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'Prometheus' Barely Beats 'Madagascar 3' To Lead Box Office

By | Published on June 9, 2012
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Things are heating up in the race to top the box office this weekend. Prometheus was able to edge out Dreamworks’ animation Madagascar 3 after all the sales were in this morning. Both movies are in a very strong position to hit that $50 million mark in the three day time period.

Prometheus opened to an estimated $21.4 million on Friday. That put the film at the 10th highest opening day for any R-rated movie. It also had the highest opening for the Alien franchise, next to follow is Alien Vs Predator, which made $38.2 million its opening weekend. Prometheus was only given a “B” CinemaScore from audience, but is estimated to make between $55 and $57 million for the weekend.

Madagascar 3 performed just below Prometheus at $20.45 million from 4,258 locations. That’s better than Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa’s $17.6 million opening day and well above the first Madagascar film, which opened with $13.9 million. With this opening, Madagascar 3 is second to Shrek for highest opening day for an animation movie for Dreamworks.  Audiences gave the film an “A” CinemaScore and put Dreamworks right on track to hit their projected $60 million after the weekend.

Below is Deadline’s Top Ten list based on Friday’s estimated North American grosses:

1. Prometheus (Fox) NEW [3,396 Theaters] R
Friday $21.4M, Weekend $55M

2. Madagascar 3 (DreamWorks Anim/Paramount) NEW [4,258 Theaters] PG
Friday $20.4M, Weekend $61M

3. Snow White & The Huntsman (Universal) Week 2 [3,777 Theaters] PG13
Friday $7.3M (-64%), Weekend $23M, Cume $98.5M

4. Men In Black 3 (Sony) Week 3 [3,792 Theaters] PG13
Friday $4.3M, Weekend $15M, Cume $137M

5. The Avengers (Marvel/Disney) Week 6 [3,129 Theaters] PG13
Friday $3.3M, Weekend $12M, Cume $573M

6. Best Exotic Marigold (Fox Searchlight) Week 6 [1,298 Theaters] PG13
Friday $874K, Weekend $3.1M, Cume $30.9M

7. What To Expect When (Lionsgate) Week 4 [2,087 Theaters] PG13
Friday $850K, Weekend $2.7M, Cume $35.7

8. Battleship (Universal) Week 4 [1,954 Theaters] PG13
Friday $700K, Weekend $2.4M, Cume $60.0M

9. The Dictator (Paramount) Week 4 [1,651 Theaters] R
Friday $625K, Weekend $2.0M, Cume $50.1M

10. Dark Shadows (Warner Bros) Week 5 [1,550 Theaters] PG13
Friday $425K, Weekend $1.5M, Cume $73.9M

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