Friday Box Office: Openers disappoint, Marigold grows, Avengers dominates – what else is new?

Boy, am I getting tired of having to report that The Avengers has once again taken the #1 spot at the North American box office! Are moviegoers ever going to stop flocking to the Marvel juggernaut? All three new openers got crushed; Battleship sunk, The Dictator fell, and What to Expect… over-expected. In fact, the only movie really worth highlighting this weekend is The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, which continues to thrive with the geriatric set, pulling in what should be a robust $3.4m weekend from just 354 theaters. Check out the full chart, if you must, after the jump…

No.	Title	Friday	Critic Speak Weekend Projection	Theaters
1	The Avengers	$15.3M	$52M	4,349
2	Battleship	$9.0M	$24.8M	3,690
3	The Dictator	$5.7M	$13.7M	3,008
4	What to Expect When You’re Expecting	$3.8M	$11.4M	3,021
5	Dark Shadows	$3.7M	$13.0M	3,755
6	The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel	$0.87M	$3.4M	354
7	The Hunger Games	$0.82M	$2.8M	2,064
8	Think Like a Man	$0.80M	$2.3M	1,722
9	The Lucky One	$0.56M	$1.8M	2,055
10	The Pirates! Band of Misfits	$0.34M	$1.3M	1,840

Source: Deadline