The adaptation of the once-popular board game earned just over $9 million at the box office, well behind the $15.3 million grossed by ‘Marvel’s The Avengers’. That slow start means the costly ‘Battleship’ will finish in a distant second when American box office numbers are tallied. According to Deadline.com’s Nikki Finke, ‘Battleship’ could cruise to around $26 million for the three-day frame, a disappointment considering the film’s reported $200 million price tag. ‘Battleship’ is the second big-budget film starring Taylor Kitsch to stumble out of the gate in the last two months; in March, the ‘Friday Night Lights’ star opened ‘John Carter’ to underwhelming returns as well. Like ‘Battleship’, other new releases also faltered. ‘The Dictator’ and ‘What To Expect When Expecting’ will likely finish third and fourth.
