Dominant 'The Avengers' To Leave 'Battleship' All At Sea

The huge grossing 'Avengers' movie - which has already taken over $1 billion worldwide - should continue its dominance at the box-office this weekend at the expense of action flick 'Battleship'. The Liam Neeson and Rihanna starring movie is expected to take around $35 million on its debut, though it should be no match for Joss Whedon's superhero epic, reports Reuters.

'The Avengers' is almost certain to remain at No.1 at the box-office, and will take around $50 million, according to Hollywood.com's box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian. Last week, the superhero movie surprised experts by chopping down Johnny Depp and Tim Burton's big-budget comedy 'Dark Shadows', which took a paltry $29.7 million. 'Battleship' - loosely based on the Hasbro board game - has performed relatively well in Europe and is expected to rake in a decent amount in Canada and the U.S, though the continuing popularity of 'The Avengers' is skewing box-office takings and anticipated movies are seemingly flying under the radar. This should have been the week that Battleship recouped a solid amount of its budget, though the threat of 'The Avengers' coupled with next week's debut of Men In Black III with Will Smith, could see it gross far less than expected. A spokeswoman for Universal remained optimistic, saying, "'Battleship' is a big, fun popcorn movie that has done well overseas and we hope will provide the same entertainment in North America".

A sequel to 'The Avengers' has already been announced, though director Joss Whedon has hinted he may not return for the project.