Box Office Report: ‘Men in Black III’ Scores Over Memorial Day Weekend

Traditionally the long Memorial Day weekend marked the start of the Summer movie season. In the last decade that unofficial date has shifted to the beginning of May, but this is still a marquee weekend for film. And what better way to celebrate that than with the return of one of cinema’s biggest stars.

Will Smith hasn’t been in a movie in nearly four years, and his return also marks the return of one of his most beloved characters, Agent J. Men in Black III had a solid debut bringing in $70 Million over the four-day weekend. That comes in a bit below expectations, but ranks as a strong debut none-the-less considering where the franchise was.

While not an actual reboot, the sequel actually proves that the Men in Black universe is still capable of being an entertaining summer destination. The movie also did well overseas, but only doing well is not what Sony was hoping for. If this franchise makes its way to a fourth installment positive word of mouth is going to have to give this film some legs.

Speaking of hot gams, The Avengers might have dropped to second place, but it still managed to impress. Bringing in over $46 Million over the extra long frame represented a very slight dip for the film. This was extra impressive when you consider Men in Black is direct competition for its target audience.

Battleship thuded really hard for the second straight weekend, and is proving to be part two of Taylor Kitsch’s no good, very bad year. If it is possible Mr. Kitsch is the star of two of the highest profile flops in recent memory. A real shame for an actor who had real promise, hopefully staring in the upcoming Oliver Stone film will give him a chance to shine.

Next weekend brings another potential strong contender to The Avengers‘ success, Snow White and the Huntsmen. The film looks surprisingly good, and appeals to the Avengers demographic almost as much as it does the Twilight demo, a powerful one-two punch. I look for Snow White to win and everything else to shift down one in the top 5. If The Avengers can hold steady for one more week against tough competition it might be time to talk about where it stands on the all time lists.

*4 Day Totals*

1 MIB 3 $70,000,000
2 Marvel’s The Avengers $46,878,000
3 Battleship $13,769,000
4 The Dictator $11,755,000
5 Dark Shadows $9,405,000
6 Chernobyl Diaries $9,300,000
7 What to Expect When You’re Expecting $8,850,000 
8 The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel $8,225,000
9 The Hunger Games $2,850,000
10 Think Like a Man $1,800,000