Snow White and the Huntsman breaks the Box Office Curse… Sort of…

The 2012 summer box office has been pretty dismal so far. While The Avengers is a unequivocated smash and now the 3rd highest grossing film of all time (passing The Dark Knight), the rest of May’s releases all bombed (Battleship, The Dictator, The Chernobyl Diaries) or underperformed (Men in Black 3, Dark Shadows). So, studio heads can breathe a tiny sigh of relief that Universal’s new film Snow White and the Huntsman performed ahead of projections for a good $56 million opening. The question is can the film hold on and make some money back as it will face off against Prometheus and Madagascar 3 next week. The expensive (over $170 million budget) tentpole suffered mixed audience reaction and tepid critical response, so it will be an uphill climb. That said, it was a nice start…. As for the holdovers, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel continues to hang on the best only dropping 27% and now the indie has totaled a nice $25 million and $106 million worldwide. For more on all these numbers, head to Box Office Mojo here and check out the new top ten below.

TW LW Title (click to view) Studio Weekend Gross % Change Theater Count / Change Average Total Gross Budget* Week #
1 N Snow White and the Huntsman Uni. $56,255,000 – 3,773 – $14,910 $56,255,000 $170 1
2 1 MIB 3 Sony $29,300,000 -46.3% 4,248 – $6,897 $112,300,000 $225 2
3 2 Marvel’s The Avengers BV $20,273,000 -44.7% 3,670 -248 $5,524 $552,737,000 $220 5
4 3 Battleship Uni. $4,810,000 -56.5% 3,144 -558 $1,530 $55,123,000 $209 3
5 4 The Dictator Par. $4,725,000 -49.1% 2,649 -365 $1,784 $50,835,000 $65 3
6 8 The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel FoxS $4,600,000 -27.9% 1,294 +61 $3,555 $25,497,000 – 5
7 7 What to Expect When You’re Expecting LGF $4,430,000 -37.9% 2,907 -114 $1,524 $30,723,000 – 3
8 6 Dark Shadows WB $3,860,000 -48.6% 3,002 -402 $1,286 $70,834,000 $150 4
9 5 Chernobyl Diaries WB $3,045,000 -61.7% 2,433 – $1,252 $14,416,000 – 2
10 N For Greater Glory ArcEnt $1,800,000 – 757 – $2,378 $1,800,000 – 1

“Men in Black 3″ rules the Memorial Day Box Office but Still Underperforms

Well, the 2012 summer movie season is proving to be a big disappointment. After a fantastic start with the record-breaking The Avengers which has now amassed $513 million (currently sitting at 4th place on the all time money makers list for a U.S. film, not adjusted for inflation), all of the major releases have either bombed or underperformed upon their release. This weekend’s big new entry, Men in Black 3, continues that trend as it disappoints with a $70 million debut after the long 4 day holiday. Now, that is a good number, but most expectations thought it might hit $90 million, and it needs to gross a lot to cover its reported $250-300 million price tag (before marketing!)… We’ll see how the film holds up in the weeks ahead. I gave it a “B-” grade because it’s just not all that fun, interesting or inventive despite a bravura turn by Josh Brolin… The weekend’s other new film outright bombed as the horror flick The Chernobyl Diaries barely managed $ 7.9 million joining Battleship, The Dictator and What to Expect When You’re Expecting on the big bomb list…. For more on these numbers, head to Box Office Mojo here and check out the new top ten below.

TW LW Title (click to view) Studio Weekend Gross % Change Theater Count / Change Average Total Gross Budget* Week #
1 N MIB 3 Sony $55,000,000 – 4,248 – $12,947 $55,000,000 – 1
2 1 Marvel’s The Avengers BV $36,799,000 -33.9% 3,918 -331 $9,392 $513,484,000 $220 4
3 2 Battleship Uni. $10,902,000 -57.3% 3,702 +12 $2,945 $44,408,000 $209 2
4 3 The Dictator Par. $9,275,000 -46.8% 3,014 +6 $3,077 $41,123,000 $65 2
5 N Chernobyl Diaries WB $7,965,000 – 2,433 – $3,274 $7,965,000 – 1
6 4 Dark Shadows WB $7,460,000 -40.7% 3,404 -351 $2,192 $62,943,000 $150 3
7 5 What to Expect When You’re Expecting LGF $7,110,000 -32.6% 3,021 – $2,354 $22,131,000 – 2
8 6 The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel FoxS $6,365,000 +97.0% 1,233 +879 $5,162 $16,568,000 – 4
9 7 The Hunger Games LGF $2,268,000 -23.1% 1,421 -643 $1,596 $395,277,000 $78 10
10 8 Think Like a Man SGem $1,400,000 -47.2% 786 -936 $1,781 $88,272,000 $12 6

Nicole Scherzinger wants you to taste her “Poison”

Grammy nominated pop star Nicole Scherzinger is finally readying her debut solo album. After a few false starts over the past two years, the new record should be out in early 2011 and the first single just hit the web entitled “Poison”. It’s a sexy dance track with an accompanying video that is hot. Nicole’s vocals are great of course and her dance moves are fantastic. (Clearly winning Dancing with the Stars last spring has upped her dancing game)… And Nicole’s not just giving us new music, she’s also forging ahead as an actress. After stealing the show in this summer’s run of the Tony and Pulitzer winning musical Rent at the Hollywood Bowl, she’s landed two more acting gigs. The first is opposite her Rent director Neil Patrick Harris in a guest spot on next Monday’s How I Met Your Mother (as an 80′s teen pop tart alongside the sitcom’s Colbie Smulders alter ego “Robin Sparkles”) and next year she’ll be seen in a brief villainess role in Men in Black 3. For all things, Nicole, head to her website here and get a taste of Nicole’s “Poison” below.

Nicole Scherzinger “Poison”