The mutants ruled the multiplex over Memorial Day weekend.
“X-Men: Days of Future Past” shot to the top of the box-office heap over the holiday, bringing in $91.4 million Friday-Sunday and an estimated $111 million Friday-Monday in over 4,000 locations, making it the second-largest opening of any “X-Men” film behind only “X-Men: The Last Stand.” That Brett Ratner-directed threequel brought in $102.8 million over Memorial Day weekend 2006 (and $122.8 million over all four days).
Among more recent entries in the “X-Men” franchise, “Days of Future Past” was a vast improvement on 2011's “X-Men: First Class” ($55.1 million opening) as well as last summer's “The Wolverine” ($53.1 million), while among Memorial Day weekend openers it ranks fifth of all-time behind 2007's “Pirates of the Caribbean: The World's End,” 2008's “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” “X-Men: The Last Stand” and last summer's “Fast & Furious 6.”
As compared with other superhero entries this year, “Days of Future Past's” three-day opening was a shade lower than both “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” ($95 million) and “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” ($91.6 million).
Overseas, “DoFP's” box-office take was no less uncanny, with the Bryan Singer-directed follow-up bringing in a spectacular $171.1 million over the weekend for a grand total of more than $282.1 million worldwide.
With an impressive 91 percent “Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an “A” CinemaScore from audiences, “Days of Future Past” is looking at a fairly leggy box-office run over the long term, with a domestic total of between $225-$250 million seeming likely.
As for this weekend's other wide opener – the Adam Sandler-Drew Barrymore rom-com “Blended” – the results were decidedly underwhelming, with the duo's re-team bringing in just $14.2 million from Friday-Sunday and an estimated $18.2 million over the four-day, good enough for third place but nevertheless more than $20 million lower than the opening for the duo's last on-screen pairing, 2004's “50 First Dates” ($39.8 million). Indeed, it brought in less than even 1998's “The Wedding Singer,” which brought in $18.8 million over opening weekend more than 16 years ago.
Among the more recent oeuvre of its two stars, “Blended” opened slightly higher than Sandler's 2012 bomb “That's My Boy” ($13.5 million opening) but far lower than 2011's “Jack and Jill” ($25 million) and last year's ensemble sequel “Grown Ups 2” ($41.5 million). For Barrymore, the opening was a definite improvement over 2012's “Big Miracle” ($7.7 million) and 2010's “Going the Distance” ($6.8 million), though not enough of one to reverse the downward slide that has plagued her over the last several years (her last hit was 2009's “He's Just Not That Into You,” though that was technically an ensemble film).
Among holdovers, last weekend's blockbuster opener “Godzilla” took a big hit with competition from “X-Men,” falling a steep 67 percent in second place for a total of $31.1 million Friday-Sunday ($39.4 million over the four-day). The domestic total for the film now stands at $156.8 million, though with a polarizing reception from audiences it likely won't finish higher than $225 million.
Further down the chart, the Seth Rogen-Zac Efron R-rated comedy smash “Neighbors” fell 45 percent from last weekend, bringing in $13.9 million ($17.2 million over the four-day), good enough for fourth place and a grand total of $116.9 million. In fifth place, “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” dropped 54 percent to $7.8 million ($10 million four-day) for a total of $187.1 million, while Jon Favreau's “Chef” took in a healthy $2.27 million ($2.9 million four-day) in ninth place after adding more than 498 locations in its expansion.
After checking out the full Top 10 chart below, scroll down to our “Best and Worst of 'X-Men: Days of Future Past'” gallery further down the page.
1. “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” $91 million ($111 million four-day)
2.”Godzilla,” $31.4 million ($39.4 million four-day)
3.”Blended,” $14.2 million ($18.1 million four-day)
4. “Neighbors,” $14 million ($17.2 million four-day)
5. “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” $8 million ($10 million four-day)
6. “Million Dollar Arm,” $7.1 million ($8.7 million four-day)
7. “The Other Woman,” $4 million ($4.5 million four-day)
8. “Rio 2,” $3 million ($3.2 million four-day)
9. “Chef,” $2.2 million ($2.9 million four-day)
10. “Heaven Is for Real,” $2 million ($2.7 million four-day)