Box Office: ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ storms past ‘Godzilla’ for no. 1

The combination of old and new mutants brought the “X-Men” franchise is biggest opening since 2006's “The Last Stand” this weekend as “X-Men: Days of Future Past” earned $90.7 million over the first three days of the Memorial Day weekend.  

Directed by Bryan Singer, this “X-Men” installment benefited from the established star power of Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry (the former faces of the franchise) as well as Jennifer Lawrence (arguably the most popular actress on the planet) and Michael Fassbender. 20th Century Fox is estimating a $110 million gross over the four-day which would be the biggest debut ever for an “X-Men” film.  The longterm prospects for “Days of Future Past” are promising as it earned an A Cinemascore rating and should weather the storm of June releases until “Transformers: Age of Extinction” opens on June 27.

Dropping 66% from its opening weekend was Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros.' “Godzilla.” Gareth Edwards monster movie took in another $31.4 million for $148.7 million to date. “Godzilla” should end up close to $200 million when all is said and done, but Legendary is much more excited about the international cume of $166 million plus with important markets China and Japan still on the horizon.

The third time wasn't charming for Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymoore.  Their new comedy “Blended” took in just $14.8 million over the three day and is looking at $18 million for the entire Memorial Day weekend. That's significantly below what pre-release polling indicated.  “Blended,” which earned a promising A- Cinemascore, might have fared better on a non-holiday weekend.  Americans are expected to take significantly more vacations and trips this summer.  That means “Blended's” family audience may have been out of pocked to see the picture this past weekend. Warner Bros. will have to hope for a strong hold next week if they expect “Blended” to ever cover its $40 million budget.

One comedy that keeps withstanding the onslaught of blockbusters is Universal Pictures' “Neighbors.” The Seth Rogen and Zac Efron flick took in another $13.9 million for $113.6 million in just three weekends. It's expected to take a slightly stronger hit this upcoming Friday when Seth MacFarlane's “A Million Ways to Die in the Old West” opens.

Fifth place went to “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” which earned another $7.8 million and has $184.9 million to date.  It's hard to imagine the Sony Pictures release taking in more than $230-235 million as it continues to lose theaters with new franchise flicks arriving.  Sony, on the other hand, is much more interested in the overall worldwide gross which is slowly ticking upward.  Currently at $673.9 million, the magic number for the media to get off the studio's back over the success of the picture is $725 million.

Some happy for news for Walt Disney Studios.  Jon Hamm's “Million Dollar Arm” dropped only 32.5% for another $7 million and $20.6 million in just 10 days. If it can continue that strong word of mouth “Million Dollar Arm” could eventually earn over $40 million or so. That won't turn the $25 million flick into a profitable hit, but it will certainly ease the pain a bit.

Jon Favreau's “Chef” had a nice expansion into 498 theaters earning $2.26 million for a $3.5 million so far. The comedy is on its way to becoming the early “indie” hit of the summer.

Fox Searchlight's very under the radar period drama “Belle” also expanded earning $1.7 million in 453 theaters for $3.9 million to date.

Look for complete Memorial Day weekend estimates Monday on HitFix.

×