Quick Friday estimates -- obviously big-drops for the leaders, though I assume X-MEN will still end up the highest grossing film of the trilogy before it's all said and done. I guess the celebrity mania over Jen Aniston finally fueled one of her movies to solid box-office (despite horrid reviews).

I think the bigger news is that OVER THE HEDGE will end up topping DA VINCI. Word of mouth looks like it finally caught up with that movie at last.

FRIDAY ESTIMATES

Break-Up, The 15.8 15.8
X-Men: The Last Stand 10.2 151.5
Over the Hedge 5.4 97.1
Da Vinci Code, The 5.2 158.6
Mission: Impossible 3 - MI3 1.2 119.2

The real shocker - despite all industry predictions, X3 dropped to number two, beaten by the Jennifer Aniston flick! And at 644 fewer screens.

1. The Break-Up (UNIV) 3,070 $38.1
2. X-Men: The Last Stand (FOX) 3,714 $34.4
3. Over the Hedge (PAR) 3,993 $20.6
4. The Da Vinci Code (SONY) 3,757 $19.3
5. Mission: Impossible III (PAR) 2,667 $4.7
6. Poseidon (WB) 2,720 $3.4
7. RV (SONY) 2,181 $3.3
8. See No Evil (LIONSGATE) 1,270 $2.0
9. An Inconvenient Truth (PAR. CL) 77 $1.3
10. Just My Luck (FOX) 958 $0.8

X3 recorded the biggest ever drop for a post-Memorial Day opener and a much bigger % drop than anticipated. Both it and Da Vinci are dropping mych faster and heavier than anyone expected, even with front-loading and high openings taken into account.

X3 recorded the biggest ever drop for a post-Memorial Day opener and a much bigger % drop than anticipated. Both it and Da Vinci are dropping mych faster and heavier than anyone expected, even with front-loading and high openings taken into account.

I'm not surprised at all, given how its predecessors dropped off too (like I said X-MEN 2 essentially made half its income in its first three days). This sequel opened bigger than either of its predecessors -- a lot bigger -- so subsequently isn't it understandable that its drop-off is going to be bigger than either of its predecessors as well?

As it is it's already passed DA VINCI CODE and has knocked the stuffing out of MI3 domestically, so I doubt they're too concerned. $175 million in 2 weekends isn't at all bad for a movie most fanboys had written off weeks ago, second weekend drop-off or not. I think Tom Cruise would take that kind of performance in the U.S. right about now, especially given the endless promotion MI3 had over here.