Estimates are in for this weekend’s two new wide releases and, for the moment, they have Fox’s R-rated Prometheus slightly ahead with $21.4 million compared to the $20.4 million of Dreamworks Animation’s Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted. This is great news for Prometheus which is now all but guaranteed to gross over $50 million through Sunday; this despite the fact that Fox had been hinting that $40 million would be a stretch. Why the low expectations? To begin with, Madagascar 3 had a screen count advantage: launching in 4,258 locations to Prometheus’ 3,396. Then there’s that R-rating, which is commonly held to be the harbinger of middling grosses. Instead, Ridley Scott’s Alien prequel took in $3.5 million from its midnight premieres alone – double that of last weekend’s Snow White and the Huntsman. Of course, if Friday’s estimates are good news for Prometheus they are even better for Madagascar 3. Because of the film’s screen count and more-accessible PG-rating, Dreamworks’ latest is expected to take the weekend with around $60 million. We’ll have full details and analysis tomorrow.
Title
Friday
Total
1
Prometheus
$21,400,000
$21.4
2
Madagascar 3
$20,450,000
$20.4
3
Snow White & the Huntsman
$7,500,000
$82.9
4
Men in Black 3
$4,200,000
$126.2
5
The Avengers
$3,300,000
$564.3
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