'Avengers' sinks 'Battleship,' taking No. 1 for third week

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Moviegoers opted for heroes in spandex over heroes at sea this weekend, continuing The Avengers' stranglehold over No. 1 and torpedoing the board-game adaptation, which took second place.

The Avengers cruised to the top spot for the third straight weekend, collecting $55.1 million, according to studio estimates from Hollywood.com.

• MORE: The weekend's top 10
  

The haul was the second highest for a film in its third weekend, behind only Avatar's $68.5 million. The movie has collected $457.1 million, making it the highest-grossing movie in Disney history. The Avengers also moves up to sixth-highest grossing film on record, just $2.5 million behind the original Star Wars.

The fates weren't so kind to Battleship, which was second with $25.4 million and entered theaters facing skepticism and tough reviews.

Analysts expected the film to do at least $40 million.



Only 36% of critics liked the film, while 56% of audiences gave it a thumbs-up, says amalgam site Rotten Tomatoes.

"Perhaps after the ridiculous success of The Avengers, (a) big dumb action movie isn't going to cut it anymore," says Tim Briody of Box Office Prophets.

Still, Briody says, the film "didn't embarrass itself, either," considering the colossal foe it faced in The Avengers. The $170 million movie has amassed more than $250 million worldwide.

Gitesh Pandya of Box Office Guru says Battleship drew many people who already caughtThe Avengers but needed more pyrotechnics.

"A more lowbrow male action crowd (took) interest in Battleship, given what it promised up on the big screen," he says. "A Transformers-at-sea flick."

But Battleship will have to generate Transformers-like word of mouth if it wants to avoid a watery grave. Pandya says the upcoming Memorial Day weekend could "work well with the film, theme-wise." The movie tells the story of an international fleet of soldiers who come upon an alien armada at sea.

Sacha Baron Cohen's comedy The Dictator met the high end of expectations with $17.4 million, followed by the Johnny Depp comedy Dark Shadows with $12.8 million.

The comedy What to Expect When You're Expecting rounded out the top five with $10.5 million.

Final figures are out Monday.

Battleship's lackluster voyage slowed ticket sales, though revenues remain 16% ahead of the same time last year, while attendance dipped but remains up 18%, according to Hollywood.com.

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