The Marvel Studios blockbuster The Avengers is like the Eveready Bunny, it just keeps on going and going and going. Three new movies hit the box office over the weekend and all three failed to get close to the $55.1 million the superhero movie took in during its third weekend. The Avengers dropped by 47% in box office receipts, but has held on admirably for a movie with such high sales figures.
At the end of Sunday, the receipts for the movie in North America will be over $457 million. That will set the mark for surpassing the $450 million level that was previously held by The Dark Knight when it passed that mark on its 27th day, The Avengers has accomplished that in just 17 days.
The movie also moved passed the Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest to become Disney’s highest selling movie ever both worldwide and domestically. On the all time worldwide chart, the movie is now fourth behind only Avatar, thenTitanic and followed by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
Because so many people were still going to see The Avengers, fewer went to new releases over the weekend. Battleship debuted with a disappointing $25.3 million. Overseas, Battleship has done well, earning over $226.8 million. The movie has had a difficult time attracting young people as over 55% of those who watched it last weekend were over 30.
The Dictator took in $17.4 million to bring its five-day total to $24.5 million. The other comedy making its weekend debut was What to Expect When Your Are Expecting. The movie earned a lackluster $10.5 million. The comedy has an ensemble cast that includes Jennifer Lopez, Chris Rock, Cameron Diaz, Dennis Quaid and Elizabeth Banks.
