Both X-Men: Apocalypse and Alice Through the Looking Glass were hurt by negative reviews this weekend, but the Bryan Singer helmed release still had no trouble winning the race to #1 during Memorial Day weekend. After making $65 million over three days, its predicted four day haul is now around the $80 million mark (slightly up from yesterday's estimates of around $76 million).
Tracking initially pointed to X-Men: Apocalypse making between $85 million - $100 million. 20th Century Fox were always a little more conservative though as they expected $80 million, so chances are they aren't too upset by this result. "We're very happy with this result as we introduce new characters in the X-Men universe," Fox domestic distribution chief Chris Aronson tells The Hollywood Reporter. "And for us to be at this number globally already means we're in good shape."
That's all well and good, but you have to believe that the studio is at least a little disappointed by these numbers, especially when you compare this haul to the opening weekend of movies like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Captain America: Civil War, and Deadpool. During the same four day weekend in 2014, X-Men: Days of Future Past made $110 million, a pretty major 30% difference. As of right now, X-Men: Apocalypse has made $265.8 million worldwide, a decent enough amount.
Alice Through the Looking Glass meanwhile looks set to be a flop amid both bad reviews and a domestic abuse scandal. That looks set to earn only $35 million over the four days, 70% behind the $116 million made by Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. "It's disappointing. The domestic opening is wildly less than what every tracking service had us at," said Disney distribution chief Dave Hollis. "We're in the tentpole business. More often than not, they turn out to be huge successes. We'll continue to take those big bets. In this instance, it didn't turn out as we hoped."