The new film version of the Grimm fairy tale, Snow White and the Huntsman starring Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron and Chris Hemsworth, is ready to knock Men in Black III out of the No. 1 spot at the box office worldwide this coming weekend.

In North America, Snow White is expected to collect an estimated $42 million this weekend, predicts BoxOffice.com. While Men In Black III is on track to slip to second place and dip to $27.5 million. Fandango, the US online movie retailer reports Snow White leads daily sales with 44 percent and MIB3 holds 23 percent in its second week.

The fantasy action picture also opens worldwide May 30 - June 1 in more than 50 markets, including the UK, Brazil, Mexico, and across Asia from Korea to Singapore. It may not make the $132 million MIB3 collected last weekend but may come close.

Snow White has wide appeal to female and male moviegoers, with adventure fans of Thor and The Avengers checking Hemsworth in action and Twihards watching Stewart's Snow White vs. Theron's evil Queen. Good for date nights but probably too dark for younger audiences, so kid-friendly, sci-fi comedy MIB3 could still fare better with families.

But Snow White and the Huntsman may not be the fairest after all as it faces a formidable foe with Ridley Scott's Prometheus, also opening this week in about 20 European markets, including France, Russia, and the UK. The sci-fi horror adventure could melt Snow White and Men In Black.

In London, for instance, Prometheus, starring Charlize Theron, Michael Fassbender and Noomi Rapace, has broken IMAX theater records for pre-sales this week. As of Wednesday, 30,000 tickets sold for £470,977, bigger than Avatar or Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.

With the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship (Euro 2012) kicking off June 8, the film studios want to sell tickets to moviegoers now.

The much-anticipated spin-off of Scott's Alien releases next week in North America, set to pull in a hefty $57 million. AFP