X-Men Rides in First Class at the Box Office!

After a record setting Memorial weekend, movie theaters around the country had yet another super hero franchise to drive customers to the multi-plex.  Twentieth Century Fox’s X-Men: First Class is the 5th installment of the highly successful franchise which has generated over $1 billion in global revenue. A weekend gross of $56 million from this reinvented prequel to the X-Men franchise with a critically acclaimed director and top actors including James McAvoy and Jennifer Lawrence proves the continued appeal of the series.  The film grabbed $120 million in global revenues for the weekend.

Warner Bros.’ The Hangover Part II had a respectable 2nd weekend that gave the film a 2nd place finish with $32.4 million.  After breaking numerous box office records (including the top comedy opening of all-time) the R-rated smash propelled the industry an overall Memorial weekend revenue record.  In just 11 days of release the film has earned nearly $190 million in North America and well over $200 million worldwide.

Dreamworks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda 2 in 3-D from Paramount Pictures landed in 3rd place this weekend with $24.3 million.  The family-friendly PG-rated film had a 2nd place debut over the Memorial holiday weekend earning $67 million in its first 5 days of release and has crossed the $100 million mark in just 11 days of release.

Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is an international sensation having amassed a fortune of around $600 million in just over 2 weeks.  Completing its 3rd weekend with $18 million and over $190 million in North America, the film is still a major summer contender.  The global total for On Stranger Tides is a staggering $790.7 million to date.

Rounding out the top 5 with $12.1 million is Bridesmaids from Universal.  Clearly an audience favorite with strong mid-week grosses and weekend drops in the low 20% range, this R-rated favorite completes its 4th weekend and celebrates by crossing the $100 million mark.

Leading the charge for the specialized film market is Midnight in Paris from Sony Pictures Classics which continues to duke it out with the big boys landing in 8th place in a mere 147 theaters and the best per-theater average in the Top 12 and nearly $7 million in revenue.  The film goes wide Friday in 750 to 1,000 locations.  Also doing well is Terence Malick’s Tree of Life from Fox Searchlight landing just outside of the top 12 with $621k in just 20 theaters and a $31,039 average.

A strong summer season continues with the 4th consecutive up weekend at the box office vs. last year’s comparable period.

Posted in: HOLLYWOOD