The superhero sequel debuted in the US on Friday and when on to score an as-predicted $65 million opening Memorial Day weekend (adjusted to about $80 million if you were to add in the public holiday for a four day figure). With it’s international figures now sitting on $185 million, that brings the movie to $265 million globally in just two weeks. With a $175 million budget before marketing – which can sometimes double a movie’s price tag – Fox will definitely be hoping for another week or two at the top though. Especially since Apocalypse is quite a bit off the pace of 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past, which picked up $30 million in its opening domestic weekend.
But as soft an opening as the X-Men had, they definitely had a much landing than Alice Through the Looking Glass which faceplanted its way down the rabbit hole. Disney’s sequel to the 2012 Tim Burton reimagining of Lewis Carrol’s classic could only muster up a disappointing $28.1 million which is way below expectations (and almost certainly hamstrung Disney’s hopes for another billion dollar franchise). Alice In Wonderland never exactly set the box office on fire when it debuted, but it arrived during the early buzz of 3D and benefited greatly from those more expensive ticket prices. Through the Looking Glass had no such three-dimensional crutch.
The only other new entry on the top 10 was of a much, much, MUCH smaller scale, but possibly ended up being the most impressive. Whit Stillman’s Jane Austen adaptation Love & Friendship saw it’s limited cinema count go up from just just 47 to 493, and subsequently saw a 345% increase in earnings in its third week. The Amazon produced romantic drama starring Kate Beckinsale and Chloe Sevigny pulled in $2.49 million dollars bringing its total run thus far to $3.5 million. Not bad for a movie that cost just $3 million to make.
Other than that, there was actually very little else happening with the US box office. It seems the folks over in Obamaland had other plans instead of spending their Memorial Day weekend watching movies. Here’s a look at the rest of the chart.
- 01. X-Men: Apocalypse – $65 million (NE)
- 02. Alice Through the Looking Glass – $28.1 million (NE)
- 03. Angry Birds – $18.7 million (LW: 1)
- 04. Captain America: Civil War – $15.1 million (LW: 2)
- 05. Bad Neighbours 2: Sorority Rising – $9.1 million (LW: 3)
- 06. The Jungle Book – $6.9 Million (LW: 5)
- 07. The Nice Guys – $6.3 million (LW: 4)
- 08. The Money Monster – $4.2 million (LW: 6)
- 09. Love & Friendship – $2.4 million (NE)
- 08. Zootopia – $831, 000 (LW: 8)
And with that The Huntsman: Winter’s War gets axed from the Top 10 without really making much of a dent. At a global box office tally of just $160 million after 5 weeks on a $115 million budget, I think it’s safe to call this one a flop.
(LW = Last Week, NE = New Entry)
Last Updated: May 30, 2016
