DreamWorks Animation’s latest release held on to its number one berth through Paramount as an estimated $35.5m boosted the tally after two weekends to $121m. New Line’s Rock Of Ages opened third through Warner Bros.

Overall the top 12 films combined for $124.5m compared to $147.2m for the same weekend in 2011. While box office observers tend to extrapolate trends from weekly comparisons such as this, many in the industry agree the metric is specious until a broader seasonal or annual comparison is available and figures are adjusted into real terms.

Fox’s sci-fi romp Prometheus held on to second place and has generated $89m, making $100m a certainty next weekend if not before.

But the story of the session was Rock Of Ages, which lived up to its poor tracking to come in third on $15.1m. Diego Boneta and Julianne Hough star with star-studded support from the likes of Tom Cruise, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Alec Baldwin. Adam Shankman directed the stage musical adaptation.

There was bad news too for Sony’s That’s My Boy after the Adam Sandler comedy opened in fifth place on an anaemic $13m.

Ice-T’s Sundance documentary Something From Nothing: The Art Of Rap opened through Indomina Media on $150,000 in 157 theatres while IFC launched Your Sister’s Sister with Emily Blunt on $117,000 in 13. ATO Pictures released The Woman In The Fifth on $37,000 from nine venues and Music Box opened the documentary Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present on $11,000 in two theatres.

Next weekend’s wide releases include Fox’s action fantasy Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter from Timur Bekmambetov; Pixar’s Brave; and Focus Features’ comedy-drama Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World with Steve Carell and Keira Knightley.

Estimated Top 10 North America Jun 15-17 2012
Film (Dist) / Est wkd gross / Est total to date

1 (1) Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted (Paramount-DreamWorks Animation) $35.5m $120.5m

2 (2) Prometheus (Fox) Fox Int’l $20.2m $88.9m

3 (-) Rock Of Ages (Warner Bros-New Line) $15.1m –

4 (3) Snow White And The Huntsman (Universal) UPI $13.8m $122.6m

5 (-) That’s My Boy (Sony) SPRI $13m –

6 (4) MIB 3 (Sony) SPRI $10m $152.7m

7 (5) The Avengers (Buena Vista) WDSMPI $8.8m $586.7m

8 (6) The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (Fox Searchlight) Fox Int’l $2.2m $35.1m

9 (10) Moonrise Kingdom (Focus) FFI $2.18m $6.8m

10 (7) What To Expect When You’re Expecting (Lionsgate) Lionsgate Int’l $1.3m $38.8m

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