While the former has kicked up more conversational dust and had more nerdly enthusiasm behind it going into the weekend, it was the latter that debuted at number one.  Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted grossed an estimated $60.35 million from 4,258 theaters.  That's bigger than the first Madagascar's $47.2 million opening in 2005, but a hair smaller than the $63.1 million bow of Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa in 2008. 

Outside of the Shrek franchise, the Madagascar series is the heaviest hitter for DreamWorks Animation, with the first and second sequels representing the two biggest non-Shrek openings from the animation studio.  According to the estimate, Europe's Most Wanted, the first in this franchise to commercially benefit from the addition of 3D, should just barely eclipse the $60.23 million debut of Kung-Fu Panda in 2008.

On Friday, Prometheus started out with a bigger haul than Madagascar 3, with Ridley Scott's latest earning one-day gross of $21.4 million, compared to the $20.45 million of Europe's Most Wanted.  Prometheus was bound to concede the number one spot by Sunday, however.  The film's R rating and lower theater count assured that Madagascar 3 will pull ahead on Saturday and Sunday, when families typically take to theaters in droves.

From its 3,396 locations, Prometheus is estimated to have grossed $50.0 million this weekend.  What with the R-rating, which you don't see applied to costly summer event movies, 20th Century Fox had modest expectations for the film's opening, projecting that it would start out in the range of $40 million.  The stronger-than-anticipated debut began with $3.5 million from midnight shows.  Since Prometheus is a prequel to Scott's 1979 masterpiece Alien, this is technically the biggest opening in the franchise's storied history.  Alien vs. Predator: Requiem, the last film to drag the iconic xenomorph through the mud, grossed just $41.7 million in its entire theatrical run.

Elsewhere in the estimated top ten, last week's champ, Snow White and the Huntsman, declined a steep 59% for an estimated $23.0 million weekend showing, putting its ten-day domestic total at $98.5 million.  In fifth place, The Avengers added another $10.8 million, and its domestic total after more than a month in release now stands at $571.86 million, which represents 41% of its massive $1.396 billion haul.

After opening first in just 4 locations, then expanding to 16, Moonrise Kingdom rolled out in 80 more theaters this weekend and managed to crack the top ten as a result.  Boasting a formidable cast and Wes Anderson's detailed, immaculate style, the director's latest brought in an estimated $1.58 million from just 96 theaters.  That's a tremendous per-screen average of $16,448, better than other film currently in release.  Moonrise Kingdom's total so far is $3.75 million.

Here's the estimated earnings of the top ten movies in America for the weekend of June 8-10:

1. Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted         $60.4 million        New Release

2. Prometheus                                                    $50.0 million        New Release

3. Snow White and the Huntsman                     $23.0 million        $98.5 million

4. Men in Black 3                                                $13.5 million        $135.5 million

5. The Avengers                                                  $10.8 million        $571.9 million

6. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel                     $3.2 million          $31.0 million

7. What to Expect When You're Expecting       $2.7 million          $35.8 million

8. Battleship                                                        $2.3 million          $59.8 million

9. The Dictator                                                     $2.2 million          $55.2 million

10. Moonrise Kingdom                                        $1.6 million          $3.8 million

The musical Rock of Ages and the Adam Sandler comedy will join the fray starting Friday, June 15th.