Weekend Box Office: 'X-Men' Stand Tall, 'Godzilla' Stumbles
by EG
For “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” the Memorial Day weekend started off just fine. For most of the other movies at the box office, the long holiday weekend had an ominous beginning.
The latest film in the “X-Men” franchise took in $36 million on Friday, which is enough to keep it on track for a $100-million-plus four-day weekend. It wasn’t a particularly spectacular opening, though. It’s significantly better than the last movie in the franchise, “X-Men: First Class,” but it’s only roughly equal to the last two superhero movies to hit theaters, “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” and “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.”
The week’s other new release, Adam Sandler’s “Blended,” didn’t generate much interest on Friday. It took in just $4.4 million on Friday, and if it doesn’t attract families over the holiday—and it probably won’t—it’s in for a rough weekend.
Last weekend’s top film, “Godzilla,” bowed to the competition of the “X-Men.” Its Friday ticket sales fell off by more than three quarters compared to last week, and what looked like a hit a week ago could turn out to be a moderate disappointment.
Both “Spider-Man 2” and “Neighbors” lost about half their audiences from a week ago, as well.
The crowded month is turning out to be as problematic for wannabe blockbusters as we thought it would be, as a steady stream of spectacle movies is keeping any one film from turning in an impressive performance for two weeks in a row. “X-Men” is getting good reviews and good word-of-mouth, so it might stand a better chance than its predecessors, but it faces competition from Disney’s “Maleficent” next week.