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Monday May 30, 2016
Box Office: 'X-Men,' 'Alice' Get Small
CGI villain tries to destroy humanity. Again.
The eighth “X-Men” movie apparently isn't the charm. Neither is the second “Alice” movie.
“X-Men: Apocalypse” opened to an estimated $65 mil over three days, and $79 mil if you count Memorial Day, which is down from the $90 mil, three-day total the seventh “X-Men” movie (“Days of Future Past”) grossed on its opening weekend just two years ago.
Maybe we're tired of groups of bickering superheroes saving the world from monstrosities. If you adjust for inflation, that's the third-worst opener for our merry marching mutant society:
| Title | Opening (Adj) | Date | Tot/ Gross (Adj) | |
| 1 | X-Men: The Last Stand | $134,595,500 | May-06 | $306,996,900 |
| 2 | X2: X-Men United | $121,740,300 | May-03 | $305,848,800 |
| 3 | X-Men Origins: Wolverine | $97,828,100 | May-09 | $206,889,700 |
| 4 | X-Men: Days of Future Past | $93,549,500 | May-14 | $241,381,100 |
| 5 | X-Men | $86,709,700 | Jul-00 | $250,395,500 |
| 6 | X-Men: Apocalypse | $65,300,000 | May-16 | ?? |
| 7 | X-Men: First Class | $58,656,500 | Jun-11 | $156,026,100 |
| 8 | The Wolverine | $58,127,000 | Jul-13 | $144,966,900 |
In some way, I'm not surprised. I remember seeing the trailer back whenever and just sighing. I don't even know what year it is in that universe anymore. Reviews weren't good, either (49%).
The other sequel that opened this weekend was “Alice Through the Looking Glass,” which, yeah, did even worse: $26 mil vs. the shocking, $116-million opener for the original, Tim Burton-directed film in March 2010. This one was directed by James Bobin (“Muppets”) and the reviews were not good (30%). All in all, not a happy weekend for Johnny Depp.
Some changeover: “Captain America: Civil War” added another $15 mil to become the highest-grossing domestic film of the year at $377. It's the seventh highest-grossing superhero movie, 12th if you adjust for inflation. Worldwide, it's at $1.1 billion. That's 15th-best all-time.
It's been a lopsided year so far: five movies have grossed more than $300 mil, compared with only one movie (“Kung Fu Panda 3”) which grossed between $100 and $300. Compare this with just two years ago when we didn't get our first $300 mil feature until the August release of “Guardians of the Galaxy.”