Shoot, I’d sure like to “founder” with 9mil in a weekend.
I know what you mean. It’s over half of the other movie.
Note that at least in the Los Angeles ad market, Battleship had a blitz of advertising in radio, television and other media markets - a desperate attempt to turn what was likely to be a stinker into something that might break even in DVD sales. When DJs are giving away tickets to your movie, and sound like they feel bad about sticking you with them, you don’t have much of a movie to peddle.
Vs The Avengers with a pretty limited ad buy and still roaring success (they are on track for a $50 million dollar weekend, something Battleship would be happy to earn at this point in domestic receipts for the next three weeks.