‘Snow White’ puts bite on box office with $56.3M

LOS ANGELES — “Snow White & the Huntsman” turned out to be a fairer box-office beauty than Hollywood anticipated.

According to studio estimates Sunday, Universal Pictures’ action yarn inspired by the fairy-tale princess debuted strongly at No. 1 with $56.3 million domestically. That’s about $20 million higher than industry expectations.

Without the built-in business that generally goes with a sequel, “Snow White” was a question mark as a draw for young males who typically make up most of the action crowd. The movie drew a fairly even audience, with female fans accounting for 53 percent of viewers.

“We weren’t even thinking we could do beyond $40 million, especially for a title where you didn’t know if the males are going to show up. And they did,” said Nikki Rocco, head of distribution for Universal.

Overseas, “Snow White” added $39.3 million in 45 markets, putting the worldwide total at $95.6 million for the movie that stars Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron and Chris Hemsworth.

“Snow White” bumped Sony’s “Men in Black 3” from the top spot and into second-place with $29.3 million. The Will Smith-Tommy Lee Jones sequel raised its domestic total to $112.3 million after two weekends and added $78.6 million overseas for an international take of $274.6 million and a worldwide gross of $386.9 million.

Disney’s superhero sensation “The Avengers” remained strong at No. 3 with $20.3 million, lifting its domestic total to $552.7 million. “The Avengers” climbed past “The Dark Knight” at $533.3 million to become No. 3 all-time on the domestic revenue chart, behind “Avatar” at $760.5 million and “Titanic” at $658.5 million.

Ridley Scott’s “Alien” forerunner “Prometheus,” from 20th Century Fox and starring Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender and Theron, got off to a solid start overseas with $35 million in 15 markets ahead of its U.S. release Friday.