There seemed to be blood in the water in advance of Snow White and the Huntsman's opening this weekend, with the people who read things like tracking numbers predicting a devastatingly low box office return. The studio itself was predicting something between $38 and $42 million, better than the disastrous opening weekend for Universal's Battleship a few weeks ago (a pitiful $25 million), but still not enough for the Kristen Stewart-Charlize Theron fairy tale revision to make any money.
Lucky for those stars, Universal, and movie theater owners everywhere, the actual box office report is much better. According to Deadline Snow White and the Huntsman made $20.3 million domestically on Friday, plus another $1.84 million from midnight showings; that's good enough for a projected $55.8 million domestic opening, which is much, much better than anybody expected. Add that to another $39.3 million from international theaters this weekend, and Snow White and the Huntsman is, er, out of the woods-- Battleship alone will have the distinction of Universal's only massive flop so far this year.
That also makes Snow White the first film to actually overperform in the wake of The Avengers, which is significant-- Batleship, Dark Shadows and The Dictator all debuted with a whimper, and even last weekend's champ Men In Black 3 underperformed given what you'd expect for a Will Smith vehicle. Snow White isn't a megabit, but it at least proves that people are still interested in seeing something other than The Avengers a month after that movie premiered. (The Avengers, it's worth noting, is expected to make $19 million this weekend, bringing its domestic total to a mind-boggling $541.5 million)
Elsewhere in the world, Prometheus is already open in the UK and a handful of other markets, and is doing pretty well for itself. We won't get a look at it Stateside until next week, but in the meantime, let us know what you're seeing, and if Snow White and the Huntsman lived up to your expectations.
