Sunday Update: Box Office Mojo is reporting a $56 million opening weekend for X-Men: First Class.
With a reported $160 million budget, the film needs strong word-of-mouth in subsequent weeks — which seems definitely possible given the positive reviews, but still difficult to navigate in a crowded summer movie landscape, with Super 8 opening next Friday and Green Lantern on June 17.
Attendance-wise, it’s the lowest opening weekend for an X-Men movie yet. $56m is a bit of a bump from the original X-Men‘s $54.5m open back in 2000, but the escalating cost of movie tickets means a lot less people saw First Class this weekend.
Similarly performing comic book movies include 2008′s The Incredible Hulk ($55.4m opening weekend) and 2005′s Fantastic Four ($56m).
Original Story: Reviews for X-Men: First Class have been very, very positive, and that translated to a solid, but not overwhelming, opening day at the box office.
First Class pulled in an estimated $21 million on Friday according to Box Office Mojo, which puts it below last month’s $25.5 million debut day for Thor (though First Class had a higher midnight gross, $3.3m over $3.25m). Which means it’s also below Iron Man, Iron Man 2 and X-Men: Origins Wolverine, and just slightly under the $21.5 million 2008′s The Incredible Hulk notched on its first day. That’s narrowly higher than the first day of the original X-Men ($20.8m and considered an impressive box office success at the time), though you’re looking at 11 years of inflation between now and then.
Perhaps a more apt comparison is with Batman Begins, a somewhat thematically similar, early days/”reboot” film that opened in June 2005 with a $15m Friday and held on for a $48.7m opening weekend. That movie went on to take home $205m domestic with a worldwide total of $372m, plus inspired 2008′s $1 billion-worldwide juggernaut The Dark Knight. The less optimistic flipside of that would be Watchmen, which premiered in March 2009 to a $24.5m Friday and $55m opening weekend, yet petered out to only a $107.5m domestic total.
X-Men: First Class is on track to make around $53m this weekend, which according to a Fox exec quoted by Deadline, is right around studio expectations.
June 4th, 2011 at 1:20 pm
I don’t think Batman Begins is a an apt comparison. Batman Begins was highly anticipated. I know people who didn’t even know a new X-Men movie was coming out until I told them. All the press has gone to the other superhero movies this summer — X-Men kind of got lost in the shuffle.
June 4th, 2011 at 1:53 pm
For a prequel starring no big name actors, featuring few if any widely recognized XMen, thats a great start!
June 4th, 2011 at 2:07 pm
Word of mouth hurt Watchmen, whereas the reviews for X-men have been pretty good. Hopefully it’ll turn around next week?
June 4th, 2011 at 2:53 pm
It’s like the “cry wolf” syndrome. Fox kept pumping out shit and taking our money. People got tired of being burned. But now this time they actually have a GREAT movie on their hands and people aren’t going to see it. Which is a real shame because the movie is absolutely FANTASTIC.
June 4th, 2011 at 3:15 pm
The film was very good, and will hopefully do well.
June 4th, 2011 at 4:04 pm
This movie will probably go on to gross around 150M. Knowing Fox with it’s record of pulling the previous X movies from theaters early, which unlike Warner Bros which let Supes Return & Bats Begin stew in theaters only to teach the 200M mark.
It is also interesting to note that Marvel is doing absolutely nothing to promote this movie, no new book or arc to coincide with its release. I guess Fox anticipated this by including the most reviled character in the movie, as an F.Y. to Marvel.
June 4th, 2011 at 4:29 pm
I really liked this movie. I thought it was better than all the other X Films put together (all due respect cause X1 & 2 were good as well). Part of me would like to see this universe fleshed out (maybe with the FF thrown in there; seeing as how FOX has that too). The other part of me would like to see FOX quietly admit defeat and let the rights return to Marvel only so we could see the shared Marvel movie universe grow. In any event, thus far the comic book movie scene has been awesome this year. I hope GL and Captain America are even half as good as Thor and X Men.
June 4th, 2011 at 7:51 pm
It seems a lot of people are overlooking X-Men First Class. Whenever I saw “Comic book movies for the summer”-type articles X-Men First Class was usually nowhere on that list for some reason
June 4th, 2011 at 8:17 pm
Wait, wasn’t this movie supposed to suck and bomb at the box office because it doesn’t “respect the source material”? LOL stupid fanboys. This whole episode reminds me of all the complaints about Heath Ledger being “wrong for the role of Joker” before the Dark Knight came out.
June 4th, 2011 at 8:26 pm
Not interested in watching this movie at all. For a prequel it does not work. Movies should blend together instead of throwing stuff at a wall to see what sticks. Would you want to watch Star Wars: The Phantom Menace if it showed Leia Skywalker running around as an adult or Yoda already dead? No. Prequels should enhance the previous movies, not make things up as they go along.
- White Queen is an adult in X-Men: First Class, but a young teen in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, thus making her younger.
- Beast would be too old to be the same Beast from X-Men 3.
- Another character named Angel that has nothing to do with the original Angel.
- Nightcrawler’s “father” is just poor taste for use of a character.
- Knowing the special effects for X-Men 1-3 movies involved a naked actress to play the Mystique character, then having a child play the same role with what would be a naked child (even though it was a latex suit) is just too weird to get past.
- Mystique’s make-up was just horrible and it made her look more deformed than anything.
This is just a few problems with the movie that I have. It can have all the rave reviews it wants. But no matter how you try make it be so great… it does not work. It is not a reboot. It is not a prequel. It is its own work that tries to pass as both a reboot and prequel at the sametime.
June 4th, 2011 at 9:19 pm
X-Men: saw in theater twice; bought DVD
X-2: saw in theater three times; bought DVD
X-3: boycotted*; bought DVD but after watching wanted to use it as a coaster.
(*for fucking up with the Phoenix storyline, which was wonderfully set up by Singer’s X-2 and for overindulging that ungrateful and talented bitch Halle Berry.)
Wolverine: boycotted**; $1 DVD kiosk rental (so glad I only wasted a dolloar)
(**found out beforehand from reliable online sources of the stupid and ridiculous plot)
1st Class: see Wolverine above.
June 4th, 2011 at 9:23 pm
…talentLESS…Halle…
June 4th, 2011 at 9:55 pm
Actually I’m glad that First Class nullifies both X3 and Wolverine: Origins because while entertaining, neither actually lived up to the first two movies.
The movie was a decent prequel using characters old and new and I think the fact that the movie wasn’t rammed down our throats over the last year through advertising may have been one of the smarter moves since it didn’t raise expectations and came out looking great for it. Unline Thor or Superman Returns or The Spirit.
And I didn’t mind Azazel despite him being from the period and writer that resulted in me dropping the X-titles for good (you know … until I finally cave like I did with the Spider-books).
I see another trilogy in spinning out of this and I say keep Matthew Vaughn (sic?) on them because the guy clearly knows how to direct the Hell out of fantasy and comic book movies.
June 4th, 2011 at 10:17 pm
Just saw it. What a welcome surprise on many, many levels. If you’re going to be hung up on continuity of the comics or even the movies, there’s no satisfying you.. maybe ever.. But on it’s own merits? Well done. And the story and acting (particularly of Fassbender… or even Bacon) are sticking with me far more than Thor did. I liked Thor. But this is a whole different kind of super hero movie. If you take the powers out of the equation, it’s really not a super hero movie. More like a Connery Bond film meets classic military secret mission movie. Even knowing the mythology, I really cared what was happening to Erik and Mystique. I was rooting for them even though I knew where it was going. For my wife who knew very little of the mythology? Bummed to see Erik’s decision. Saddened to see Raven’s heart hardened.. shocked to see what happens to Xavier. She cared about the characters. That’s the test of a well executed film.
June 4th, 2011 at 10:25 pm
first, i hardly saw ANY real promotions for this movie. I feel as if Marvel (maybe they are not to blame) or the studio did not market this enough. I mean how many times on Cartoon Network were there THOR commercials?
second, this was in my opinion the best XMEN movie yet. AND I WAS NOT GOIGN TO SEE THIS BASED ON THE LEAKED PHOTOS!
But they did it right, the action never stopped, the cameos were great (I will not spoil the cameo that had the whole theater clapping), and the story worked.
Now if an XMEN 4 comes out, and can tie into this, I will be satisfied.
June 4th, 2011 at 11:50 pm
The truth is Fox squandered a lot of goodwill with those last two X-Men movies. That’s why people really don’t care.
Well, that and the economy.
June 5th, 2011 at 12:12 am
I THOROUGHLY enjoyed this movie. Every concern I had regarding time frame, cast, and team makeup was either addressed or rendered moot with how well they told the story.
It was a great, FUN movie to watch.
June 5th, 2011 at 12:58 am
Just saw it tonight and I have to say it was very good. Definitely better than the previous four attempts.
June 5th, 2011 at 1:34 am
Like a Phoenix – they’ve got the X-Men: First to Last storyline going on right now in adjectiveless X-Men, which is their clearest hat tip to the movie. Interview with writer Chris Yost here: http://www.newsarama.com/comics/x-men-first-to-last-christopher-yost-110310.html
Also, they’re doing X-Men “character evolution” covers: http://www.newsarama.com/php/multimedia/album.php?gid=3156
June 5th, 2011 at 2:19 am
I ussed to love the X-men but the last few years the comic has been so bad and the characters so bland, that i just didn’t care about this movie. In time i will see it but i’m not gonna pay any money for it.
June 5th, 2011 at 2:38 am
Great movie, but the greatest? I don’t think so. But really, really good.
POLL: Is X-Men: First Class better than The Dark Knight?
LINK: http://www.wepolls.com/r/622478
June 5th, 2011 at 2:57 am
This is actually the first REAL X-Men movie, and I just loved it. The others (not including the fourth one, obviously) were just Wolverine movies where the X-Men were window-dressing. This movie deserves to succeed if only to show that the X-Men don’t need Wolverine to be front and center in order to sell tickets.
June 5th, 2011 at 4:15 am
Just feel very indifferent to needing to see this at the cinema. I’m slightly more tempted after the reviews, but, like most prequels, there are likely no surprises to be had. The trailers and clips selected by the studio don’t help – are they REALLY the high spots of the film?
June 5th, 2011 at 7:07 am
I’m tired movies title “X-Men” which are really about wolverine. No way in hell Fox ever gets my money again.
June 5th, 2011 at 10:47 am
“Wait, wasn’t this movie supposed to suck and bomb at the box office because it doesn’t “respect the source material”?”
If it doesn’t respect the source material, then what’s the point? They could just create their own characters at that point.
At any rate, the last two X-Men movies completely put me off. The fact that this one is a prequel just compounded the problem.
And I think the next time somebody bothers to get an accent right in this series will be the first time.
June 5th, 2011 at 1:32 pm
I have to say that I really didn’t care for this movie at all. I didn’t particularly like the choice of characters as Xavier’s first students, and most of them were very one-dimensional (with the exception of Hank McCoy/The Beast and Mystique). The same can be said of the villians employed by Sebastien Shaw.
The actress that played Emma Frost, while easy on the eyes, had all the acting range of a coffee table. And what was the deal with Magneto’s irish accent?
The only thing I enjoyed about this movie was the opening scenes featuring Magneto and how he later hunted down the Nazi war criminals responsible for his parents’ deaths.
As for the rest of the movie… been there, done that.
June 5th, 2011 at 1:59 pm
I didn’t like this movie but it wasn’t because of the studio not respecting the source material. I was totally okay with how they changed up all the characters. It didn’t really seem to make any difference either way.
What I DIDN’T like, and what is blowing my mind with all the reviews, is how poorly acted and directed it was. Half the characters (particularly the villains Emma Frost and Kevin Bacon) phoned in their performances and there were some pretty bone headed lines that made me just think the studio phoned in the whole movie. The special effects were fine and some of the characters were great (Magneto, of course, and Beast among others).
I just don’t get all the praise. It was really disappointing and I feel that I’m in the minority :\
June 5th, 2011 at 2:52 pm
Most of the fanboy press has given it rave reviews, but the mainstream press has not…in fact some have out right panned it.
The problem with the franchise is how it started. Singer took the most interesting x-men and turned them into THE X-MEN. Now that the franchise is continuing very few of the original stories can be told because the comic book lineups don’t match with what’s being made in the movies. Sebastian Shaw had to be turned into a nazi war criminal, Darwin is part of the original lineup and Havok is probably going to end up being scott summer’s dad rather than his brother.
And the worst thing is Fox doesn’t want to lose the movie rights so their going to continue to make these movies until the end of time. Remember how amazing Superman 5 WAS NOT. Well that’s what we can expect from future X-men movies.
June 5th, 2011 at 3:02 pm
Loved this movie, and want to see more (even if it is coming from fox)! This movie worked for a lot of reasons but for me the dynamic between Charles and Erik was everything I’d hoped for and more. Seeing young, vibrant, and entertaining Charles who doesn’t take himself so seriously was a breath of fresh air the made the film that much more enjoyable. Although you also see a side of Xavier I never thought existed, that is he is slighty bigoted. When he is confronted by Mystique in a discussion about her true form and has some uncomfortable reactions and says some cold remarks regarding her appearance and I believe costs him in the end when she makes a critical choice. On the other side of the same coin you have Erik who came across as charming, driven, and maniacal in the pursuit of his ends. This perfectly captures the essence of what I believe young Magneto was like and I wholly empathize with what he went through and why he will eventually become the way he does. These two characters who are thoroughly fleshed out have the strongest moments in the film. The other character who has some of the strongest character moments and comparable screen time is Mystique whose relationship to both characters is wholly believable. She stands as the person who trully feels the effects of being a mutant, other than Hank, because her mutation affects her appearance hides in a human form for most of the film. The other X-Men are all great and fun and the training session gave each of the mutants a time to shine that was completely overlooked in the original X-Men films. Kevin Bacon gives a strong performance as Sebastian shaw the films main villain, his ties to Magneto’s origin are unnerving and executed to the fullest potential. The rest of the villain’s crew are serviceable, and Emma although alluring and stunning does not have much to do in the film except keep our mouths drooling. For me, overall this film is the best one (I hated every X-men film except for X2 which was awesome!). Although I would prefer fox would not make any more super hero films, I hope they continue making more of this franchise, let the director work and stay out of the film altogether or else they’ll probably ruin the First class series too. 8.5 out of 10, go see it!!!!
June 5th, 2011 at 4:06 pm
“…but the escalating cost of movie tickets means a lot less people saw First Class this weekend.”
No, it means that a lot FEWER people saw it. Considering the rise in obesity during the last ten years, talk of LESS people is unlikely.
June 5th, 2011 at 8:56 pm
god, you nerds are snarky. comments on here complain about the studios making “wolverine” movies with some other x-men, even though this movie has no wolverine. then another of you claims that the mainstream press has panned it; I just checked rottentomatoes and saw an 87%. yes, there were some critics who didn’t like it, but there weren’t many.
June 5th, 2011 at 10:20 pm
I watched the film and thought it was the best xmen film yet. However my twin brother saw it elsewhere and he didnt like it at all. He had some good reasons for disliking the film. Some of the lines were horrible…”I’m Frankensteins Monster!” or his dislike of one African American dying in 10 minutes, and the Hispanic character joining ‘evil’. Although I hate to bring race into this, I kept thinking why they would do something like that. I actually thought Darwin’s character was annoying and was relieved he made an exit. But still its surprising to me that they wouldnt keep an ethnic person around with the “good guys” being xmen is a metaphor for race relations. Anyway my two cents. I really enjoyed it, and everyone should go see it. It deserves better than a mediocre opening weekend.
June 6th, 2011 at 3:40 am
It probably didn’t do as well as expected because the last 2 x-men movies were rather average, and people have been burned. Word of mouth will definately help this movie over the next few weeks. Everyone I know who has seen it has loved it, including myself, and all the reviews are glowing.
And the great international cast is only going to help the overseas market.
I also find it weird that the opening weekend figures for all the x-men related movies isn’t in this article?!? What did Last Stand (off of the X2 powerhouse!) and Wolverine make?
June 6th, 2011 at 5:48 am
Great movie and I truly hope it stands as a reboot ala Star Trek and Batman Begins, both excellent examples of how to relaunch a franchise.
This movie at the very least removes X3 by doing two things that obviously didn’t happen from looking at the beginning of X3, and at most re-boots the franchise. I’m hoping it’s a complete re-boot myself as watching this version of events should be more interesting than another Wolverine flic’.
OH and the only way you would be weirded out by a child actress in a blue suit is if you had issues.
June 6th, 2011 at 8:22 am
I have conflicted feelings about the movie. When Magneto and Xavier were on-screen, which of course was often since they’re the main characters, I felt like it was incredible, those two did a truly amazing job in my opinion. I also liked Kevin Bacon for the most part, although not as much as the first two.
As far as everyone else though, I didn’t particularly like anyone. Havok, for example, didn’t really do anything WRONG, but he didn’t do much at all. Also, given that they have retconned him into having no relationship to scott, you think they could have made his powers more like the comics and less like a pretty close ripoff in both look and use as cyclops’s.
Furthermore, did anyone else feel like the makeup was far, FAR worse than the other movies? Mystique didn’t look as good, Beast looked silly in most of his scenes as a blue guy, and nightcrawler’s dad just looked like they painted him red; nowhere near as good as nightcrawler did in X2.
“SPOILERS”
My final major problem is I feel like the writers were so afraid that they would never get to make a sequel, that they felt like they needed everyone to be in position at the end. Honestly, since a sequel would basically be a standard x-men adventure given how this one ends, I no longer have any interest in this franchise beyond the first. Had they kept Xavier and Magneto in their less traditional roles at the end of the movie I would have loved to see more of the two of them as conflicted friends.
“END SPOILERS”
So I liked the main two or three characters and the basic plot, but the side-characters and details all kind of left me cold.
June 6th, 2011 at 3:14 pm
saw it yesterday and really enjoyed it. thought the Mystique character was a bit overplayed and would have rather seen a young Jean Grey on the team but other than that it was a great movie with surprising moments and some great acting from Fassbender (Magneto) and James McEvoy (Prof.X).
June 6th, 2011 at 9:19 pm
Fox should revert the film rights back to Marvel. If not, then they should let Marvel do its thing and sit back and count the money. In addition, they should recast Wolverine with a smaller actor and relieve Jackman of his “producer” capacity. It’s obvious that Jackman is all about the money because under his “producer” stewardship, the fourth X-movie ended up being a big convoluted and confusing piece of smolderng crap!
June 7th, 2011 at 8:49 am
I don’t know, Kyle. I remember Batman Begins seeming like it was under the radar when it came out.
I thought it opened on a Wednesday and not a Friday because I remember seeing it in the middle of the week in a theater where there was maybe 10 other people tops. I liked it so much I went back and saw it again with a group of friends. No, “liked” is not the right word…I LOVED that movie.
But I don’t remember a lot of commercials or hype around it. I’ve seen a number of ad spots for First Class, not a huge campaign or anything but enough to suffice. I’m hoping the positive word of mouth keeps the coming weeks fruitful for the flick. I’d like to see more of this cast in these roles.
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