"Snow White and the Huntsman" was the fairest of them all, striking North American box office gold over the weekend with a $56.3 million debut, industry estimates showed Sunday.
Starring Charlize Theron and Kristen Stewart of "Twilight" fame, the film sees the huntsman ordered to take Snow White into the woods to be killed instead become her protector in a twist on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale.
"Snow White" knocked the comedy "Men in Black 3" off the top of the charts. The reunion of Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones as secret agents battling aliens living on Earth took second place after less than two weeks in theaters, with $29.3 million, according to Exhibitor Relations.
"Men in Black 3," has total takings of $112.3 million so far.
In third this weekend was comic book superhero blockbuster "The Avengers," pocketing $20.3 million on its fifth weekend in theaters.
The film has become the highest-grossing movie in Walt Disney Studios' history with global earnings so far of almost $1.4 billion, the third-highest total of all time.
"The Avengers" maintained its lead over the big-budget but critically panned "Battleship," which dropped to the number four spot in its third weekend with $4.8 million in box office receipts.
In fifth was comedian Sacha Baron Cohen's "The Dictator," with $4.7 million on its third weekend.
"The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel," a comedic drama about British retirees in India, took in $4.6 million for sixth place.
Keeping its seventh place was romantic comedy "What to Expect When You're Expecting," about five interconnected couples sharing the experience of having a baby, with $4.4 million.
Next was Tim Burton's "Dark Shadows" reboot starring Johnny Depp, in eighth place with $3.9 million.
Ninth place went to horror flick "Chernobyl Diaries." The tale of a group of tourists taking a disastrous tour of the ghost town of Pripyat in Ukraine, abandoned after the 1980s nuclear disaster, made $3 million in its second weekend in theaters.
Rounding out the top 10 was "For Greater Glory," a chronicle of the Cristero War, also known as the Cristiada, of 1926-29, an uprising against the Mexican government. It took $1.8 million on its debut weekend.
Source: AFP American Edition
