"Marvel's The Avengers" dominated the American box-office for a third weekend in a row, taking in a whopping $55.1 million which brings its domestic coffers to $457 million and its global tally to $1.18 billion.

The real question was how would the new competition fare? The news is not good, all three wide-release films opened to disappointing numbers.

The most damaged was Universal's mega-budget "Battleship" which opened in second place with just $25.3 million. Admittedly its made $215 million overseas thus far so the studio is cushioned from some of the fallout, but that is not a good number and it's unlikely the film will cross the $100M domestic mark.

Sacha Baron Cohen's "The Dictator" underwhelmed $17.4 million, quite far down compared to "Borat" with $26.5M and "Bruno" with $30.6M though it did open on a Wednesday (and has made $24.5M since then). Though reviews were stronger than for "Bruno", a steep drop-off is expected.

"What to Expect When You're Expecting" also opened in fifth place, the new parents-themed comedy taking a modest $10.5 million.

"Dark Shadows" meanwhile fell 57% in its second week to $12.8 million, not a good drop-off but not bad.

BBC Films revealed its upcoming slate at Cannes yesterday and revealed information on two new projects according to Yahoo.

The first is that Simon Curtis ("My Week With Marilyn") is set to direct the art-world drama "The Golden Lady" which David M. Thompson will produce.

Penned by playwright Alexi Kaye Campbell, the true story follows Maria Altmann who fought to reclaim several Gustav Klimt paintings, including a family member's portrait, which were stolen from her family by the Nazis in World War II.

The other is that Saoirse Ronan is attached to star in an adaptation of Vera Brittain's 1933 memoir "Testament of Youth".

The story deals with how the first world war affected the women of the U.K. along with Brittain's years as a nurse and journalist. Juliette Towhidi ("Calendar Girls") adapted the script while David Heyman ("Harry Potter") is producing.

The pair join a line-up that includes already announced projects in the works like Pascal Chaumeil's adaptation of the Nick Hornby novel "A Long Way Down", the Steve Coogan-led "Alan Partridge" movie, Ralph Fiennes' "The Invisible Woman", the Tom Hanks-led "Saving Mr. Banks", Richard Shepard's crime comedy "Dom Hemingway", and the Rooney Mara-led adaptation of the Colm Toibin novel “Brooklyn".

After being missing for nearly two weeks, "Terminator 3" and "Carnivale" actor Nick Stahl is back on the grid.

People reports that Stahl sent a group email to friends on Friday to tell them he has checked into drug rehab and is spending 30 days in treatment.

Oddly he did not include his wife, Rose Stahl, as a recipient though she was the one who filed a missing persons report with the LAPD. Stahl also apologised for the worry he caused.

The missing persons case remains open however as an email is not sufficient cause to close it.

Ben Kingsley, Tom Payne ("Luck") and Stellan Skarsgard have joined the cast of "North Face" helmer Philipp Stoelzl's medieval period drama "The Physician" for Beta Cinema and Ufa Cinema says THR.

Based on Noah Gordon's best-selling novel, Payne plays a 11th century European physician who searches for the scientific truth of illness and healing in a medieval world dominated by religion and superstition.

Kingsley will play Ibn Sina, the “doctor of all doctors”, while Skarsgard will play Barber, the physician's first mentor. Olivier Martinez is already signed to play the Shah Ala ad-Daula.

Jan Berger ("The Door") is adapting the script while shooting kicks off in Morocco and Germany next month.

In an unexpected move at Cannes whilst promoting his new action film "Chinese Zodiac", Jackie Chan revealed he plans to retire from making action movies.

"This is my last action film. I tell you, I'm not young any more. I'm really, really tired. And the world is too violent right now. It's a dilemma -- I like action but I don't like violence" he tells The Telegraph.

Chan's career spans over one hundred films, almost all of them featuring his signature martial arts skills. Now though he wants to leave behind a different mark - "I want to be an Asian Robert De Niro. I don't just want to be an action star, I want to be a true actor. I want to get rid of my image. I want the audience to know I'm not only a comedian. I can act."

Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy are set to star in a currently untitled buddy cop movie from "Bridesmaids" helmer Paul Feig for 20th Century Fox and Chernin Entertainment says Variety.

Katie Dippold ("Parks and Recreation") penned the script about the tense working relationship between a high-strung FBI agent (Bullock) and an unconventional Boston cop (McCarthy) as they team to take down a Russian gangster.

Peter Chernin, Dylan Clark and Jenno Topping will produce

Hector and the Search for Happiness
Simon Pegg will lead Peter Chelsom's adaptation of François Lelord's novel "Hector and the Search for Happiness". The schedule aims for Pegg to shoot the film once he wraps Edgar Wright's "The World's End".

Chelsom and Tinker Lindsay penned the script which follows the story of an eccentric yet irresistible London psychiatrist in crisis -- largely because his patients are just not getting any happier -- who decides to go on his own quest to find a smile. [Source: THR]

Mad Dogs and Englishmen
Colin Firth has signed on to star as actor, director, playwright and singer Noel Coward in a new comedy drama "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" at BiteSize Entertainment.

The story follows Noel's two weeks at The Desert Inn in Las Vegas in 1955, when he performed for huge crowds. [Source: The AP]

Lullaby
Jennifer Hudson, Amy Adams and Garrett Hedlund have joined the cast of Andrew Levitas's ensemble film "Lullaby" which begins shooting in New York in June.

Hedlund plays a man who receives word of his estranged father's decision to take take himself off life support in less than 48 hours. Richard Jenkins, Jessica Brown Findlay and Terrence Howard also star. [Source: Digital Spy]

Last Days on Mars
Tom Cullen ("Weekend"), Elias Koteas ("Shutter Island") and Johnny Harris ("Snow White and the Huntsman") have all been added to the cast of Ruairi Robinson's sci-fi horror "Last Days on Mars". Liev Schreiber, Olivia Williams and Romola Garai also star.

Based on a short story by Sydney J. Bounds, the story follows a group of astronauts on an exploratory mission to Mars who discover colonies of bacteria living deep within the permafrost which infects them. Shooting will happen in Jordan and the UK. [Source: Variety]

Peter Weir ("Master and Commander," "The Truman Show") is attached to direct the $30 million contemporary gothic thriller "The Keep" for SBS Productions reports Variety.

An adaptation of Jennifer Egan's 2006 bestseller, the story is set in a mysterious medieval castle somewhere in Central Europe and follows two estranged American cousins who reunite to set up an alternative resort at the castle, stirring childhood traumas and phobias.

Weir is writing the screenplay and shooting on the French/Australian co-production kicks off next spring in Europe. The project marks Weir's first film since "The Way Back".

Seven Stars Film Studios will finance John Woo and Terence Chang’s $30 million English-language remake of the iconic Hong Kong action film "The Killer" reports Screen Daily.

Moving the action to contemporary Los Angeles, the story follows a contract killer who falls in love with the only living witness to his latest job – a female singer who was blinded during the hit.

Josh Campbell penned the script and shooting kicks off later this year in Toronto.

"Star Trek" actor Chris Pine has been attached to "Moscow", Paramount's reboot of Jack Ryan franchise, for quite some time as the project has picked up heat and stalled in a seemingly endless loop in recent years. In Cannes this week, Empire Online asked the actor as to the film's current status.

"The latest is that it looks like it’s happening. We have a script, and the beginnings of the production are happening" says Pine who also admits he's already talked with one of the former Jack Ryan actors, Alec Baldwin, about taking on the role. Kenneth Branagh is the latest linked to direct this project.

Can Tom Clancy's hero still work in this day and age? "The trick with that one is to try to find a way to make an American spy movie in 2012 that’s just as current and apropos to the world situation, what it means to be an American spy, as it was in the Cold War era. It’s a little bit more difficult now, and tricky, but if we get that right, we’ll make an intelligent thriller."