Box office: X-Men, Alice sequels top the box office but have softer openings than expected

Box office: X-Men, Alice sequels top the box office but have softer openings than expected May 29, 2016

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Two big sequels had smaller openings than expected at the box office this week.

X-Men: Apocalypse topped the chart with an estimated $65 million since Thursday night, which is one of the smaller openings ever for the Marvel mutant franchise.

The film’s opening was significantly lower than the $90.8 million that X-Men: Days of Future Past opened to in 2014. It’s also less than half of the $132.4 million that the X-Men spin-off Deadpool opened to three months ago — and Deadpool, budgeted at $58 million, cost only a third of the $178 million that Apocalypse cost to make.

Notably, of the three movies in the franchise that had smaller openings than X-Men: Apocalypse, two (2000’s X-Men and 2011’s X-Men: First Class) had all-new casts, while the third (2013’s The Wolverine) was a solo outing. So you could say Apocalypse had the smallest opening of any X-Men film with an established ensemble cast.

At this point the studio is probably pinning most of its hopes on how well the film does overseas, where it opened a week earlier than it did in North America. As of today, it has grossed $185.8 million overseas for a worldwide total of $250.8 million.

Alice through the Looking Glass had an even steeper dive at the box office.

The film grossed only $28.1 million between Thursday and Sunday, which is less than a quarter of the $116.1 million that Alice in Wonderland opened to in 2010.

Budgeted at $170 million, this represents the first major stumble for Disney since The Good Dinosaur became the first Pixar film to lose money back in November.

Aside from The Finest Hours — a “merely” $80 million movie that grossed $52 million worldwide in January — the studio has been dominating the box office for months, thanks to mega-budgeted films (all costing $150 million or more) like Star Wars: The Force Awakens, The Jungle Book, Zootopia and Captain America: Civil War.

Alice through the Looking Glass cost as much to make as those films did but, based on this weekend’s receipts, it will come nowhere close to touching their success.

The film has earned another $65 million overseas for $93.1 million worldwide.

In other news, the hilarious Jane Austen adaptation Love & Friendship became the first of Whit Stillman’s five films to crack the weekly top ten.

Love & Friendship, which reunites Stillman with The Last Days of Disco co-stars Kate Beckinsale and Chloe Sevigny, expanded to 493 theatres in its third week and earned $2.5 million, for a ninth-place rank and a $3.5 million domestic cume.

Stillman’s widest release prior to this was Barcelona, which played in 274 theatres in 1994. That is also Stillman’s top-grossing film to date, with $7.3 million.

Meanwhile, in other box-office news…

The Angry Birds Movie earned $18.7 million and ranked third in its second week, thereby raising its domestic cume to $66.4 million. The film has earned another $157.2 million overseas for a global total of $223.6 million.

Captain America: Civil War earned $15.1 million and ranked fourth in its fourth week, thereby raising its domestic cume to $372.6 million and passing Deadpool to become the top-grossing movie in North America this year.

Captain America was already the top movie of the year globally, and it now ranks 16th on the all-time worldwide chart. It has earned $730.7 million overseas for $1,103.3 million globally. It is the fourth-highest-grossing superhero movie worldwide, behind three other films that feature Iron Man (Iron Man 3 and the Avengers films).

The Jungle Book grossed $7 million and ranked sixth in its seventh week, thereby raising its domestic cume to $338.5 million. The film has earned another $539.1 million overseas for a global total of $877.6 million.

Ironically, in the same week that the sequel to Alice in Wonderland underperformed at the box office, The Jungle Book passed Alice in Wonderland to become the top-grossing “live-action” remake of an animated Disney film in North America.

Finally, Zootopia grossed $831,000 and ranked tenth in its thirteenth week, thereby raising its domestic cume to $335.9 million. The film has earned another $655.6 million overseas for a global total of $991.5 million.

Now for a bit of extra data on Zootopia’s ranking among animated films:

In North America, the film still ranks ninth:

  • 2004 — Shrek 2 (DreamWorks) — $441.2 million
  • 1994 — The Lion King (Disney) — $422.8 million
  • 2010 — Toy Story 3 (Pixar) — $415.0 million
  • 2013 — Frozen (Disney) — $400.7 million
  • 2003 — Finding Nemo (Pixar) — $380.8 million
  • 2013 — Despicable Me 2 (Universal) — $368.1 million
  • 2015 — Inside Out (Pixar) — $356.5 million
  • 2015 — Minions (Universal) — $336 million
  • 2016 — Zootopia (Disney) — $335.9 million
  • 2007 — Shrek the Third (DreamWorks) — $322.7 million

Overseas, the film now ranks fifth:

  • 2013 — Frozen (Disney) — $875.7 million
  • 2015 — Minions (Universal) — $823.4 million
  • 2012 — Ice Age: Continental Drift (Fox) — $715.9 million
  • 2009 — Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (Fox) — $690.1 million
  • 2016 — Zootopia (Disney) — $655.6 million
  • 2010 — Toy Story 3 (Pixar) — $648.2 million
  • 2013 — Despicable Me 2 (Universal) — $602.7 million
  • 1994 — The Lion King (Disney) — $564.7 million
  • 2003 — Finding Nemo (Pixar) — $555.9 million
  • 2012 — Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted (DreamWorks) — $530.5 million

And worldwide, the film now ranks fourth:

  • 2013 — Frozen (Disney) — $400.7 + 875.7 = 1276.5 million
  • 2015 — Minions (Universal) — $336.0 + 823.4 = 1159.4 million
  • 2010 — Toy Story 3 (Pixar) — $415.0 + 648.2 = 1063.2 million
  • 2016 — Zootopia (Disney) — $335.9 + 655.6 = 991.5 million
  • 1994 — The Lion King (Disney) — $422.8 + 564.7 = 987.5 million
  • 2013 — Despicable Me 2 (Universal) — $368.1 + 602.7 = 970.8 million
  • 2003 — Finding Nemo (Pixar) — $380.8 + 555.9 = 936.7 million
  • 2004 — Shrek 2 (DreamWorks) — $441.2 + 478.6 = 919.8 million
  • 2009 — Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (Fox) — $196.6 + 690.1 = 886.7 million
  • 2012 — Ice Age: Continental Drift (Fox) — $161.3 + 715.9 = 877.2 million

Meanwhile, Miracles from Heaven now ranks fourth among “faith-based” films:

  • 2004 — The Passion of the Christ — $370.8 million
  • 2014 — Heaven Is for Real — $91.4 million
  • 2015 — War Room — $67.8 million
  • 2016 — Miracles from Heaven — $60.763 million
  • 2014 — God’s Not Dead — $60.756 million
  • 2014 — Son of God — $59.7 million
  • 2011 — Soul Surfer — $43.9 million
  • 2006 — The Nativity Story — $37.6 million
  • 2016 — Risen — $36.9 million
  • 2011 — Courageous — $34.5 million

Next week brings us Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Me Before You and Popstar.


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