Since "The Avengers" were dethroned, it's been a bit of a merry-go-round at the box office. "Men in Black 3" held the top spot for a week, which was then swiftly replaced by "Snow White and The Huntsman."

Now, the highly anticipated "Prometheus" hits theaters. Could "SWATH" suffer the same fleeting box-office glory as "MIB 3"? Will "Prometheus" finally break the one-week box office streak? Let's take a look at the predictions and reviews in Moviefone's Weekend Movie Preview.

NATIONWIDE RELEASES

"Prometheus"
What's the story? A loose preqeul to 1979's "Alien," the film stars Charlize Theron, Michael Fassbender and Noomi Rapace as a group of explorers who stumble onto mankind's greatest and most terrifying secrets.
Box-office prediction: Buzz has been following "Prometheus" for months, if not years. Meta marketing, including trailers for trailers, have really amped up fans' anticipation; couple that with Scott's return to sci-fi and you really can't lose. Opening in 3,393 theaters, the sci-fi flick could pull in $47 million.

PHOTOS:

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• Christy Lemire (AP)

  The paranoia becomes palpable, and a lot of its impact comes from <a href="http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/movies/157053295.html" target="_hplink">how dramatic and dazzlingly seamless the special effects are</a>.

• Katey Rich (CinemaBlend)

  It's aiming to be both an epic space thriller and a spiritual treatise, and watching it almost accomplish both <a href="http://www.cinemablend.com/reviews/Prometheus-5887.html" target="_hplink">makes it all the more frustrating</a>.

• Nick Pinkerton (Village Voice)

  With this overreaching Prometheus, Scott seems a bit like David carefully arranging his hair in imitation of O'Toole's Lawrence. He can still mimic the appearance of an epic, noble, important movie -- <a href="http://www.villagevoice.com/2012-06-06/film/prometheus-ridley-scott/" target="_hplink">but the appearance is all</a>.

• Rafer Guzman (Newsday)

  "Prometheus" repeats many past glories, and its plot is squishy nonsense. But its grand sets and intricate effects are dazzling, <a href="http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/movies/review-prometheus-a-prequel-to-alien-1.3763919" target="_hplink">and in at least one scene, Scott almost manages to top himself</a>.

• Lisa Schwarzbaum (Entertainment Weekly)

  Prometheus elicits Alien memories for viewers who have them, but works on its own, too, <a href="http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20483133_20587886,00.html" target="_hplink">as a model of a contemporary (and, as is the contempo mode, long-winded) sci-fi horror pic</a>.

• Andrew O'Hehir (Salon)

  "Prometheus" damn near lives up to the unsustainable hype, at least at the level of <a href="http://www.salon.com/2012/06/06/prometheus_ridley_scotts_dazzling_dumb_ass_theology/" target="_hplink">cinematography, production design, special effects and pure wow factor</a>.

• Ty Burr (Boston Globe)

  Watching "Prometheus" is like opening a deluxe gift box from Tiffany's to find <a href="http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2012/06/07/prometheus_follows_an_alien_path/?rss_id=Boston.com+--+Movie+news" target="_hplink">a mug from the dollar store</a>.

• A.O. Scott (NY Times)

  But Mr. Scott's sense of visual scale, which has often produced hectic, hectoring grandiosity (are you not entertained?), achieves, especially in the first hour, <a href="http://movies.nytimes.com/2012/06/08/movies/prometheus-by-ridley-scott-with-noomi-rapace.html?hpw" target="_hplink">something like genuine grandeur</a>.

• Roger Ebert (Chicago Sun-Times)

  Ridley Scott's "Prometheus" is a magnificent science-fiction film, <a href="http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120606/REVIEWS/120609989" target="_hplink">all the more intriguing because it raises questions about the origin of human life and doesn't have the answers</a>.

"Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted"
What's the story? Written by indie auteur Noah Baumbach, the third "Madagascar" installment finds our protagonists -- voiced by Ben Stiller, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen and David Schwimmer -- desperately trying to return to New York. By a stroke of luck, they stumble upon a European circus that's also going back to the Big Apple.
Box-office prediction: "Madagascar 3" marks the end of a kids movie drought, which has been going on since March. Which could mean big bucks for Paramount's upcoming animated flick. The film will open in over 4,000 locations and could earn about $45 million.

LIMITED RELEASES
If Aliens or animated animals aren't your bag, check out the varied and interesting limited releases coming out this weekend. Aubrey Plaza tracks down a time-travel hopeful in "Safety Not Guaranteed"; Lizzie Olsen plays part of a hippie household in "Peace, Love & Misunderstanding"; "Paul Williams Still Alive" narrates the life of the titular songwriter; the documentary "Patagonia Rising" shines light on the ecological struggle in Chile's Patagonia region; Greta Gerwig plays a 29-year-old woman dumped three weeks before her wedding in Lola Versus; "For the Love of Money" follows the true story of a Jewish immigrant in search of the American dream; a 30-year-old learns how to grow up when falls in love in "Dark Horse"; Robert Pattinson sleeps his way into the upper crust of 18th-century Paris in "Bel Ami".