"X-Men: Apocalypse" Leads the Pack during Memorial Day Weekend

[JamesG]

X-Men & Alice Lead Soft Memorial Day Weekend; Disney Tops $4 Billion Worldwide
by Brad Brevet
May 29, 2016


Three-day Memorial Day weekend results are in and while the numbers at the top are soft compared to franchise predecessors, the weekend was an overall improvement compared to 2015 when Memorial Day took place one week earlier.

X-Men: Apocalypse led the weekend charge, matching the studio's expectations, followed by Disney's Alice Through the Looking Glass, which fell well short of what the studio was hoping for. That said, Disney's coffers aren't exactly barren as the studio is expected to pass $4 billion at the global box office by the end of the day as three of its films currently rank as the highest grossing worldwide releases of 2016.







Beginning with the weekend #1, X-Men: Apocalypse brought in an estimated $65 million three-day and is looking at anything from $77-80 million for the four-day holiday. The result is pretty much what the studio was anticipating heading into the weekend, but still has to be looked at as something of a disappointment.

The four-day total is approximately $30 million less than 2014's X-Men: Days of Future Past with a three-day that ranks sixth when compared to the rest of the films in the X-Men franchise.



Looking ahead, outside of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Apocalypse received the worst RottenTomatoes score compared to any film in the X-Men franchise. However, opening day audiences seemed to like it well enough, scoring it with an "A-" CinemaScore, which is just below Days of Future Past's "A" and ahead of the "B+" for X-Men: First Class.

In fact, First Class is a solid comparison domestically as it opened with $55.1 million back in 2011 and went on to gross $145.4 million domestically and just over $200 million internationally.







Securing a second place finish is Disney's Alice Through the Looking Glass, which brought in an estimated $28.1 million for the three day and is expected to post a $35+ million four-day total.

Reviews for the film were brutal and the four-day performance is approximately $25 million less than tracking suggested and $17 million less than Mojo's weekend predictions.



In attempting to figure just how much of a miss Looking Glass is for the studio, it would have been unreasonable to expect a repeat performance of 2010's Alice in Wonderland as it landed in the sweet spot of 3D and visual effects.

This becomes even more evident once you consider 59% of the opening weekend audience saw Looking Glass in 2D despite more than 82% of the film's 3,763 opening weekend theaters premiered the film in 3D.



Alice should finish with $90-100 million domestically if not a bit more, but given the $170 million budget, and the success Disney has seen with its live-action fairy tale features as of late, this isn't the result the studio was hoping for.

Internationally, Alice brought in an estimated $65 million as it opened day and date across 72% of the international market.







In its second weekend, Sony's The Angry Birds Movie dropped 51% for an estimated $18.7 million three-day with the studio expecting a Monday bump and a four-day total to rise to $24.5 million.

Angry Birds also brought in $31.8 million internationally this weekend as its international cume now sits at $157.2 million with a global gross-to-date of $223.5 million.







Disney's Captain America: Civil War took fourth position with an estimated $15.1 million three-day and an anticipated $19.4 million four-day weekend.

Universal's Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising rounded out the top five though it dropped a steep 58.2% for an estimated $9.1 million three-day and an anticipated $11.19 million four-day.







One bright spot in this weekend's top ten is Amazon and Roadside's Love & Friendship, which expanded into 493 theaters (+446) and brought in an estimated $2.49 million.

The film will continue to expand next weekend as it continues to take advantage of strong word of mouth and a 99% rating on RottenTomatoes.







Rounding out the top ten is Disney's fourth film in release and fourth film in the top ten, that being Zootopia, which crossed $335 million domestically this weekend and has now made over $990 million globally to become the 26th highest grossing worldwide release of all-time.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=4191&p=.htm









May 27-29, 2016 Weekend Studio Estimates:


1. X-Men: Apocalypse $65,000,000
2. Alice Through the Looking Glass $28,112,000
3. The Angry Birds Movie $18,700,000 / $66,353,309
4. Captain America: Civil War $15,135,000 / $372,610,948
5. Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising $9,100,000 / $38,336,580
6. The Jungle Book $6,967,000 / $338,478,909
7. The Nice Guys $6,370,000 / $21,733,672
8. Money Monster $4,250,000 / $33,902,226
9. Love & Friendship $2,496,000 / $3,489,548
10. Zootopia $831,000 / $335,874,645

[Vahan]

James, besides the 2010 Tim Burton movie, and the 1999 film, which film versions of Alice in Wonderland have you seen, and what do you think of each of them?

[JamesG]

Originally Posted by Vahan

James, besides the 2010 Tim Burton movie, and the 1999 film, which film versions of Alice in Wonderland have you seen, and what do you think of each of them?

The animated Disney film from 1951 is my favorite of the Alice films I've seen.

I didn't like the 1999 tv-movie and Burton's 2010 film. I don't think I'll be seeing Through the Looking Glass.

[Vahan]

I remember you gave the 2010 film a thumbs up back in 2010.

http://sitcomsonline.com/boards/show...ce#post4430358

[JamesG]

Originally Posted by Vahan

I remember you gave the 2010 film a thumbs up back in 2010.

http://sitcomsonline.com/boards/show...ce#post4430358

I guess I gave it at the time because I felt that it wasn't an entirely horrible movie. It did have some moments, but it's nowhere near a film that I would call "great."

I don't remember much about it now.