Rock Of Ages: Is Tom Cruise Still A Box Office Banker?

In a result that has no doubt left Sony bosses scratching their heads, Tom Cruise's comedy musical 'Rock of Ages' got nowhere near 'Madagascar 3' or even 'Prometheus' at the box office this weekend, despite both movies already having spent a week in theaters. 'Rock of Ages' had the budget ($75 million), it had the stars (Cruise, Russell Brand) and it had no competition - or so analysts assumed.

In the end, it was animated adventure 'Madagascar 3' that was far too strong for the musical, taking over $35 million to cement its place at the top of the box-office. Ridley Scott's sci-fi epic also hung on to second place, leaving Rock of Ages languishing in third place. The critics had slaughtered the film, with Peter Bradshaw of the UK's Guardian newspaper writing, "Doubtless, like The Producers, it will be adapted back into the theatre, sometime in 2017, at which time it will be even more bland and tiring". However, it was widely assumed that having Cruise at the helm would easily be enough for the first to take the top spot, for a week at least. The poor takings may have something to do with the current popularity of the 'musical film', though questions will no doubt be raised of Cruise's stock. He enjoyed huge success with 'Mission Impossible 4' last year, though the franchise was already heavily established. It will therefore be interesting to note how he fares with crime-drama 'Jack Reacher', about a homicide investigator who digs deeper into a case involving a trained sniper who shoots dead five seemingly random victims.

Cruise had also signed on to star in the sci-fi 'Oblivion' with Morgan Freeman, and is reportedly working on a sequel to 'Top Gun'.