Universal, Weekend Box Office | featured news

The Universal event pic is the first of the recent fairy tale retellings to win at the box office; Ridley Scott's "Prometheus" opens overseas to stellar $35 million from only 15 markets, nearly matching the $39.3 million grossed by "Snow White" from 45 territories.

Little blue Smurfs and not-so-little green men from space are in a photo finish for the No. 1 spot at the weekend box office. According to studio estimates Sunday, Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford’s sci-fi Western “Cowboys & Aliens” and the animated family adventure “The Smurfs” both opened with $36.2 million. That leaves Sony’s “Smurfs” and Universal’s “Cowboys & Aliens” tied for the top spot. Actual weekend rankings won’t be sorted out until final numbers are counted Monday.

With Russell Brand providing the voice of the reluctant new Easter bunny, "Hop" bound well beyond the expectations of industry analysts, who had figured the movie would debut in the $25 million range.

"True Grit" seized the reins at the weekend box office with $15 million, taking the No. 1 spot and becoming the first Western to top the $100 million mark since the 1990s.