Weekend Box-Office Memorial Day: X-MEN $44 mil FRIDAY!

[AndyDursin]

Amazing opening if that number is correct -- goes to show internet "fanboy" reviews play such a small role in determining public enthusiasm for a movie like X-MEN 3. DA VINCI looks to have a fairly sizeable drop-off from the Friday number. We'll have to see how right these are!

1. X-MEN 3 20TH CENTURY FOX 3,689 44,520,000 12,068 n/a 234,230,000
2. DA VINCI CODE SONY 3,754 10,190,000 2,714 n/a 112,632,000
3. OVER THE HEDGE PARAMOUNT 4,093 7,586,000 1,853 n/a 56,748,000
4. MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 3 - MI3 PARAMOUNT 3,053 1,989,000 651 n/a 109,265,000
5. POSEIDON WARNER BROS. 3,245 1,661,000 512 n/a 41,303,000
6. RV SONY 2,481 1,100,000 443 n/a 52,951,000
7. SEE NO EVIL LIONS GATE 1,270 775,000 610 n/a 6,741,000
8. JUST MY LUCK 20TH CENTURY FOX 1,604 534,000 333 n/a 12,172,000
9. AMERICAN HAUNTING, AN, FREESTYLE 748 210,000 281 n/a 14,159,000
10. UNITED 93 UNIVERSAL 769 199,000 259 n/a 29,037,000

[MarkB]

Don't forget to take into consideration the Thursday night midnight shows -- I'm sure those are a part of that Friday tally. Still impressive, though.

Mark

[romanD]

deservedly so! considering all the crap in recent months this is a really good movie, which could have been perfect with some more time in development, but overall a very very good movie.

[AndyDursin]

Confirmed -- Friday's opening was the 2nd highest single day take EVER, trailing only Episode III.

Tracking indicates it could make up to $150 million over the weekend. DA VINCI also lost a huge amount of its first-weekend take and MI3 and POSEIDON look like they're both pretty much done domestically.

I hate to continue to pound AICN because I enjoy reading it (and taking almost all of the reviews with a grain of salt), but if this isn't another example of that site's dubious "word of mouth" stories, test screening reviews (clearly it's anything but the dud AICN had a feeling it would be), and clear hype favoring certain films that Harry has a stake in (SUPERMAN RETURNS, anyone?), I don't know what is.

In fact, I figure by the end of next week all the stories on that site will change, saying X-MEN 3 "got it right all along". If nothing else it also shows of how little impact (read: none) websites like that and their pre-release "stories" have on movies like this.

[Eric W.]

Confirmed -- Friday's opening was the 2nd highest single day take EVER, trailing only Episode III.

Tracking indicates it could make up to $150 million over the weekend. DA VINCI also lost a huge amount of its first-weekend take and MI3 and POSEIDON look like they're both pretty much done domestically.

I hate to continue to pound AICN because I enjoy reading it (and taking almost all of the reviews with a grain of salt), but if this isn't another example of that site's dubious "word of mouth" stories, test screening reviews (clearly it's anything but the dud AICN had a feeling it would be), and clear hype favoring certain films that Harry has a stake in (SUPERMAN RETURNS, anyone?), I don't know what is.

In fact, I figure by the end of next week all the stories on that site will change, saying X-MEN 3 "got it right all along". If nothing else it also shows of how little impact (read: none) websites like that and their pre-release "stories" have on movies like this.

Agreed.

BTW, it probably doesn't mean much, but the trailers and stuff I've seen for the new Superman film thus far haven't exactly lit a fire under my @$$ thus far...

[DavidBanner]

As the plummet in DA VINCI CODE's numbers show, I wouldn't put all your stock in the opening weekend. It was pretty correctly predicted both at AICN and in other places that DA VINCI CODE would open well but that word of mouth would really hurt it after that first weekend.

In the case of X3, the exact same thing looks like it's happening. I could be wrong here, but I bet next weekend, you see a similar dropoff. I read the reviews at AICN and thought they were really going on a tear - that is, until I saw the movie for myself and then re-read their reviews. Harry and some of his cohorts may be more than enthusiastic in their dislike for the film, but they aren't wrong in their basic points. As for whether they are more inclined to like the new Superman movie, I don't know. Sounds like they are simply more sympathetic to Bryan Singer after the way Fox treated him and the X-Men movies.

Regardless of AICN, I can only restate that the audience that filled the theater where I saw X3 was not reacting in a way that indicated they were going to tell all their friends to go. They were openly derisive for most of the film, laughing out loud at the most serious dialogue and completely losing it when they saw the stuff with the bridge. I actually couldn't hear some of the dialogue in the movie because the audience was laughing over it or yelling back at the screen. After one major death, I thought I was hearing crying, and looked around and saw it was a combination of giggling and pretend crying. I should also note that during one or two of the fights onscreen, the audience cheered here and there at this hit or that line - particularly Wolverine and the limb guy. But as we were leaving the theater, the buzz was pretty negative. This was at the Avco Cinema in Westwood, and the crowd was primarily UCLA students who were gung ho about seeing the movie, which was sold out.

[AndyDursin]

Three-day estimates from Yahoo:

Amazing that POSEIDON has very nearly caught up with MI3, which will do fine in outside markets and DVD to turn a profit but will certainly come in under expectations (and well under its predecessors too).

1 - X-Men: The Last Stand 20th Century Fox $107,000,000 $107,000,000 1 3690
2 1 The Da Vinci Code Sony Pictures Releasing, Sony Pictures Releasing International $33,500,000 $136,000,000 2 3754
3 2 Over the Hedge Paramount Pictures, United International Pictures $27,273,000 $76,329,000 2 4093
4 3 Mission: Impossible III Paramount Pictures $6,584,000 $113,854,000 4 3053
5 4 Poseidon Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution $5,900,000 $45,543,000 3 3245
6 5 RV Sony Pictures Releasing $3,900,000 $55,755,000 5 2481
7 6 See No Evil Lions Gate Releasing, Lionsgate $2,530,000 $8,493,000 2 1270
8 7 Just My Luck 20th Century Fox Distribution $1,800,000 $13,432,000 3 1604
9 9 United 93 N/A $740,000 $29,564,000 5 781
10 8 An American Haunting Freestyle Releasing $700,000 $14,672,000 4 748

[Carlson2005]

It ended up doing $120.1m over the four day period, setting a new Memorial Day record and taking more than MI3's opening weekend in just a day. But... it looks like it's up for a bigger drop-off than Da Vinci since poor word-of-mouth resulted in it dropping drastically on the weekend. According to Variety:

Only negative news might be the actioner's sizable Friday-Saturday drop of 29%. Most pics grow from Friday to Saturday, or fall only slightly, since they get the advantage of matinees. Though it's explained in part by $5.9 million from midnight screenings Thursday night, such a big slump does indicate poor word-of mouth for "X-Men: the Last Stand," which got mixed reviews.

Given that, a big second frame decline in grosses is likely. With the pic on track to break $200 million by next weekend, however, Fox execs likely won't be shedding too many tears.

[AndyDursin]

It ended up doing $120.1m over the four day period, setting a new Memorial Day record and taking more than MI3's opening weekend in just a day. But... it looks like it's up for a bigger drop-off than Da Vinci since poor word-of-mouth resulted in it dropping drastically on the weekend.

But is it poor word-of-mouth or the movie being frontloaded? Most comic book movies tend to open gigantic and drop -- and this series in particular.

Despite all of its comparably more favorable reviews, X-MEN 2 opened with $85 million but finished with $215 million total domestic -- so it pretty much ran a pattern where it did a little less than half of its entire domestic gross in its first weekend. I'm guessing X-MEN 3 will go the same route based on the drop-off on Sunday and Monday...so is it really word of mouth (the reviews are still ten times more positive than Da Vinci Code!) or just the nature of its fan base and cinematic genre? (About the only film that bucked the drop-off trend was BATMAN BEGINS, but that was because it didn't open all that spectacularly to begin with).

I just find it humorous people would laugh at a movie like X-MEN in the first place. It's a MARVEL COMIC. It's not Shakespeare, for crying out loud. I may dislike the film, I haven't seen it, but people have begun taking comic book films FAR too seriously -- it's like how the genre was all camp back in the '70s. Now it's too far in the other direction where every comic book film has to be made in a certain way and so seriously or else Fanboy Nation will be offended ("Oh no, they didn't adhere to Issue #42, and they changed the dialogue in the fifth panel on page 10!"). Enough already! The pendulum will tilt back, in time...

[MarkB]

I just find it humorous people would laugh at a movie like X-MEN in the first place. It's a MARVEL COMIC. It's not Shakespeare, for crying out loud. I may dislike the film, I haven't seen it, but people have begun taking comic book films FAR too seriously -- it's like how the genre was all camp back in the '70s. Now it's too far in the other direction where every comic book film has to be made in a certain way and so seriously or else Fanboy Nation will be offended ("Oh no, they didn't adhere to Issue #42, and they changed the dialogue in the fifth panel on page 10!"). Enough already! The pendulum will tilt back, in time...

I think you've brought up some interesting points, Andy.

Regarding the AICN reviews mentioned above -- there actually were some postive reviews on the site. They tended to be from people who were only familiar with X-MEN from the movies. It was the hardcore comic book fans that were hating the movie, because it didn't adhere to comic book continuity.

I recently had a chance to watch FANTASTIC FOUR for the first time, and you know what? I actually enjoyed it. Yes, it was far from perfect, with some major problems with plot and logic, but it was fun. I think a lot of these movies have gotten so wrapped up with character angst that they've forgotten how much fun these stories can be. I believe that if FF had come out before X-MEN and SPIDERMAN, it would have been more warmly received.

Mark

[DavidBanner]

>>>Despite all of its comparably more favorable reviews, X-MEN 2 opened with $85 million but finished with $215 million total domestic -- so it pretty much ran a pattern where it did a little less than half of its entire domestic gross in its first weekend. I'm guessing X-MEN 3 will go the same route based on the drop-off on Sunday and Monday...<<<

You're absolutely right about the tendency to drop off, but my recollection was that X2 had a pretty solid domestic run. I didn't get the feeling that the same was in the offing for this one, but I wouldn't know. To be honest, I haven't seen anything come out yet this summer that had me jumping up and down with either joy or rage.


>>>I just find it humorous people would laugh at a movie like X-MEN in the first place. It's a MARVEL COMIC. It's not Shakespeare, for crying out loud. I may dislike the film, I haven't seen it, but people have begun taking comic book films FAR too seriously -- it's like how the genre was all camp back in the '70s. Now it's too far in the other direction where every comic book film has to be made in a certain way and so seriously or else Fanboy Nation will be offended ("Oh no, they didn't adhere to Issue #42, and they changed the dialogue in the fifth panel on page 10!"). Enough already! The pendulum will tilt back, in time...<<<


You have a point here, but I don't know that this is just a matter of obsessed fanboys. The AICN reviews I read that took the movie apart usually cited that they weren't asking for an exact replay of what was in the comic book, just an indication that the filmmakers understood the story they were adapting. I have seen the same kind of enraged reaction when movies have been adapted from popular novels. For example, the film adaptation of THE FIRM completely jettisoned the central core of the book and changed the final 3rd of the plot to the point that the movie came across as a standard paranoid thriller with a happy ending while the book had a subversively nasty streak running through it. I wasn't outraged about that, but there were fans of the book who were absolutely livid at the time.

As far as comic book movies being taken too seriously, I'm sure there are some people who absolutely take this too far. But look at a movie like THE HULK or THE PUNISHER and tell me that they are particularly serious movies. They aren't - they're intended to be a lark and a quick two hours in the movie theater with a bag of popcorn. I think what drove the angriest critics up the wall was that X3 contains one of the best stories of the entire XMEN comic run. If you look at the original stories, they're actually pretty good stuff, and fairly moving for what they are. What came across in the movie simply didn't present that story very well, and it's always frustrating to see that happen.

As for the people laughing at the movie, I don't think they really cared about the story, the characters or anything else. These guys came in to see an action movie with a bunch of one-liners, obviously. My clue to this was the massive reaction to the previews for NACHO LIBRE and SNAKES ON A PLANE. When the movie didn't deliver what they were looking for, they responded with derision. But it wasn't because the movie didn't look like the comic book. (On the other hand, the vicious reaction to DA VINCI CODE at Cannes was a really ominous sign, and it's been borne out by that film's plummeting box office. And you could make a really strong case that there are people who take that book WAY too seriously.)

[AndyDursin]

. But look at a movie like THE HULK or THE PUNISHER and tell me that they are particularly serious movies. They aren't - they're intended to be a lark and a quick two hours in the movie theater with a bag of popcorn.

THE PUNISHER was weird and offbeat, but I thought THE HULK was absolutely taken far too seriously for its own good. The whole Nick Nolte my-dad-is-a-murderer plot seemed like it belonged in an Ang Lee movie that had nothing to do with the Hulk or anything related to the Marvel Universe.

[DavidBanner]

THE PUNISHER was weird and offbeat, but I thought THE HULK was absolutely taken far too seriously for its own good. The whole Nick Nolte my-dad-is-a-murderer plot seemed like it belonged in an Ang Lee movie that had nothing to do with the Hulk or anything related to the Marvel Universe

.

I actually found THE HULK pretty weird and offbeat in its own right. The emphasis on doing cuts like pans over comic book panels, plus the amount of fun Lee had modeling the Hulk indicated to me this wasn't one to spend too much time thinking about. It is true that there were some really good actors in here, but they looked a bit out of place. I don't know - when they got into the mutated dog attack and the giant Nolte monster, I figured I was not in the land of THE ENGLISH PATIENT. I agree there were some fans who really took the movie way too seriously, but I also have to acknowledge that the 1970s TV series actually had a few decent episodes in the midst of the comedy...

[AndyDursin]

I actually found THE HULK pretty weird and offbeat in its own right. The emphasis on doing cuts like pans over comic book panels, plus the amount of fun Lee had modeling the Hulk indicated to me this wasn't one to spend too much time thinking about. It is true that there were some really good actors in here, but they looked a bit out of place. I don't know - when they got into the mutated dog attack and the giant Nolte monster, I figured I was not in the land of THE ENGLISH PATIENT. I agree there were some fans who really took the movie way too seriously

Yet I felt the movie WAS inviting you to take it seriously. Those elements might have been strange but the movie had no heart, no sense of playfulness even with those offbeat elements. Even worse, it had almost no sense of humor at all, as evidenced by the Banner backstory and the Nolte character which just felt like it didn't belong, or the endless scenes of Connelly moping around (how I miss the days when JC didn't look like she needed to be fed and actually cracked a smile in a movie!).

The comic book panels were "fun" but the tone of the movie was anything but...I'm not saying I didn't enjoy it (the effects, cinematography, and several individual sequences are top-notch), but especially after seeing it again recently, I found the script far too heavy-handed considering its pedigree, not to mention borderline inappropriate for young children -- something the old series rarely was.

That's why if they ever do a sequel they need to lighten up big-time -- the Hulk could have made for a franchise character and fans love the big guy, but Lee managed to make an interesting film that was just completely wrong at the same time, given its source material.

[Monterey Jack]

how I miss the days when JC didn't look like she needed to be fed and actually cracked a smile in a movie!

Tell me about it. We used to see this in her movies...



...but now we get this.



Seriously, Jen...eat something and agree to star in a romantic comedy.