LOS ANGELES: Alex the lion and his wild friends in “Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted” retained their crown as king of the American box office this weekend, industry figures showed Monday.

For the second week running, the cartoon romp starring Ben Stiller that sees the animals rampage through Europe with the help of a run-down circus as they try to return to a New York zoo stayed at the top of the charts, according to Exhibitor Relations.

The movie took $34.1 million over the weekend. The third installment of the wildly popular “Madagascar” franchise has now taken nearly $120 million since its debut last week.

Ridley Scott's hotly anticipated sci-fi adventure “Prometheus” remained in second place with $20.7 million, the box office tracker said, adding that the prequel to the “Alien” movies had now pocketed some $89.4 million.

But the duo's grip on the charts saw “Rock of Ages” starring Tom Cruise enter at third place earning just $14.4 million on its opening weekend, despite weeks of pre-release publicity.

Adam Sandler in the comedy “That's My Boy,” which has been panned by the critics, entered the charts in fourth place with $13.5 million.

“Snow White and the Huntsman,” starring Charlize Theron and Kristen Stewart of “Twilight” fame, dropped to fifth spot with $13.3 million. It has total takings of $122 million so far.

The reunion of Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones as secret agents battling aliens living on Earth in the sci-fi comedy sequel “Men in Black 3” took $10 million for the sixth spot.

In seventh place was comic book superhero blockbuster “The Avengers,”pocketing $8.9 million. It has so far raked in more than $586 million in North America alone.

“The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” a comedic drama about British retirees in India, took in $2.3 million for eighth place.

Wes Anderson's “Moonrise Kingdom,” starring Bill Murray and Edward Norton, about young lovers on the run, rose up the charts to ninth place from 10 last week with $2.2 million in ticket sales.

Rounding out the top 10 was action adventure “Battleship,” co-starring Liam Neeson and Rihanna fighting a mystery armada, which earned $1.2 million in its ninth week in theaters, for a total of more than $62 million.