Here is a weird thing. X-Men: First Class, AKA the only major release of the weekend, made an estimated $56 million. That seems like a goodly amount of money, except everyone on the Internet is talking like it's kind of a massive failure. Admittedly, yes, it is the lowest opening of any X-Men movie thus far, that horrid Wolverine movie included. It's also less than several other blockbusters of the year opened at. And yes, the movie cost $120 million to make, and god knows how much to market--though if the poster art is any indication, they didn't spend much money on graphic designers.
I guess it's just hard for me to reconcile something that made $56 million as a "failure," considering $56 million is a LOT OF FUCKING MONEY. I guess I just lack perspective, or something. But whatever. $56 million is still a lot of money, if you ask me.
The rest of movies was a little dull this weekend, what with X-Men, again, being the only damn big movie of the weekend. On the indie front, Beginners, the Ewan McGregor/Christopher Plummer gay dad cancer comedy was the biggest success, taking in $135,000 on five screens. Submarine, the coming-of-age comedy from British comedian Richard Ayoade--which you'll see a review of from me later today--managed $40,000 on four screens. The Tree of Life, which opened last weekend and expanded this past Friday onto 20 screens, made nearly $625,000.
Also, Rio finally dropped out of the top 10. We did it, you guys.
Let's do a top ten list, since now I can actually do one of those again. Huzzah!
Box Office Results: 06/03 - 06/05
 | 1. X-Men: First Class $56 million / NEW |
 | 2. The Hangover Part II $32.5 million / $186.9 million |
 | 3. Kung Fu Panda 2: The Kaboom of Doom $24.3 million / $100.4 million |
 | 4. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides $18 million / $190.3 million |
 | 5. Bridesmaids $12.1 million / $107.3 million |
 | 6. Thor $4.2 million / $169.1 million |
 | 7. Fast Five $3.2 million / $202.1 million |
 | 8. Midnight in Paris $2.9 million / $6.9 million |
 | 9. Jumping the Broom $865K / $35.9 million |
 | 10. Something Borrowed $835K / $36.7 million |
Dropped Out: Rio
Source: Box Office Mojo
I contributed to that $56million! I loved the movie, but couldn't think of anything to say except, "Yo. X-Men: First class is tons of fun, the acting is way more than solid, and you should see it," so I didn't write a review for it.
First Class was great! Hopefully they'll make more movies like it rather than Origins.
So it is well on its way to profitability. Studios rely a lot (if not primarily) on overseas markets now, and we can't just look and the US and Canada figures alone when judging a films success.
Also, there were no 3D or IMAX screenings for X-Men so it didn't benefit from the inflated ticket prices that most other blockbusters are benefiting from these days.
I saw this Friday night in Albany, NY at a theater that is usually packed opening weekends, and it was only half full. I was pretty surprised by that. I didn't pay that much attention to the advertising for X-Men in the weeks leading up, but considering how good it is and how much critics liked it, I think the marketing people could have done a better job.
@tsigo said:
Funny. "Is a thing" is a thing and has been for a while, far beyond Alex and Whiskey Media. But if we're bashing fucking annoying phrases, my vote is "like a boss".
My vote is for "Epic".
There's at least two ways that statement sounds racist if you haven't played Ico. Sorry. Watching First Class this week, so that'll be fun.
Like the Ico reference at the end but not much to say about this week. I didn't expect it to change honestly.
Also, sentinels, in my opinion, would work so well in that universe, which was literally one of the first things I thought after seeing First Class.
@tsigo said:
Yeah, it's starting to grate with me too. I know he was probably busy getting set for E3, but even so...
Next week's headline: "Some movies happened. And stuff".
The way people are reacting to First Class' opening weekend takings IS RIDICULOUSLY pissing me off. Ergh. Can we go back to living in a World where making $56 mil in a weekend is a good thing?
@MonkeysDad said:
I was thinking the same thing.
Despite good reviews, X-Men: First Class didn't have any huge names attached to it. Maybe that's why it was a disappointing opening. Of course $56 mil is huge, but not "summer blockbuster" huge.
@phoenix87x said:
Hopefully that does happen because it is a solid flick and one bad X-men film is not enough to drown a franchise.
More Fassbender as Magneto would be great.