Snow White and the Huntsman Surprises: Has the Curse of The Avengers Been Broken?

Charlize Theron-led take on fairytale tops weekend box office with bigger-than-expected $56.3 million, the biggest opening since Marvel's heroes began overwhelming the competition

Never underestimate an evil queen: Snow White and the Huntsman scored a bigger-than-expected win at the weekend box office.

The film grossed an estimated $56.3 million, the biggest Friday-Sunday total by a movie not named The Avengers since the Marvel blockbuster swamped the summer. 

The Avengers, though, was not entirely done vexing the competition.

The film remained near the top of the weekend charts with a $20.3 million domestic take, and, as expected, surpassed The Dark Knight to take third place among Hollywood's all-time domestic champs, with a $552.7 million haul.

The Avengers likewise climbed to third on the global chart, moving past Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, with a worldwide total of $1.355 billion—and still counting.

Snow White and the Huntsman, meanwhile, came up with $39.3 million in its international debut. 

All together, the film is expected to be at $95.6 million worldwide by the end of the weekend.

Last weekend, Men in Black 3 was the first big-budget, non-Avengers movie of the summer to not disappoint, but Snow White came up bigger, and on a smaller budget ($170 million versus about $225 million) and without the benefit of being a sequel.

And, yes, for Twilight completists, Stewart's Snow White and the Huntsman's opening matches Taylor Lautner's Valentine's Day for biggest opening by a Twilight star in a non-Twilight movie.

Elsewhere, the indie Andy Garcia-Eva Longoria biopic For Greater Glory ($1.8 million at 757 theaters) cracked the Top 10; Piranha 3D ($179,000 off 86 screens) didn't.

Two teen movies, High School and Battlefield America, barely registered, averaging $403 and $632, respectively, at their theaters.

Time finally ran out for The Hunger Games, which finished out of the Top 10 for the first time since March. During its run, it racked up four No. 1 finishes. The blockbuster sits just shy of $400 million domestically.

Here's a complete look at the weekend's top movies, per Friday-Sunday domestic numbers as reported by the studios and Exhibitor Relations:

1. Snow White and the Huntsman, $56.3 million
2. Men in Black 3, $29.3 million
3. The Avengers, $20.3 million
4. Battleship, $4.8 million
5. The Dictator, $4.7 million
6. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, $4.6 million
7. What to Expect When You're Expecting, $4.4 million
8. Dark Shadows, $3.9 million
9. Chernobyl Diaries, $3 million
10. For Greater Glory, $1.8 million

(Originally published at 9:09 a.m. PT on June 3, 2012.)