The wise-cracking critters of "Madagascar 3" rolled up another $35.5 million and stayed at No. 1 this weekend, knocking out box office heavyweights Tom Cruise and Adam Sandler in the process.
The DreamWorks Animation threequel has grossed $120.4 million in two weeks in the U.S. It added another $53 million overseas, upping its overall global gross to $278 million. "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted" took advantage of having the family film market to itself for the second week in a row.
Fox's "Prometheus" held strong at No. 2 with $20.2 million. Ridley Scott's R-rated sci-fi epic added $25.5 million from 62 overseas territories, pushing its worldwide total to $216 million.
But the two new films, both of which took a beating from critics, never got untracked.
"Rock Of Ages" and Cruise couldn't hit the high box office notes, taking in an estimated $15 million from 3,470 locations for the No. 3 spot. "Rock of Ages" also opened in a handful of overseas markets, and took in $4.1 million from 1,850 screens in 10 markets. It bowed at No. 3 in both the U.K. and Australia.
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The young males that were seen as the key to broader success for the film didn't turn out. The audience, which gave the film a B CinemaScore, was 62 percent female, and 74 percent over 25 years of age.
Adam Shankman directed the movie based on the Broadway musical, but it couldn't match his earlier success with another film musical, 2007's "Hairspray." Julianne Hough and Diego Boneta star in "Rock of Ages," the tale of the late-'80s Sunset Strip music scene. The supporting cast includes Alec Baldwin, Russell Brand, Paul Giamatti, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Mary J. Blige. The film's production budget was around $70 million.
Even more underwhelming was Sony's "That's My Boy," which opened to $13 million from 3,030 locations. Sandler's first R-rated comedy drew an audience that was 54 percent male and 52 percent under 25, the latter number suggesting that the rating may have cost it some young moviegoers.
It's the second misfire in a row for Sandler, coming on the heels of last year's "Jack and Jill."
"That's My Boy" stars Sandler as a former reality TV star who fathered a son (Andy Samberg) and raised him as a single parent up until the boy's 18th birthday. After not seeing each other for years, the son's world comes crashing down when dad shows up. Leighton Meester co-stars. Sean Anders directed from a script by David Caspe. Sony puts the production budget at around $65 million.
In fourth place was Universal's 'Snow White and the Huntsman," which took in $13.8 million from 3,701 locations in it fourth week, raising its overall North American gross to $122.6 million.
"The Avengers" put up another $8.8 million from 2,582 locations for Disney in its seventh week, dropping just 21 percent from last week. The Marvel superhero saga's overall domestic gross now stands at $586.7 million, its worldwide at $1.49 billion, No. 3 on the all-time list behind "Avatar" and "Titanic."
"Men in Black 3" added another $10 million to Sony's coffers and raised its overall domestic gross to $152.6 million. "MIB 3" added an estimated $19.7 million from 79 overseas markets this weekend, bringing its worldwide total to $544.3 million
"Madagascar 3" will have some competition in the family arena next week, when Disney rolls out the animated Pixar film "Brave." Fox will bow the R-rated "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter."