Battleship Misfires

'Avengers' keeps crushing the competition

By Neal Colgrass, Newser Staff

Posted May 20, 2012 3:24 PM CDT

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Battleship Misfires — In this film image released by Warner Bros., Gully McGrath portrays David Collins, left, and Johnny Depp portrays Barnabas Collins in a scene from "Dark Shadows." (AP Photo/Warner Bros., Peter Mountain)

Battleship barely raised anchor this weekend with a weak $25 million opening that could make it the next John Carter mega-flop. Even the action flick's $226 million international gross won't ease the pain unless domestic interest picks up, says the Hollywood Reporter. Avengers continued to wallop the domestic competition with $55 million, making it the fourth-highest grosser ever. Sacha Baron Cohen's Dictator took third ($17 million), followed by Johnny Depp's Dark Shadows ($12 million) and What to Expect When You're Expecting ($10 million).