the almighty family dollar is going to outlast the R-rated sci-fi this weekend at the box-office with Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted and Prometheus both opening around $21 million, but history proves family features always perform better over the weekend. However, with numbers like this both films are looking impressive, neither one a loser, especially considering theater counts.
Prometheus claims the early lead with $21.4 million, enjoying a solid midnight opening of $3.561 million from 1,368 theaters before opening in 3,396 theaters nationwide (862 fewer theaters than Madagascar). The film is likely to slip to second with a $54-58 million return over the weekend. The one thing working against it may be a small bit of bad buzz as it could only muster a “B” Cinemascore from audiences, but built up demand for Ridley Scott’s return to sci-fi should keep it running sky high for the three-day weekend.
Madagascar 3 opened in 4,258 theaters and is taking advantage of the lack of kid’s fare at the box-office as of late and not only is it on track to gross somewhere around $61 million following a $20.4 million Friday. Even better, it’s doing it with an “A” Cinemascore, which means there won’t be much negative word-of-mouth keeping families away.
Last weekend’s top earner, Snow White and the Huntsman, is poised to drop 60% or thereabouts with a Friday take of $7.5 million and a likely weekend return of $22 million. The prospect of a sequel has been around forever and Universal gave the idea a bit more weight heading into the weekend, clearly trying to drum up additional interest, but with a budget around $170 million it still has some work to do before that sequel gets the green light.
Finally, cracking the top ten is Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom, which added 80 theaters this weekend and with only 96 theaters to its name brought in $455,000 and should manage somewhere around $1.5 million for the weekend, a $15,625 per theater average.
The complete Friday top ten estimates are listed below and I’ll be back on Sunday with a complete wrap-up.
- Prometheus – $21.4 million
- Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted – $20.4 million
- Snow White and the Huntsman – $7.5 million
- Men In Black III – $4.2 million
- The Avengers – $3.2 million
- The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel – $935,000
- What To Expect When You’re Expecting – $915,000
- The Dictator – $704,000
- Battleship – $684,000
- Moonrise Kingdom – $455,000
