“Ice Age: Continental Drift,” the fourth film in Fox’s animated “Ice Age” series, was the nation’s number one movie this weekend. But while “Ice Age’s” $46 million domestic gross was the weekend’s best, it represents an underwhelming debut performance.

“Continental Drift’s” $46.6 million opening was right on par with the first “Ice Age’s” $46.3 million, but its numbers were weak in comparison to the series’ middle installments. The second film, “Ice Age: The Meltdown,” made $68 million in its first weekend. The franchise’s most recent release, “Ice Age: Dawn of Dinosaurs,” came out on a Wednesday, so it doesn’t offer a very effective straight comparison, but “Continental Drift” has little chance of topping that film’s $66.7 million five-day total.

“Ice Age’s” numbers are likewise dwarfed by some of this year’s other animated tentpoles. For example, “The Lorax” opened to $70.2 million, while “Brave” and “Madagascar 3” raked in $66.3 million and $60.3 million, respectively.

Partly as a result of “Ice Age” being the weekend’s lone new release, the charts remained astoundingly static behind it. With just one exception, last week’s top nine movies remained in exactly the same order, each sliding back one position. The lone change was “Madagascar 3” moving from seventh to tenth place behind  “Katy Perry: Part of Me” and Wes Anderson’s “Moonrise Kingdom,” which stayed entrenched in eighth and ninth place with $3.8 and $3.7 million, respectively.

The weekend’s second place movie was “The Amazing Spider-Man,” which fell 44 percent, grossing $34.6 million. Such a drop is not unexpected and actually displays a stronger second week percentage-wise than the second (48.7 percent) and third (61.5 percent) installments in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man series. However, in terms of actual gross, “The Amazing Spider-Man” made significantly less in its second go around than its predecessors. That said, the film did surpass $200 million in domestic gross yesterday.

In third place, “Ted” held strong, easing 30.4 percent to $22.4 million in its third weekend. After breaking the record for best opening weekend for an original R-rated comedy, the film continues to chug along and remains just ahead of “The Hangover’s” totals through its first 17 days. “Ted” still has around $127 million to go, but it will likely be the highest-grossing R-rated comedy of all-time before its run is over.

Partly as a result of “Ice Age” being the weekend’s lone new release, the charts remained astoundingly static behind it. With just one exception, last week’s top nine movies remained in exactly the same order, each sliding back one position. The lone change was “Madagascar 3” moving from seventh to tenth place behind  “Katy Perry: Part of Me” and Wes Anderson’s “Moonrise Kingdom,” which stayed entrenched in eighth and ninth place with $3.8 and $3.7 million, respectively.

“Madagascar’s” drop is easily explained by “Ice Age’s” entry into the field, as the films compete for the same target demographics. However, the weekend’s fourth place film, “Brave,” was surprisingly unphased by the new competition. Pixar’s latest release dropped 43.1 percent to $11.1 million. Having grossed over $196 million domestically so far, it’s a foregone conclusion that “Brave” will be the studio’s tenth release to pass the $200 million mark.

This was a quiet weekend at the box office, but we won’t be able to say the same seven days from now, as “The Dark Knight Rises” debuts on Friday.

Here are the results for this weekend’s top 10 at the box office:

Title/Weeks in release/Theater count, Studio/Three-day weekend total/Cume

1. Ice Age: Continental Drift, 1/3,881, Fox, $46.629 million.
2. The Amazing Spider-Man, 2/4,318, Sony, $34.628 million, $200.5 million.
3. Ted, 3/3,303, Universal, $32.593 million, $120.24 million.
4. Brave, 4/3,392, Buena Vista, $22.41 million, $196.061 million.
5. Savages, 2/2,635, Universal, $9.393 million, $32.125 million.
6. Magic Mike, 3/3,090, Warner Bros., $9.021 million, $91.841 million.
7. Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Witness Protection, 3/2,004, LGF, $5.584 million, $55.611 million.
8. Katy Perry: Part of Me, 2/3,732, Paramount, $3.8 million, $18.653 million.
9. Moonrise Kingdom, 8/924, Focus, $3.704 million, $32.483 million.
10. Madagascar 3, 6/2,285, Paramount/Dreamworks, $3.669 million, $203.901 million.

Yes, you read the title right. For the seventh time in the past decade (well, ten years and two months), a Spider-Man film is on the top of the weekend domestic box office charts. Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man” stayed at number one for two weeks in 2002, and its sequels did the same in 2004 and 2007, respectively. Now, here in 2012, director Marc Webb’s “The Amazing Spider-Man” is on top once again after making $65 million this weekend and $140 million over the course of its six-day opening.

“Spider-Man’s” $65 million debut weekend is the fifth largest opening of the year, behind only “The Avengers” ($207 million), “The Hunger Games” ($155 million), “The Lorax” ($70 million), and “Brave” ($66 million). But “Spidey’s” $140 million did allow it to beat out the six-day gross of some other recent comic book reboots, namely “Batman Begins” and “X-Men: First Class,” which made $79.5 million and $69.9 million over their first six days, respectively.

However, perhaps the best way to judge “The Amazing Spider-Man’s” success is to compare it to that of Sam Raimi’s trilogy. The reboot found itself right behind the first “Spider-Man’s” six day total of $144.2 million. However, “Spider-Man 2” grossed $180.1 million and “Spider-Man 3” $176.2 million, meaning the newest film actually made the least of any “Spidey” movie to date. And while “The Amazing Spider-Man” beat out “Batman Begins” in terms of gross, Christopher Nolan’s film had the best six-day start of any Batman film at the time. Of course, “The Dark Knight” later upped the ante.

After breaking “The Hangover’s” record for best debut by an original R-rated comedy (i.e. not counting “The Hangover Part II“) last weekend,  Seth McFarlane’s “Ted,” remained strong, grossing $32.6 million in its second weekend. For comparison’s sake, “The Hangover” made just under $32.8 million in its second weekend, and “Ted’s” ten-day total of $120.2 million bests “The Hangover” over the same period.

In its third weekend, “Brave” remained in third place with $20.162 million. The Pixar flick has now grossed $174.5 million to date, which means it’s all but assured to be the studio’s tenth movie to accumulate $200 million.

Oliver Stone’s “Savages” came in fourth place with $16 million in its opening weekend, which isn’t all that bad considering its competition. Behind it, “Magic Mike,” “Madea’s Witness Protection,” and “Madagascar 3” slid into the fifth, sixth, and seventh spots with $15.6, $10.1, and $7.5 million, respectively.

The weekend’s soft release was “Katy Perry: Part of Me,” which came in eighth place with $7.1 million. In ninth and tenth place we saw a couple strong showings from films teetering on the edge of the “specialty box office” label. Wes Anderson’s “Moonrise Kingdom” grossed $4.5 million from 884 theaters, while in its third week Woody Allen’s “To Rome with Love” added 777 theaters, giving it a total of 806 and making $3.5 million.

Overall, it was a strong weekend at the box office. The nation’s top 12 films grossed $187.1 million, a 28 percent bump from this time last year.

Here are the results for this weekend’s top 10 at the box office:

Title/Weeks in release/Theater count, Studio/Three-day weekend total/Cume

1. The Amazing Spider-Man, 1/4,318, Sony, $65 million, $140 million.
2. Ted, 2/3,256, Universal, $32.593 million, $120.24 million.
3. Brave, 3/3,891, Buena Vista, $20.162 million, $174.519 million.
4. Savages, 1/2,628, Universal, $16.162 million.
5. Magic Mike, 2/3,120, Warner Bros., $15.61 million, $72.797 million.
6. Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Witness Protection, 2/2,161, $10.2 million, $45.846 million.
7. Madagascar 3, 5/2,861, Paramount/Dreamworks, $7.7 million, $196.02 million.
8. Katy Perry: Part of Me, 1/3,730, Paramount, $7.15 million.
9. Moonrise Kingdom, 7/884, Focus, $4.642 million, $26.893 million.
10. To Rome with Love, 3/806, SPC, $3.502 million, $5.621 million.

Things are looking bright in Hollywood, and not just because of pre-holiday fireworks displays. Seth McFarlane’s “Ted” is sitting pretty on the top of the charts after grossing $54.1 million, which makes it the biggest weekend ever for an R-rated original comedy (it beat out “The Hangover’s” $44.98 million debut) as well as the eighth best R-rated debut ever. The film, which stars Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, and McFarlane himself, is the “Family Guy” creator’s first foray into feature films (how ’bout that for for alliteration?), and its success has many wondering why it took studios so long to give McFarlane a chance at the helm of a Hollywood project.

But “Ted” wasn’t the only triumph at the box office, as numbers surged across the board. The weekend’s top 12 films raked in a combined total of approximately $197 million, the highest weekend total ever in the month of June.

So how do we account for all this success? Well, two other new releases, Steven Soderbergh’s male stripper dramedy “Magic Mike” and Tyler Perry’s “Madea’s Witness Protection” had some relatively massive openings of their own, exceeding expectations and coming in second and fourth place with $39 million and $25 million, respectively.

It shouldn’t be discounted that a good portion of the summer’s blockbusters have targeted younger audiences. Just look this weekend’s third and fifth place finishers, “Brave” and “Madagascar 3,” each debuted at number one. But after animated films have ruled the box office for three straight weeks, the simultaneously successful releases of the R-rated “Ted” and “Magic Mike” serve as a good reminder that adults go to the movies too, and not just to sit in the AC and keep the damn kids quiet for 90 minutes.

I’m pleased to say “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” endured a larger than usual 63 percent slide this weekend, falling to sixth place and grossing just $6 million. The film’s now grossed a cumulative total of $29 million, and likely won’t make it past the $40 million mark, well below its budget of $69 million. Hopefully, studios will learn to leave our great historical figures alone from now on, unless Daniel Day-Lewis is playing them (“Lincoln” is scheduled for release in the fourth quarter of 2012), or at the very least to leave vampires out of the picture.

Meanwhile, Wes Anderson’s “Moonrise Kingdom” came back into view after falling out of the top ten last weekend. The film finally saw a nationwide release, adding another 459 theaters, giving it a total of 854, and came in seventh place with just under $5 million.

The weekend’s soft release was “People Like Us,” a drama starring Chris Pine and Elizabeth Banks. Early estimates had the film in tenth place, but more recent reports show it falling into eleventh. “The Avengers” took its place, moving up to round out the top ten. It’s likely to be the last time we’ll see those particular superheros there, but comic book fans need not fear. Peter Parker’s being rebooted, “The Amazing Spider-Man” comes out on July 3.

Here are the results for this weekend’s top 10 at the box office:

Title/Weeks in release/Theater count, Studio/Three-day weekend total/Cume

1. Ted, 1/3,239, Universal, $54.1 million.
2. Magic Mike, 1/2,930, Warner Bros., $39.155 million.
3. Brave, 2/4,164, Buena Vista, $34.011 million, $131.685 million.
4. Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Witness Protection, 1/2,161, $26.35 million.
5. Madagascar 3, 4/3,715, Paramount/Dreamworks, $11.815 million, $180.012 million.
6. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, 2/3,109, $6 million, $29.034 million.
7. Moonrise Kingdom, 6/854, Focus, $4.926 million, $18.406 million.
8. Prometheus, 4/1,951, Fox, $4.921 million, $118.262 million.
9. Snow White and the Huntsman, 5/2,337, Universal, $4.498 million, $145.591 million.
10. The Avengers, 9/1,757, Disney/Marvel Studios, $4.421 million, $606.505 million.

Last week, two new releases, “Madgascar 3” and “Prometheus,” occupied the top two spots on the domestic box office charts for the first time since April 22, when “Think Like a Man” and “The Lucky One” knocked out “The Hunger Games” after four weeks on top. This weekend, something else that hadn’t happened in some time occurred: the nation’s two highest grossing movies remained static. “Madgascar 3” and “Prometheus” remain cemented at the top of the charts with $35.5 million and $20.2 million, respectively. The last films to accomplish that feat: “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol” and “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” over the last two weekends of 2011, Dec. 23-25 and Dec. 30-Jan. 1.

Hair metal musical “Rock of Ages” came in third place with $15 million. Now, I could make that sound like a lot by pointing out that’s the sixth best opening of all-time for a musical and the third highest for a film adapted from the stage. But let’s be frank here, given the film’s prime summer release date, huge release (it played in 74 more theaters than “Prometheus” did in its first week), and most importantly its star-studded cast, “Rock of Ages” was a supreme disappointment. Seriously, this is a film with names like Russell Brand, Paul Giamatti, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Malin Akerman, Mary J. Blige, Alec Baldwin, Bryan Cranston, Will Forte, Eli Roth and of course, Tom Cruise in its end credits. It should have made more money.

So what was the problem? Well, as I hypothesized in my Box Office Preview, nobody, and I mean nobody likes hair metal, the genre this film was banking on. Kids don’t like it, of that I can assure you, and baby boomers were the ones telling their children to turn that garbage down during the lost decade that was the 1980’s. As I said on Friday, the target audience here was the tiny sliver of the American population that was both a teenager during the 1980′s and enjoyed the crap at the top of the pop charts at the time.

All that showed in the demographics. For some reason, whoever keeps track of this stuff divides the entire population of the country into only two groups: above 25 and below 25. Nearly 75 percent of the audience for “Rock of Ages” was in the above category, and females made up 62 percent. Those numbers are staggeringly skewed.

Unsurprisingly, the demographics for the weekend’s other new release, Adam Sandler’s “That’s My Boy,” were distorted in the opposite direction. Sandler, of course, is known for his high-brow humor, stuff like “If peeing your pants is cool, consider me Miles Davis.” That’s sarcasm folks. Anyway, 52 percent of the comedy’s audience was under 25, and 54 percent was male. I know that doesn’t sound like much after what you just read, but in general, that’s not an insignificant skew towards teenage boys. “That’s My Boy” came in fifth place with $13 million.

The remainder of the chart offered few surprises. Sandwiched between the two new releases, “Snow White and the Huntsman” made $13.8 million, and “That’s My Boy” was followed by “Men in Black 3” and “The Avengers.”

Meanwhile, Wes Anderson’s “Moonrise Kingdom” continues to chug along at the specialty box office. With nearly $2.2 million, the film moved into ninth place this weekend despite being shown in just 178 theaters (compare that to Rock of Ages'” 3,470 and tenth place finisher “What to Expect When You’re Expecting’s” 1,216).

Here are the results for this weekend’s top 10 at the box office:

Title/Weeks in release/Theater count, Studio/Three-day weekend total/Cume
1. Madagascar 3, 2/4,263, Paramount/Dreamworks, $35.5 million, $120.451 million.
2. Prometheus, 2/3,442, Fox, $20.2 million, $88.858 million.
3. Rock of Ages, 1/3,470, Warner Bros., $15 million.
4. Snow White and the Huntsman, 3/3,701, Universal, $13.805 million, $122.602 million.
5. That’s My Boy, 1/3,030, Sony, $13 million.
6. Men in Black 3, 4/3,135, Sony, $10 million, $152.679 million.
7. The Avengers, 7/2,582, Disney/Marvel Studios, $8.848 million, $586.737 million.
8. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, 7/1,184, Fox Searchlight, $2.2 million, $35.133 million.
9. Moonrise Kingdom, 4/178, Focus, $2.181 million, $6.779 million.
10.What to Expect When You’re Expecting, 5/1,216, $1.33 million, $38.766 million.

For the first time since April 22, two new releases occupy the top two spots on the weekend box office charts. That weekend, “Think Like a Man” and “The Lucky One” knocked out “The Hunger Games” after four weeks on top. This time around, “Madagascar 3” and “Prometheus” sank “Snow White and the Huntsman” to number three in just its second week.

There’s been an absence of family features of late, and it showed in “Madagascar’s” strong $60.35 million showing, which is the fourth-highest opening of the year. The film just missed the $63.1 million the second film in the series made in its opening weekend, but remained in line with the first “Madgascar’s” $61 million over a long Memorial Day weekend in 2005.

The audience for “Madagascar 3” was mostly young (54 percent under 25) and female (56 percent), which makes sense considering its top competition, “Prometheus.” Ridley Scott’s return to sci-fi made $50 million with the exact opposite demographics. Sixty-four percent of its audience was over 25, and 57 percent was male. Although “Prometheus” didn’t quite reach the massive levels some predicted, it still had the fourth-highest second place debut in history.

The new releases got some help from the continued slippage of “Men in Black 3” and “The Avengers,” which now sit at numbers four and five, respectively. Although “slippage” for those two pictures would be considered strong weekends for most other films, as they each cleared the $10 million mark with ease. Worldwide, the two films’ numbers are staggering. “Men in Black 3” is just $12.5 million short of half a billion in total gross after three weeks, while “Avengers” cleared $1.4 billion in its sixth weekend.

Behind them, “What to Expect when You’re Expecting” and “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” remained cemented in the six and seven spots. “Battleship” and “The Dictator” tumbled from numbers four and five last weekend to the eight and nine slots. Perhaps the most notable part of that development is “Battleship’s” steep drop in theater count. After being show in 3,144 locations last weekend, the film was on nearly 1,200 fewer screens.

Finally, in tenth place was Wes Anderson’s “Moonrise Kingdom.” The film took in nearly $1.6 million despite playing in only 96 theaters, giving it a weekend-best $16,448 per-theater average. The film has now earned $3.8 million after showing in 16 theaters last weekend and just two during its debut.

Here are the results for this weekend’s top 10 at the box office:

Title/Weeks in release/Theater count, Studio/Three-day weekend total/Cume
1. Madagascar 3, 1/4,258, Paramount/Dreamworks, $60.35 million.
2. Prometheus, 1/3,396, Fox, $50 million.
3. Snow White and the Huntsman, 2/3,777, Universal, $23.021 million, $98.5 million.
4. Men in Black 3, 3/3,792, Sony, $13.5 million, $135.505 million.
5. The Avengers, 6/3,129, Disney/Marvel Studios, $10.809 million, $571.86 million.
6. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, 6/1,298, Fox Searchlight, $3.235 million, $31.009 million.
7.What to Expect When You’re Expecting, 4/2,087, $2.71 million, $35.745 million
8. Battleship, 4/1,954, Universal/Hasbro, $2.286 million, $59.83 million.
9. The Dictator, 4/1,651, Paramount, $2.15 million, $55.189 million.
10. Moonrise Kingdom, 3/96, Focus, $1.579 million, 3.75 million.