{"id":46620,"date":"2016-05-29T16:16:50","date_gmt":"2016-05-29T23:16:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/?p=46620"},"modified":"2016-05-31T22:47:35","modified_gmt":"2016-06-01T05:47:35","slug":"box-office-x-men-alice-sequels-top-the-box-office-but-have-softer-openings-than-expected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2016\/05\/box-office-x-men-alice-sequels-top-the-box-office-but-have-softer-openings-than-expected.html","title":{"rendered":"Box office: X-Men<\/i>, Alice<\/i> sequels top the box office but have softer openings than expected"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"x-men-apocalypse-2-a\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Two big sequels had smaller openings than expected at the box office this week<\/a>.<\/p>\n

X-Men: Apocalypse<\/b><\/i> topped the chart with an estimated $65 million since Thursday night, which is one of the smaller openings ever for the Marvel mutant franchise<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The film\u2019s opening was significantly lower than the $90.8 million that X-Men: Days of Future Past<\/a><\/i> opened to in 2014. It\u2019s also less than half of the $132.4 million that the X-Men<\/i> spin-off Deadpool<\/a><\/i> opened to three months ago \u2014 and Deadpool<\/i>, budgeted at $58 million, cost only a third of the $178 million that Apocalypse<\/i> cost to make.<\/p>\n

Notably, of the three movies in the franchise that had smaller openings than X-Men: Apocalypse<\/i>, two (2000\u2019s X-Men<\/i> and 2011\u2019s X-Men: First Class<\/i>) had all-new casts, while the third (2013\u2019s The Wolverine<\/a><\/i>) was a solo outing. So you could say Apocalypse<\/i> had the smallest opening of any X-Men<\/i> film with an established ensemble cast.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Alice through the Looking Glass<\/b><\/i> had an even steeper dive at the box office.<\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/i> opened to in 2010.<\/p>\n

Budgeted at $170 million, this represents the first major stumble for Disney since The Good Dinosaur<\/a><\/i> became the first Pixar film to lose money<\/a> back in November.<\/p>\n

Aside from The Finest Hours<\/i> \u2014 a \u201cmerely\u201d $80 million movie that grossed $52 million worldwide in January \u2014 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<\/i>, The Jungle Book<\/i>, Zootopia<\/i> and Captain America: Civil War<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Alice through the Looking Glass<\/i> cost as much to make as those films did but, based on this weekend\u2019s receipts, it will come nowhere close to touching their success.<\/p>\n

The film has earned another $65 million overseas for $93.1 million worldwide.<\/p>\n

In other news, the hilarious Jane Austen adaptation Love & Friendship<\/b><\/i> became the first of Whit Stillman\u2019s five films<\/a> to crack the weekly top ten.<\/p>\n

Love & Friendship<\/i>, which reunites Stillman with The Last Days of Disco<\/i> 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.<\/p>\n

Stillman\u2019s widest release prior to this was Barcelona<\/i>, which played in 274 theatres in 1994. That is also Stillman\u2019s top-grossing film to date, with $7.3 million.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, in other box-office news\u2026<\/p>\n

The Angry Birds Movie<\/b><\/i> 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.<\/p>\n

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

Captain America<\/i> was already the top movie of the year globally, and it now ranks 16th on the all-time worldwide chart<\/a>. 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<\/a><\/i> and the Avengers<\/a><\/i> films).<\/p>\n

The Jungle Book<\/b><\/i> 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.<\/p>\n

Ironically, in the same week that the sequel to Alice in Wonderland<\/i> underperformed at the box office, The Jungle Book<\/i> passed Alice in Wonderland<\/i> to become the top-grossing \u201clive-action\u201d remake of an animated Disney film<\/a> in North America.<\/p>\n

Finally, Zootopia<\/b><\/i> 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.<\/p>\n

Now for a bit of extra data on Zootopia<\/i>\u2019s ranking among animated films<\/a>:<\/p>\n

In North America, the film still ranks ninth:<\/p>\n