Box Office Report: ‘Snow White & The Huntsman’ Proves Context Is Everything

Hey you got some Lord of the Rings in my Snow White! The movie going crowd of the first weekend of June certainly didn’t mind that particular mash-up, as Snow White & The Huntsman came in at number 1. Bringing in over $56 Million, Snow White proved even fairer than expectations.

What is most interesting to me about the big three day haul for Snow White is that total is not all that much more than Men in Black III did in the first three days of its run. Yet because of expectations, and a healthy dose of public skepticism, Men in Black seems like a mild under-performer, while Snow White represents a win for most involved. Context is key.

Speaking of the black clad men, the sequel did about $29 Million for its second weekend, holding on to second place from The Avengers who continues its strong run. The drop was less than 50%, which means word of mouth must be playing in the film’s favor.

Of course the respectable dip isn’t really impressive enough to make Men in Black seem like a bigger hit. What it will do though is help its final tally reach a decent number and keep hopes of further films in this universe alive for at least another week.

This weekend also represented what is likely the last major weekend for The Avengers. As the Mighty Marvel Movie Mammoth passes all non-James Cameron top films it settles into its place as third most successful movie of all time. The likelihood of the film climbing above Titanic or Avatar are pretty slim at this point, and that is really due more to the season than anything else. The summer is just to competitive of a season for any film to have the kind of legs required of catching the two Cameron behemoths.

Keep an eye on The Dark Knight Rises and The Hobbit, if any films have a chance to take down The Avengers (or beyond) it would be those two in the foreseeable future.

Next weekend brings two big time films looking to shake up this weeks top three.  Most of you reading this care only about Prometheus, which probably won’t light the box office on fire, but might be the best blockbuster of the Summer. Madagascar 3 also hits the cineplex circuit on a ton of screens, so cinephiles brace yourself for a potential weekend where 3rd tier animation beats out a potential cinematic treasure.

Personally I rather like the Madagascar films, and with Prometheus’ very different target audience both films could conceivably co-exist. In fact, I am going to go out on a limb and say Ridley Scott’s R rated opus wins a very competitive weekend.

1 Snow White and the Huntsman $56,255,000
2 MIB 3 $29,300,000
3 Marvel’s The Avengers $20,273,000
4 Battleship $4,810,000
5 The Dictator $4,725,000
6 The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel $4,600,000
7 What to Expect When You’re Expecting $4,430,000
8 Dark Shadows $3,860,000
9 Chernobyl Diaries $3,045,000
10 For Greater Glory $1,800,000