Charlize Theron appears in a still from the 2012 film, Snow White and the Huntsman. - Provided courtesy of Universal Pictures

'Snow White and the Huntsman' tops weekend box office with $56.3 million

06/03/2012 by Kristina Lopez

"Snow White and the Huntsman" was the fairest one of all the box office contenders for the weekend as the action film based off the popular fairy tale topped the box office.

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Theron in 'Snow White and the Huntsman'

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The film, which stars Charlize Theron as the Evil Queen, Kristen Stewart as Snow White and Chris Hemsworth as the Huntsman, earned an estimated $56.3 million at the domestic box office, according to The Associated Press.

In the film, Theron is a power-hungry queen whose youthful looks and magic are threatened by her stepdaughter, Snow White (played by Kristen Stewart), who will one day be "the fairest of them all." The Evil Queen sends a Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) to track down Snow White in the dark forest, but he ends up teaching Snow White to protect herself. The film hit theaters on June 1.

Overseas, the film earned $39.3 million in 45 markets, which puts its debut worldwide total at $95.6 million.

"Snow White and the Huntsman" has almost earned in its debut the total box office haul that the previous Snow White film, "Mirror Mirror," took in its entire box office run. That movie, which was a comedic take on the tale with Julia Roberts, was released in March and earned a total of $62.4 million for its time in theaters.

Last weekend's box office winner "Men in Black 3," was bumped down to second place with $29.3 million. The sum raises the film's domestic total to $112.3 million after two weekends. The movie currently has a worldwide gross of $386.9 million.

Both Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith reprise their roles as Agent K and Agent J from the first two films. In this film, Agent J travels back in time to 1969 to help save a young Agent K - played by Josh Brolin - as well as planet earth.

Landing in third place is the box office behemoth "The Avengers" which earned an additional $20.3 million domestically, lifting its domestic total to $552.7 million. That total pushed "The Avengers" past "The Dark Knight" domestic box office record at $533.3 million. "The Avengers" is now the No. 3 film on the all-time domestic revenue chart, behind "Avatar" at $760.5 million and "Titanic" at $658.5 million.

"The Avengers" also raised its worldwide total to $1.36 billion, beating out last year's "Harry Potter" finale at $1.33 billion to put "The Avengers" in third place for the all-time revenue worldwide, also behind only "Avatar" ($2.8 billion) and "Titanic" ($2.2 billion).

Finishing out the top five films for the weekend is "Battleship," which landed in fourth place with $4.8 million and "The Dictator," which ended up in fifth place with $4.7 million

Watch the trailers for "Snow White and the Huntsman," "Piranha 3DD," "High School" and "For Greater Glory" below.