Universal’s Snow White and the Huntsman had a bigger than expected opening at the North American box office this weekend, grossing an estimated $56.3m and easily deposing Men in Black 3 as the market’s top draw.

The fantasy adventure, which stars Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron and Chris Hemsworth and was directed by Rupert Sanders, got mixed reviews but found a sizeable audience, taking its weekend tally from 3,773 theatres for a per-theatre average of $14,910.

Sony’s Men in Black 3 was down 46% in its second weekend, grossing an estimated $29.3m from 4,248 theatres for an average of $6,897 and a domestic total to date of $112.3m.

Marvel’s The Avengers, distributed by Buena Vista, ranked third, taking an estimated $20.3m from 3,670 theatres for a $5,524 average and a total of $552.7m.

The weekend’s only other wide new release, Arc Entertainment’s For Greater Glory, took an estimated $1.8m from 757 theatres, for an average of $2,378. The poorly reviewed Mexican period drama with Andy Garcia starring and Dean Wright directing came in tenth.

Fox Searchlight’s The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel had another strong weekend, increasing its theatre count to 1,294 and taking an estimated $4.6m, for a per-theatre average of $3,555 and total so far of $25.5m.

And in its second weekend Focus Features’ Moonrise Kingdom maintained its box office momentum, expanding into 16 theatres and taking an estimated $848,681, for a per-theatre average of $53,043 and a total of $1.7m.

Next weekend’s wide releases are: Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted, DreamWorks’ Paramount-distributed animated sequel with Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer and Jada Pinkett Smith once again leading the voice cast for the directing team of Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath and Conrad Vernon; and Fox’s Prometheus, director Ridley Scott’s return to the sci-fi horror genre with Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender and Charlize Theron starring.

 

Estimated Top 10 North America June 1-3 2012
Film (Dist) / Est wkd gross / Est total to date

1 (-) Snow White and the Huntsman (Universal) UPI $$56.3m -

2 (1) Men in Black 3 (Sony) SPRI $29.3m $112.3m

3 (2) The Avengers (Buena Vista) WDSMPI $20.3m $552.7m

4 (3) Battleship (Universal) UPI $4.8m $55.1m

5 (4) The Dictator (Paramount) PPI $4.7m $50.8m

6 (8) Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (Fox Searchlight) Fox Int’l $4.6m $25.5m

7 (7) What To Expect When You’re Expecting (Lionsgate) Lionsgate Int’l $4.4m $30.7m

8 (6) Dark Shadows (Warner Bros) WBPI $3.9m $70.8m

9 (5) Chernobyl Diaries (Warner Bros) FilmNation $3m $14.4m

10 (-) For Greater Glory (ARC) New Land $1.8m -

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