Fox’s X-Men: Apocalypse is dominating the box office this Memorial Day holiday – earning a studio-estimated $65 million for the three-day weekend and a projected $80 million for the entire four-day holiday.
Chris Aronson, Fox domestic distribution chief, said he was “exceptionally pleased” with the results. “It’s a challenging marketplace, to be sure, but the domestic opening coupled with the international rollout puts us in terrific shape.”
While it is a successful start, the new installment still doesn’t match up to the previous X-Men adventure, Days of Future Past, which debuted with $110.5 million over the 2014 Memorial Day holiday.
The weekend’s other wide release was Disney’s Alice Through the Looking Glass, taking second place with a disappointing $28.1 million for the three-day weekend and a projected $35.6 million for the four-day total. The film, directed by James Bobin, brings back Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter and Mia Wasikowska as Alice.
The predecessor, Alice in Wonderland, earned over $1 billion during its entire run, so the flop has come as a bit of a surprise to the studio. “It’s disappointing and it’s head scratching to a certain degree,” said Dave Hollis, Disney’s distribution chief.
Both of the weekend’s newcomers scored an A-minus CinemaScore from moviegoers and similar “fresh” scores on Rotten Tomatoes from critics (X-Men: Apocalypse earned a 48 percent and Alice Through the Looking Glass earned 30 percent).
In third place at the box office is Sony’s The Angry Birds Movie with $18.7 million for the weekend (and $24.5 million for the four days). The animated blockbuster, based on the popular video game series, has gathered a total of $72 million domestically since its debut last weekend.
Rounding out the fourth and fifth place at the box office is Disney’s Captain America: Civil War and Universal’s Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising with $15.1 million ($19.4 million over the four days) and $9.1 million ($11 million over the four days), respectively.
The Marvel superhero drama has earned $376.9 million in its fourth weekend, surpassing Deadpool’s $362 million to become the reigning box office champion of 2016. Meanwhile, the R-rated comedy, starring Zac Efron and Seth Rogen, has earned a total of $40.4 million at the box office since its debut.
“This Memorial Day didn’t blow the doors off,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at comScore. “Memorial weekends are supposed to be this barometer for the health of the industry at this point. It’s sort of a report card.”
Top 10 Films at Weekend Box Office: May 27-29
- X-Men: Apocalypse — $65 million
- Alice Through The Looking Glass — $28.1 million
- The Angry Birds Movie — $18.7 million
- Captain America: Civil War — $15.1 million
- Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising — $9.1 million
- The Jungle Book — $6.96 million
- The Nice Guys — $6.4 million
- Money Monster — $4.3 million
- Love & Friendship — $2.5 million
- Zootopia — $831,000
