'Men in Black 3' takes down 'The Avengers' with $55M at weekend box office

Photographer: Columbia Pictures
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Posted: 05/28/2012

By: Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The suits have knocked off the superheroes at the box office.

Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones' sequel "Men in Black 3" debuted as the No. 1 movie over Memorial Day weekend with $55 million domestically from Friday to Sunday.

That bumps "The Avengers" into second-place after three blockbuster weekends on top. "The Avengers" took in $37 million to push its domestic total to $514 million and become only the fourth movie ever to top half a billion dollars.

"Battleship" was No. 3 in its second weekend with $10.8 million, raising its domestic earnings to $47.1 million. "The Dictator" took in $9.6 million to finish fourth in its second weekend and lift its total to $41.5 million.

The horror tale "Chernobyl Diaries" opened at No. 5 with $8 million.