Box Office Report: ‘Battleship,’ ‘Dictator’ Sluggish; ‘Avengers’ Still Soars

4:35 PM PDT 5/18/2012 by Pamela McClintock

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Universal Pictures

With “Avengers” still looming large, “Battleship” is on course for soft $11 million to $12 million Friday, while “Dictator” and Lionsgate comedy “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” duke it out.

CANNES -- Universal and Hasbro Entertainment’s pricey action tentpole Battleship got off to a slow start at the domestic box office Friday and might only gross a muted $32 million to $34 million for the weekend unless traffic picks up.

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For the day, Battleship -- headlining Taylor Kitsch, Brooklyn Decker and Liam Neeson -- is looking at a gross in the $11 million to $12 million range, including $400,000-plus from Thursday's midnight runs.

Sacha Baron Cohen’s R-rated comedy The Dictator and Lionsgate’s comedy What to Expect When You’re Expecting aren’t faring much better. Paramount's Dictator, which opened Wednesday, is projected to gross in the $5 million range Friday for a five-day debut of $20 million to $21 million and a three-day bow of $13 million to $14 million, notably less than the openings of Baron Cohen’s Borat ($26 million) and Bruno ($30 million).

What to Expect When You’re Expecting is on track for a $4.5 million Friday, putting it at $13 million to $14 million for the weekend.

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Disney and Marvel Studios’ The Avenger continues to crush everything in its wake, grossing $1.07 billion through Thursday to become the sixth-biggest movie of all time at the worldwide box office. Also on Thursday, the superhero tentpole smashed another record in North America, where it crossed $400 million in only 14 days, besting the 19 days it took The Dark Knight to reach the same mark. It's also Disney's biggest release ever.

Avengers has now earned $402 million domestically and $668.7 million internationally. It should earn another $120 million this weekend to become the No. 4 title of all time globally, passing 2003's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and last year's Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

As of Thursday, Avengers ranked as the ninth-biggest release in history internationally and No. 12 domestically.