Madagascar 3 and Prometheus retained their top spots for the second week in a row as they easily bested disappointing debuts from the Tom Cruise musical Rock of Ages and the "R" rated Adam Sandler comedy That’s My Boy.  Overall it was a bad weekend in Hollywood’s up and down 2012 summer season as the total of the top 12 films was 15.4% below that of the same weekend last year when Green Lantern bowed with $55 million.

 

Madagascar 3 slipped just 41% as it earned an estimated $35.5 million. These days 41% represents a great hold for an animated feature (Toy Story 3 dropped 46% in its sophomore session).  The real test of Madagascar 3’s mettle will come next weekend when Pixar’s Brave opens, but so far this sequel has passed every exam with flying colors.

 

Weekend Box Office (Studio Estimates): June 15 - 17, 2012
	Film	Weekend Gross	Screens	Avg./ Screen	Total Gross	Wk#
1	Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted	$35,500,000	4,263	$8,327	$120,451,000	2
2	Prometheus	$20,200,000	3,442	$5,869	$88,858,000	2
3	Rock of Ages	$15,060,000	3,470	$4,340	$15,060,000	1
4	Snow White and the Huntsman	$13,805,000	3,701	$3,730	$122,602,000	3
5	That's My Boy	$13,000,000	3,030	$4,290	$13,000,000	1
6	MIB 3	$10,000,000	3,135	$3,190	$152,679,000	4
7	The Avengers	$8,848,000	2,582	$3,427	$586,737,000	7
8	The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel	$2,200,000	1,184	$1,858	$35,133,000	7
9	Moonrise Kingdom	$2,181,000	178	$12,253	$6,779,000	4
10	What to Expect When You're Expecting	$1,330,000	1,216	$1,094	$38,766,000	5

 

Ridley Scott’s science fiction epic Prometheus fell 60%, but still managed to earn $20.2 million and easily take second place.  A 60% drop in its second frame is now about the norm for a highly-promoted summer action movie blockbuster.  Prometheus has now earned $88.8 million domestically and $128 million overseas, so it appears likely that the $125 million production will make it into the black during its theatrical run.

 

The movie adaptation of the Broadway musical Rock of Ages starring Tom Cruise and featuring a bevy of big hair-band hits opened disappointingly in third place, with a $15 million debut that was a far cry from Mamma Mia’s $27.8 million bow.  Since Cruise just scored a major hit with Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol, he can hardly be considered box office poison, and he wasn’t the focal point of the ads for Rock of Ages anyway.  The opening weekend crowd for Rock of Ages was primarily female (62%) and older (74% over 25), and they gave the movie a mediocre "B" CinemaScore, so a word-of-mouth revival is unlikely.

 

The dark fantasy Snow White and the Huntsman dropped just 40% in its third frame as it earned an estimated $13.8 million, which was good enough for fourth place.  So far the $175 million production has earned $122 million domestically and $124 million overseas.

 

The Adam Sandler/Andy Samberg movie That’s My Boy opened with just $13 million, which was even less than Sandler’s classic stinker, Little Nicky, which debuted with $16 million in 2000.  Sandler has been one of Hollywood’s most reliable comedy stars, but following the disappointing Jack and Jill, That’s My Boy makes two disappointments in a row, and That’s My Boy’s debut was just a little better than half Jack and Jill’s $25 million.  Hollywood analysts are blaming the "R" rating for keeping away Sandler’s "PG" family audience, but raunch has always been part of the star’s appeal.  The size of the debut weekend audience was pitifully small, but the demographics were actually pretty good with gender balance (54% male) and lots of younger viewers for an "R" movie as 52% of the audience was under 25.  Audiences gave That's My Boy a poor "B-" CinemaScore, which doesn't bode well for its prospects.

 

Sony’s Men in Black 3 fared well in its fourth weekend in theaters as it dropped just 28% while earning an estimated $10 million as it brought its domestic total to $152.7 million.  The $225 million production has done even better overseas where it has earned $391.6 million, which means that without a lot of fanfare this comic book-based movie has lived up to its name and made it well into the its eponymous shade.

 

Right behind in seventh place was Joss Whedon’s The Avengers, which dropped just 22% as it earned $8.8 million bringing its year-leading domestic cumulative to $586.7 million, and its astounding global total to $1.419 billion.

 

Mention should be made of Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom, which finished at #9 in spite of the fact that it was in just 178 theaters.  Focus has been releasing Moonrise Kingdom very slowly adding theaters every week, and this approach can work for the right sort of quirky comedy drama.  Anderson makes quirky films, but they are accessible and this could be the one that breaks out and becomes this summer’s unexpected hit, though it remains to be seen if the film will be able to maintain its great per-theater averages as it goes into wider release.  If it does, it has a chance to become 2012’s Little Miss Sunshine.

 

Stop back here next Sunday to see how two new high profile releases, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter from Wanted helmer Timur Bekmambetov and Pixar’s Brave, join the fray and try to get the summer movie season back on track.