'Men in Black 3' Leads Weekend Box Office This is how high the summer movie stakes have become: "Men in Black 3," representing the return of Will Smith after a four-year hiatus, took in about $55 million over its first three days in North American theaters - and Hollywood collectively winced. That No. 1 total disappointed because Sony Pictures Entertainment and its financing partners spent at least $325 million to make and market "Men in Black 3" worldwide. Costs rose after production on the film was shut down for a period to fix script problems. Mr. Smith is also paid a percentage of ticket sales, making Sony's climb to profitability on the picture even more arduous. "Men in Black 3," which received generally positive reviews, will take in about $202 million worldwide through Monday, according to a Sony spokesman, who characterized the film as "off to an outstanding start." "Marvel's The Avengers" (Walt Disney Studios) was a strong second over the first three days of the holiday weekend, taking in about $37 million for a four-week domestic total of $523.8 million, according to Hollywood.com, which compiles box-office data. Universal's expensive "Battleship" was a distant third with about $10.8 million in ticket sales for a disastrous two-week total of $44.3 million. "The Dictator" (Paramount) slumbered in fourth place, taking in about $9.6 million for a two-week total of $41.4 million. Fifth place went to "Chernobyl Diaries," an inexpensive horror film distributed by Warner Brothers; it sold about $8 million in tickets. Memorial Day weekend is traditionally one of the busiest movie-going periods of the year, but Hollywood stumbled this year: Total ticket sales for Friday through Sunday were estimated at $155 million, a 30 percent decline from the same period a year ago.