Weekend Wrap-Up: X-Men has Okay Opening with $79.81 million, Alice suffers Apocalyptic Opening

May 31, 2016

X-Men: Apocalypse

Last Memorial Day was bad with Tomorrowland leading the way with $33.03 million / $42.68 million. This year things were a bit better, with X-Men: Apocalypse earning $65.77 million / $79.81 million. Again, this is okay, but not outstanding. It's record-breaking compared to Alice Through the Looking Glass, which took in $26.86 million / $33.51 million. It's Disney's first bomb of the year. Don't feel bad for them, as they also set the record for fastest to $4 Billion Worldwide over the weekend. Overall, the box office was at $164 million, which was 20% better than last weekend and 18% better than last year. Including Monday, the box office pulled in $205 million, which was 6.3% more than last Memorial day. Year-to-date, 2016 has earned $4.39 billion, which is 5.4% or $220 million more than last year's figure of $4.16 billion. (This does include Monday of last year, because of the misalignment of holiday. This is the last misaligned holiday till Labor Day.)

X-Men: Apocalypse earned first place with $65.77 million / $79.81 million over the weekend, which is lower than anticipated, but still a fine opening. Its reviews are mixed at 48% positive, plus it opened on a holiday, and comic book films are the pinnacle of Fanboy movies, so its legs won't be long. In fact, there's a chance the movie won't make $80 million during the rest of its run. That said, $160 million is close to its $178 million production budget and it has already made more than that internationally, so it will break even during its initial push on the home market. However, they might want to take a break from the core franchise for a few years. They can make a couple of Deadpool movies in the meantime, so they don't lose the rights to the movies.

Disney is breaking records and dominating the box office like I've never seen before, so you don't have to feel bad for them. That said, Alice Through the Looking Glass was a mistake. It opened with just $26.86 million / $33.51 million during the opening weekend. It could have made twice that and it still would have been a disappointment compared to its $170 million production budget. Additionally, terrible reviews will result in short legs, perhaps short enough that by the time Finding Dory comes out no one will remember it exists and the studio can put it behind them.

The Angry Birds Movie did well with $18.77 million / $24.56 million over the weekend for totals of $72.21 million after 11 days of release. It's on pace to hit $100 million domestically and it is already at nearly $200 million internationally, so it will break even during its initial push on the home market.

Captain America: Civil War overtook Deadpool on the yearly domestic chart over the weekend. It pulled in $15.40 million / $20.00 million over the weekend for a total of $377.48 million after four weeks of release.

Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising rounded out the top five with $9.35 million / $11.44 million for a running tally of $40.68 million. It should have no trouble getting to $50 million domestically and $100 million worldwide. This should be enough to keep the studio happy.

The only film in the sophomore class that wasn't in the top five was The Nice Guys with $6.52 million / $8.25 million over the weekend for a total of $23.62 million after 11 days of release. Maybe it will find a cult following on the home market. Its reviews are good enough that it could happen.

- X-Men: Apocalypse Comparisons
- Alice Through the Looking Glass Comparisons

Filed under: Weekend Wrap-up, The Angry Birds Movie, Alice Through the Looking Glass, X-Men: Apocalypse, Captain America: Civil War, Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising, The Nice Guys, X-Men