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Those unstoppable Avengers are third this weekend, as the Marvel and Disney release continues to take down records. It's hard to believe but this is already the fifth weekend for Marvel's The Avengers, and it is still packing some punch at the domestic box office. This weekend, The Avengers earned another $20.3 million and dropped 45% compared to the holiday-inflated Memorial Day weekend. It cruised past The Dark Knight's formerly third place domestic tally of $533 million on Friday, leaving it behind only the Cameron Twins, Avatar and Titanic, two films that just aren't all that. The Avengers stays on target for a domestic finish right around the $600 million mark – a good hold next weekend should cement its ascent. Currently, The Avengers has a domestic haul of $552.7 million.

Battleship places fourth this weekend – but was fifth on Friday, laughably behind What to Expect When You're Expecting, a film it beat by $4 million last weekend. Over the weekend proper, Battleship got ahead, but it earned only $4.8 million as it tried to rid itself of the oppressive stench of failure. Battleship fell 56% compared to last weekend, after falling 57% over the long weekend. I'm sure at this point Universal would like Battleship to simply disappear, but I get the opportunity to hammer on it for a few more weekends. Battleship has now earned $55.1 million domestically, and should be happy with a domestic finish around $65 million. It has, however, earned $220 million overseas, so the hit won't be too bad on this $210 million (or more) clunker.

Fifth is The Dictator, another film that had a lot going for it, but misfired. The Sacha Baron Cohen flick earned $4.7 million, which means it was off 49% compared to its $9.7 million take last weekend. The $65 million Paramount release has now earned $50.8 million, and will be lucky to reach its reported budget amount.

Sixth is The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, this summer's small film that's going to hang around. Marigold Hotel earned another $4.6 million this weekend, but dropped 28% due to holiday-inflated frame last weekend and the fact that it has recently gone wide to 1,294 venues. It has earned only $25.5 million stateside, but has a worldwide gross of over $100 million.

What To Expect When You're Expecting is seventh, as it earned $4.4 million. It was off 38% compared to last weekend, and has a gross so far of $30.7 million.

Eighth goes to Dark Shadows, another epic fail from summer 2012. The Johnny Depp flick earned only $3.9 million in its fourth weekend, and dropped 49% compared to the previous frame. Dark Shadows won't earn half of its $150 million budget back stateside, but it has grossed $100 million on foreign shores, which will mitigate the impact for Warner Bros.

The Chernobyl Diaries is ninth and no one cares. It earned $4 million in its second frame and fell 62%. It has a gross now of only $14.4 million.

Finishing tenth this weekend is For Greater Glory, a drama set around the events of the Cristero War that took place in Mexico in the mid- to late-1920s. It features such performers as Andy Garcia, Eva Longoria, Bruce Greenwood and even Peter O'Toole. Out to 757 venues, it earned $1.8 million, good enough to push it just slightly ahead of The Hunger Games.

Overall this weekend, the box office couldn't keep up with where things were last year. The top 12 films at the box office took in $135.6 million, well off the $153.7 million the top 12 took in last year, when X-Men: First Class was on top. Next weekend should snap things back to attention, though, as Prometheus and Madagascar 3 get started.

Top Weekend Box Office for 6/1/12-6/3/12 (Estimates)
Rank	Film	Distributor	Estimated Gross	Weekly Change	Running Total
1	Snow White & the Huntsman	Universal	$56,255,430	New	$56,255,430
2	Men In Black 3	SONY	$29,300,000	- 46%	$112,300,000
3	The Avengers		$20,300,000	- 45%	$552,700,000
4	Battleship	Universal	$4,810,320	- 56%	$55,123,170
5	The Dictator	Paramount Pictures	$4,725,000	- 49%	$50,835,000
6	The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel	Fox Searchlight	$4,600,000	- 28%	$25,496,605
7	What To Expect When You're Expecting	Lionsgate	$4,430,000	- 38%	$30,723,000
8	Dark Shadows	Warner Bros.	$3,860,000	- 49%	$70,834,000
9	Chernobyl Diaries	WARNER BROS.	$3,045,000	- 62%	$14,416,000
10	For Greater Glory	Arc Entertainment	$1,800,000	New	$1,800,000
11	The Hunger Games	Lionsgate	$1,500,000	- 35%	$398,273,748
12	Bernie	Millennium	$937,296	+ 8%	$3,650,696
	Also Opening/Notables
	Piranha 3DD	Dimension	$179,000	New	$179,000
	Battlefield America	Cinedigm	$120,000	New	$120,000
	High School	Anchor Bay	$80,625	New	$80,625
	Hard Flip	Rocky Mountain Pictures	$55,445	New	$55,445
	A Cat In Paris	Gkids	$36,133	New	$36,133
	6 Month Rule	Secret Identity Productions	$1,356	New	$1,356
	Moonrise Kingdom	Focus Features	$848,681	New	$1,708,893
	The Intouchables	Weinstein Co.	$350,186	New	$516,798
	Crooked Arrows	Branded/peck Films	$727,721	+ 430%	$1,247,577
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations

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