'Battleship' takes a hit from 'The Avengers'

Releasing in the wake of The Avengers, Battleship earned just $25.3 million this weekend, half as much as the superhero movie. Projections had the movie earning somewhere over $30 million, so it appears that The Avengers remains the first-choice pick for most audiences. I've heard that people are still showing up only to find sold-out screenings, no surprise given the movie's $55 million third weekend, which is second only to Avatar. With Memorial Day weekend coming up, The Avengers can only stand to benefit from its blockbuster status. If you're looking for an action movie to see, why settle for Battleship when you can watch the movie your friends have been raving about?

The Dictator opened to $17.4 million. Sacha Baron Cohen's portrayal of a corrupt ruler split open the U.S. cultural divide. Paramount reported that the comedy did well in the Northeast and West but performed noticeably worse in the Midwest and South. Young males were the biggest fans of the Cohen starrer. The polarizing humor was undoubtedly responsible for its terrible "C" CinemaScore in exit polls.

The pregnancy comedy What to Expect When You're Expecting earned $10.5 million playing to a mostly female crowd (70%). Women with children often show high "intent to see" numbers but low numbers when it comes to actual attendance. I predict this life-stage movie will do much better in the ancillary markets, and could be the kind of film women pick up when they're actually pregnant themselves.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel went up another 21% from last week to finish with $3.2 million. Bernie has also been having a successful theatrical run, rising 132% in its fourth week to finish with $511,000.

Hysteria had trouble attracting audiences, finishing with an $8,000 per-screen average in five locations. The French-language Polisse averaged $17,000 per screen in three locations, a much more auspicious debut.

During the coming Memorial Day weekend, Men in Black 3 will revive a long-dormant franchise, and the first horror offering in weeks, Chernobyl Diaries, will target younger audiences. Specialty seekers will have Wes Anderson's latest, Moonrise Kingdom, along with the release of the French hit The Intouchables.

FJI contributor Jon Frosch is blogging from the rainy Cannes Film Festival for France 24. Check out his latest post here.