XMEN:Days of Future Past -- Box Office

[jo]

A website in CHINA is reporting that DAYS OF FUTURE PAST may be exhibited there --


www.ecns.cn/2014/04-03/108040.shtml

'X-Men: Days of Future Past' may be introduced to China

2014-04-03 16:25 CRIENGLISH.com Web Editor: Gu Liping

Still of X-Men: Days of Future Past [Photo: 20th Century Fox] Still of "X-Men: Days of Future Past" [Photo: 20th Century Fox]

The upcoming 2014 American superhero film "X-Men: Days of Future Past" will possibly be introduced to China.

The film stars a number of big names including Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence and Halle Berry.

It's directed by Bryan Singer and is the seventh film in the X-Men series. In the seventh installment, the X-Men send Wolverine to the past hoping to change history and prevent an event which results in misfortune for both humans and mutants.

The 3D film is set to hit American screens on May 23, 2014.

Hopefully, this follows the success of THE WOLVERINE and generate great numbers at the box office.

Will Hugh be promoting the movie there?


Jo

[jo]

BoxOffice.com has the following current predictions for DAYS OF FUTURE PAST ( with comparative predictions for other forthcoming movies) --

www.boxoffice.com/featured_stories/2014-03-long-range-forecast-x-men-days-of-future-past

The salient excerpts --

Long Range Forecast: 'X-Men: Days of Future Past'

Featured Stories - on March 28, 2014 by BoxOffice Staff


Not to be overshadowed by Disney's onslaught of Marvel superhero movies, Fox will roll out X-Men: Days of Future Past on May 23, a new entry that wisely combines the cast from the original trilogy with the cast from Matthew Vaughn's beloved prequel X-Men: First Class. This week BoxOffice takes a look at the film's commercial prospects.

X-Men: Days of Future Past
(20th Century Fox)

PROS:

- It's the only major blockbuster opening during Memorial Day weekend, and that's a huge advantage.
- Fans of the franchise reacted very well to X-Men: First Class, so we're betting that a lot of that goodwill is going to carry over.
- Combining two very popular casts is an intriguing decision that looks like it's going pay off quite well.
- Activity on Facebook and Twitter is very encouraging.

CONS:

- The relatively underwhelming $417 million global haul of 2013's The Wolverine has us a little worried.
- The summer season is typically crowded. If The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and/or Godzilla overperform it could have an adverse impact on Days of Future Past.

Check out our predictions for these films and others in the table below. Notable changes this week include Captain America: The Winter Soldier (up), Million Dollar Arm (up), Draft Day (up) and Heaven is for Real (up)



Title

Release Date

Distributor

Opening Weekend

Domestic Total


Blended May 23, 2014 Warner Bros.
$24,000,000** $56,000,000
X-Men: Days of Future Past May 23, 2014 Fox
$103,000,000** / $221,000,000
Godzilla (2014) May 16, 2014 Warner Bros.
$75,000,000 / $235,000,000
Million Dollar Arm May 16, 2014 Disney
$15,000,000 $60,000,000
Moms' Night Out May 9, 2014 Sony / AFFIRM
$6,000,000 $14,000,000
Neighbors (2014) May 9, 2014 Universal
$34,000,000 $126,000,000
Chef May 9, 2014 Open Road
$10,000,000 $31,000,000
Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return May 9, 2014 Clarius Entertainment
$4,000,000 $11,000,000
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 May 2, 2014 Sony / Columbia
$112,000,000 / $265,000,000

** Represents forecast for 4-day weekend.

[mamaleh]

Since when is $417 million "underwhelming"? Not in my book.

Ellen

[jo]

BoxOfficeMojo's box office predictions ( ranking based on Domestic Box Office predictions) --


www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3826&p=.htm

Summer 2014 Forecast
by Ray Subers
April 23, 2014


With Captain America: The Winter Soldier putting up huge numbers, it may seem like we're already in the midst of the Summer box office season. Formally, though, the season kicks off on May 2nd with The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and then runs through the end of August.

As is tradition here at Box Office Mojo, we're starting the season off with a list of predictions for the highest-grossing movies. Titles are ranked based on their domestic box office forecast, though foreign predictions are included as well.

The Summer will likely be dominated by high-profile sequels like How to Train Your Dragon 2, Transformers: Age of Extinction, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, X-Men: Days of Future Past and The Amazing Spider-Man 2. There's still plenty of room for original titles to break out, though, and comedies in particular should have a strong showing this year.

Overall, though, the crop doesn't seem as strong as in years past. Ultimately, it would be very surprising if this Summer topped last year's record $4.75 billion haul.

Without further ado, here are Box Office Mojo's predictions for Summer 2014. After reading, please make sure to share your own predictions on Facebook.

Top 20 Predictions

1. How to Train Your Dragon 2 (June 13): The first How to Train Your Dragon earned $217.6 million in early 2010, and remains one of the most popular animated movies in recent memory (it ranks in the all-time Top 250 on IMDb). In a Summer lacking any serious animated competition, it's a foregone conclusion that How to Train Your Dragon 2 will improve upon its predecessor. If it follows the same pattern as Despicable Me 2, it will earn $320 million at the domestic box office. (Domestic: $325 million, Foreign: $505 million).

2. X-Men: Days of Future Past (May 23): The X-Men franchise is coming off its two lowest-grossing outings at the domestic box office (X-Men: First Class and The Wolverine). In an effort to reinvigorate the series, Days of Future Past brings back many members of the original cast, and matches Wolverine up with the First Class group (some of whom have seen their star power rise substantially in the past three years). Early trailers sold the high-stakes story, while recent material has positioned it as a fun, exciting team-up movie akin to The Avengers. Adjusted for inflation, the third X-Men movie earned the equivalent of $285 million; with the addition of 3D ticket pricing, that's a reasonable expectation for Days of Future Past. (Domestic: $290 million, Foreign: $470 million)

3. Transformers: Age of Extinction (June 27): The first three Transformers movies all earned over $300 million at the domestic box office, and the last one reached $1.1 billion worldwide. The fourth installment subs out Shia LaBeouf for Mark Wahlberg, though that might not be enough to make up for the fact that the last two movies aren't held in high esteem (fool me once… etc.). A decrease on par with the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean would put Age of Extinction at $275 million; the movie should mostly make up for this overseas, where it's sure to be a huge hit. (Domestic: $285 million, Foreign: $750 million)

4. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (July 11): In 2011, Rise of the Planet of the Apes became a surprise late-Summer hit with $176.8 million. The sequel brings back Andy Serkis as Caesar, and takes the story in an exciting new direction (apes vs. humans in a post-apocalyptic wasteland). With goodwill from the first installment and a strong mid-July release date, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes should top its predecessor's domestic gross. Thanks to the addition of 3D, look for big gains overseas as well. (Domestic: $240 million, Foreign: $460 million)

5. Godzilla (May 16): The bad taste from 1998's Godzilla movie has been washed away by strong trailers that show off the human impact of large-scale destruction while only providing brief glimpses of the monster. This calls to mind the marketing strategy for last year's World War Z, which kept its zombies obscured for the most part. While Godzilla doesn't have Brad Pitt, the giant lizard should make up for that. Adjusting for inflation, the 1998 movie earned around $230 million, which is a fair target for this movie. Also, look for huge international returns. (Domestic: $230 million, Foreign: $440 million)

6. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (May 2): Five years after the Sam Raimi/Tobey Maguire Spider-Man franchise ended, Sony rebooted the popular superhero in 2012's The Amazing Spider-Man. The movie was the lowest-grossing entry yet at the domestic box office ($262 million), but was still a strong player worldwide. Less than two years later, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has the webcrawler facing an assortment of villains including Electro and the Green Goblin in what's billed as his "greatest battle" yet. It also returns Spidey to the prime first weekend of May, which is where the franchise set opening weekend box office records twice (in 2002 and 2007). Still, as the fifth movie in 12 years, it can't help but feel a bit redundant. With franchise fatigue in full effect, another decrease in domestic box office is likely. (Domestic: $225 million. Foreign: $480 million)

7. Guardians of the Galaxy (August 1): This is the first original Marvel Cinematic Universe movie since Captain America: The First Avenger in 2011, and is probably the riskiest of any of the MCU movies so far. The eclectic band of characters has no cultural cache yet, and there's no clear tie-in with the rest of the universe. The attention-grabbing first trailer directly addressed this issue by spending an inordinate amount of time introducing each member, including a gun-toting raccoon and a human man who goes by Star Lord (played by Chris Pratt). There's a possibility that Guardians winds up being this Summer's Pacific Rim—the online hype outweighing general interest—though we're betting it winds up on par with the original Thor. (Domestic: $180 million, Foreign: $250 million)

8. Maleficent (May 30): Based on Disney's animated classic Sleeping Beauty, Maleficent is the latest live-action fantasy from the studio that found success with similar movies Alice in Wonderland and (to a lesser extent) Oz The Great and Powerful. A better comparison here may be 2012 fantasy Snow White and the Huntsman, which opened on the same weekend and also focused its marketing on an iconic villain (in this case, its Angelina Jolie's Maleficent). That movie earned $155.3 million at the domestic box office; with a family-friendly "PG" rating, Maleficent has a good chance of matching that. (Domestic: $150 million, Foreign: $300 million)

9. Neighbors (May 9): Seth Rogen is coming off one of his biggest hits yet in This is the End, and that well-received comedy has been highlighted in Neighbors marketing. More importantly, though, Neighbors has a great comedic set-up that's front-and-center in all of Universal's advertising ("Family Vs. Frat"). It's also well-positioned as the first R-rated comedy in a Summer that's full of them. Finally, positive early reviews suggest the kind of word-of-mouth that can take a comedy hit to the next level. (Domestic: $140 million, Foreign: $65 million)

10. 22 Jump Street (June 13): Like any other kind of sequel, comedy follow-ups are a mixed bag: for every Meet the Fockers (+68%), there's a Sex and the City 2 (-38%). 22 Jump Street will likely wind up somewhere in the middle. The first movie is well-liked, and previews have enough strong gags to suggest that this one delivers as well. Unfortunately, it also opens in the more-competitive Summer season, and comes on the heels of three original May comedies that should all do solid business. Ultimately, expect 22 Jump Street to wind up in the same range as the original. (Domestic: $135 million, Foreign: $75 million)

11. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (August 8): With the potential to add to already impressive toy sales, it makes financial sense to bring the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles back to the big screen. The first teaser left something to be desired, though, and the mid-August release date is tricky (with Guardians a week before, can this really break out?). It's possible that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles performs on par with 2009 toy adaptation G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra ($150.2 million), but for now we're betting lower on it. (Domestic: $130 million, Foreign: $255 million)

12. A Million Ways to Die in the West (May 30): Writer/director Seth MacFarlane is coming off debut feature Ted, which was a worldwide sensation with nearly $550 million. It's unreasonable to expect Million Ways to come anywhere close to that—MacFarlane is untested in front of the camera, and Westerns only have a so-so track record. Still, the trailer is laugh-out-loud funny, and the Ted brand definitely broadens its appeal. (Domestic: $125 million, Foreign: $170 million)

Continued with #13-20 and other titles >>

*The total box office prediction for XMEN:DAYS OF FUTURE PAST is $ 760 million ( $ 290M for Domestic and $ 470M for Foreign).

Some XMEN fans are nervous about the BOM predictions - as these numbers were nowhere to be seen in the past. But I hope it is simply like being Cinderella and feeling nervous before the grand ball! The studio has spent its supposedly second-highest budget for the film ( second only to AVATAR) to ensure quality and the attraction of a fantastic cast, so audience satisfaction is likely to be on a very high side. It is also aggressive in the marketing for the movie ( even the announcement of a trail of world premieres has rarely been seen for any other movie) -- one of its blessings is that a BIG cast of worldwide favorites will help it achieve its aim for worldwide attention!

My own nervous prediction ( as if I have any knowledge on how to do these things - LOL!) was for a hopefully attainable $ 700M - $ 750 range and a wish for a high of $ 800 million! I think, if the marketing for overseas, especially in China works very, very effectively, then this is what could make the movie reach for the stars! Had the distance been more easily travelled and if there have been no other commitments ( Hugh is likely staying in Australia because he has that commitment re his newly-announced foundation)...and they could have had an all-star premiere in Beijing ( like in NYC and London) - it will also signal the overall importance of Asia/Australia ( the other side of the world ) to the film market.

*The rumored budget is anywhere from $ 215M to $ 250M, excluding marketing costs. Even if we take the highend $ 250M, the prediction of $ 760 overall will already exceed the conventional 2.5 times to cover quiteproduction and marketing costs for breakeven. The share of the studio is supposedly only about 1/4 for overseas market, compared to the domestic market of 1/2 of receipts.

*I will try my best to contribute .0000001 % to that total - LOLOL!



Jo

[jo]

Another filmsite predicts 2nd ranking for XMEN : DAYS OF FUTURE PAST ( behind animation film Dragon2) for the domestic box office --

flicksided.com/2014/04/24/summer-2014-box-office-predictions/

Here are the top 5 for domestic box office --

Summer 2014 Box-Office Predictions


By John English - Apr 24th, 2014 at 1:17 pm


This summer will be a test on how many superheroes one season can handle, and if the overseas’ numbers will continue to be the ones that matter most.

1. HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2 (6/13) – $310 million – The sequel to one of DreamWorks Animation’s best movies should be the runaway hit of summer. It’s also the only major animated release, as Disney moved its live-action Maleficent to summer after The Good Dinosaur was delayed.

2. X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST (5/23) – $285 million – Marvel’s all the rage, and the chance to see Hugh Jackman walk between the old and new generations looks irresistible. Jennifer Lawrence and Michael Fassbender have since had their stars shine brighter.

3. THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (5/2) – $275 million – I don’t think this will be the unstoppable juggernaut Iron Man 3 was in this slot last year. Early word’s been mostly positive, but it looks awfully crowded with three villains.

4. TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION (6/27) – $250 million – Out: Shia LaBeouf. In: Mark Wahlberg. Wise choice by Michael Bay.

5. GODZILLA (5/16) – $220 million – This reboot looks like it takes it seriously, and it’s in prime release position to make a big splash upon arrival...

[jo]

variety.com/2014/film/news/x-men-days-of-future-past-tracking-for-125-million-memorial-day-u-s-debut-1201172287/

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‘X-Men’ On Track for Huge $125 Million Memorial Day U.S. Debut


x men days of future past
May 5, 2014 | 05:22PM PT


Maane Khatchatourian


@maanekhat


The controversy surrounding director Bryan Singer’s sexual assault lawsuits likely won’t hurt “X-Men: Days of Future Past” at the box office.

The seventh “X-Men” pic is on track for a $125 million Stateside opening on Memorial Day weekend. The film launches day and date worldwide, including China, on May 23.

The four-day estimate would put the action-adventure on par with the highest-grossing film from the ever-growing franchise, 2006′s “X-Men: The Last Stand.” “Last Stand” (a.k.a. “X3″) hauled almost $123 million domestically during its four-day Memorial Day opening weekend. It set the Memorial Day weekend record, which has since been topped by “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” and “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.”

Insiders predict that “Days of Future Past” could earn an estimated $250 million total domestically, which would make it the most financially successful “X-Men” movie to date Stateside. “Last Stand” made $234 million, while the latest “X-Men” pic, “X-Men: First Class,” made less than any other installment, with $146 million. Although it’s still doing good business, the franchise has taken a stumble both Stateside and worldwide after “Last Stand.”

“X-Men” is an even bigger cash cow overseas, with “First Class” reeling in almost 60% of its revenues from foreign markets. “Days of Future Past” will open in Japan on May 30 and Spain on June 6.

“Days of Future Past” is the most star-studded of the pack as it combines the cast of the original “X-Men” trilogy (veterans Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart and Halle Berry) with that of 2011′s “First Class” (crossover stars Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy). Lawrence’s star power has skyrocketed since 2011′s “First Class” following the mega-success of her other franchise, “The Hunger Games,” and two Oscar noms (one win).

While younger moviegoers will be drawn to Lawrence, die-hard “X-Men” fans and older audiences will likely flock to theaters for Jackman’s sake. As the star of two Wolverine spinoffs (the second is set for 2017), he’s the actor most synonymous with the franchise.

Fox is pulling out all the stops to promote “Days Of Future Past.” With Singer dropping out of all press obligations, the film’s stars will “divide and conquer” (as they say during a promo). Jackman, Fassbender and McAvoy, and the rest of the gang will embark on a worldwide premiere tour, called the “X-Men X-Perience,” with stops in London, Moscow, Singapore, Melbourne, Beijing and Sao Paulo.

Viral marketing has teased the movie through stills and clips on social media. Singer himself took to Twitter during this summer’s production to share on-set photos and later tease trailers. Fox also cleverly held off on revealing movie footage until recently.

It still remains to be seen how much, if at all, Singer’s scandal will affect the movie. Michael Egan, now 31, filed a lawsuit last month accusing Singer of sexually assaulting him in the late 1990s. Egan claims he was 15 years old when Singer forcibly raped him. An anonymous British teen filed a similar suit last weekend.

Although he directed the franchise’s first two movies, Singer’s isn’t as associated with the franchise as his peers Joss Whedon and Christopher Nolan are attached to “The Avengers” and “The Dark Knight” superhero movie series. Singer left the director’s chair in 2002 after “X2: X-Men United” to make “Superman Returns” and “Jack the Giant Slayer,” which flopped at the box office and starred “Days of Future Past’s” Nicholas Hoult. But he’s creatively responsible for the biggest “X-Men” opening with “X2: X-Men United,” which debuted to $86 million in 2003. He produced “First Class” and is set to direct 2016′s “X-Men: Apocalypse.”

Projects helmed by filmmakers touched by scandal aren’t necessarily hurt at the box office — Woody Allen’s “Blue Jasmine” performed well at the specialty box office and Cate Blanchett won a best actress Oscar for her performance in the movie. “The Ghost Writer” was critically acclaimed in 2010 when Polanski was arrested in Switzerland for extradition to the U.S., which he fled in 1978 after pleading guilty to having sex with a 13-year-old girl.

As to the supposedly younger fanbase -- I doubt that the very young and young fanboys are there more to see Mystique ( aka Jennifer Lawrence) smiley-rolleyes010

Maybe some segments of the fairly young adult demos -- but Wolverine is the fan favorite ( comic books or movies)!! emoticon-cartoon-020

Tracking is partly attributed to advance ticket sales! I hope DOFP actually does better than $ 125 M in the USA for the 4-day weekend and set the all-time record!

Jo

[jo]

Convetional wisdom on some terms --

www.the-numbers.com/glossary.php

Check out the glossary for some movie terms, such as:

Domestic Box Office
Total money spent on tickets by moviegoers in the "domestic market", which is defined as the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Guam.

Fanboy/Fangirl Effect
Certain films and franchises have a very loyal following, usually due to their source material. Fans of these films will flock to see them as soon as they open, either over the opening weekend or, especially, opening night. This inflates box office on these days, reducing both the Internal Multiplier and the overall Multiplier for the film. Since young men tend to be the most ardent fans of major franchises, this is described as the Fanboy Effect. The incredible popularity of the Twilight franchise among young women has led to the rise of the equivalent Fangirl Effect.

Home Market
The Home Market refers to revenue derived from people viewing movies at home. It is broken down into three sections: video rentals, video sales and TV rights.

The Hulk Effect
Back in 2003 when Hulk was in production, Universal bowed to incredible pressure from fans and released early footage of the special effects. The plan was to get the fans talking and build up word-of-mouth. However, the special effects were in the early stages and were so bad that the buzz it generated killed any chance the film had. More recently the same happened to Catwoman with the early look at Halle Berry's outfit. Just goes to show you, sometimes there is such thing as bad publicity.

Internal Multiplier
A film's weekend box office divided by its Friday number. It's basically a measure of the film's word-of-mouth, with 3.0 being the best most films can get these days while 2.3 is generally the bottom rung. Certain films have an inherent advantage (like those aimed at kids), while the Fanboy Effect can shrink the number as the hardcore fans flock to the movie on Friday.

International box office
Total box office from all nations outside the domestic market.

Legs
Legs is a term used to refer to how long a film lasts in theaters.

Multiplier
A film's total box office divided by its opening weekend box office. Another measure of the film's word-of-mouth but with a much wider range of possibilities. Films with below 2.0 are not unheard of, while 6.0 or more are a possibility. Just as a side note, not too long ago films with a multiplier of 10 or more were quite common, but the economics have changed and a big opening weekend is too important to the studios and the home market shortens a film's legs.

Prints and Advertising (P&A) Budget
Prints are the actual physical film that are shown in theaters and are quite expensive to make and distribute, costing about $2,000 per print. Each theater needs at least one print and possibly more depending on how many screens the film is playing on. The advertising part of the budget is the amount spent on just that, advertising. Most of the money is spent on TV, but radio, newspapers and magazines, the Internet and in-theater advertising are also very important. The average P&A budget for a major studio release was $34.5 million the last time the MPAA reported the figure in 2006 (spends are generally believed to have risen since then).

Production Budget
The amount of money it cost make the movie including pre-production, film and post-production, but excluding distribution costs. The average cost of a major studio movie was about $65 million when the MPAA stopped tracking the number in 2006 and has risen since then. The most expensive film commonly cost more than $200 million to make now.

Screens & Screen Count
The actual screen the movie is projected on. Most Theaters have multiple screens, with largest having two dozen screens or more. Screen Count is simply the number of screens a film is playing on. This count is rarely published domestically, but is the basic unit of measurement in some international territories.

The Sequel Effect, a.k.a. Sequelitis
This as essentially a sub-species of the Fanboy Effect specific to sequels. Such films have a built in audience due to the original movie (as otherwise making the sequel is pointless) and can have dramatic declines after sizable opening nights and weekends.

Theaters & Theater Count
A theater is any place a movie is showing from the smallest cinema on the art house circuit to the largest megaplex. A film's Theater Count is simply the number of theaters a film is playing in at a given time. Domestically, the Theater Count is used to measure how wide a release is.

Theatrical Rentals
When a movie is shown in theaters, the studio/distributor and the exhibitor (movie theater) will share revenue from ticket sales. The studio's share (usually around 50%) is called the "rental". This should not be confused with video rentals (e.g., through Blockbuster, RedBox etc.).

TV Rights
The amount paid by a TV network for the right to broadcast a film. Networks usually get the exclusive rights for a period of time. For major films, there will be sequence of "windows", with pay TV (HBO/Showtime etc.) broadcasting the film first, and then free network TV following a year or two later.

Worldwide box office
Domestic Box Office plus International Box Office.

There is further discussion on international markets, but I think it needs updating as it does not include the emerging power of the Chinese box office market ( which has been liberalizing now as to how many international films can now be shown there).

Jo

[jo]

ComicBookMovie.com fanboys ( considered among the most vociferous of fanboys) comment on the Variety Memorial Day weekend predictions --

www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/JoshWildingNewsAndReviews/news/?a=99484

*It looks like the writer of the article ( Josh Wilding) is known for his bias against the XMEN movies
*There seems to be a strong conflict between fans of Marvel Studios and fans of FOX

Lol - this is serious business.

Btw, one or two comments that the reason for the high-end predictions is due to the drawing power of Jennifer Lawrence. I like the analysis of this poster re the cast --

Stewart? I like him but who has he drawn to the theaters besides plays.

Fassbender is still growing a fan base. He is not huge. Prometheus is shows that.

Dinklage?? Lol! Dinklage? . -_- ............I like Game of Thrones and enjoy the imp but he isn't pulling in that crowd at all.

Jen Lawrence gets her due but let's see what she does after the hunger games. I still think she is average but she is the name fox is hoping to bank on.

Hugh is the one pulling in the peopleThe Wolverine did great numbers for the $130 million budget it had. Sfx and 3d added and you have this Tracking. Not from the others IMHO.

Jo

[birchie]

May 5, 2014 19:32:22 GMT -5 jo said:

variety.com/2014/film/news/x-men-days-of-future-past-tracking-for-125-million-memorial-day-u-s-debut-1201172287/

<snip>

As to the supposedly younger fanbase -- I doubt that the very young and young fanboys are there more to see Mystique ( aka Jennifer Lawrence) smiley-rolleyes010

Maybe some segments of the fairly young adult demos -- but Wolverine is the fan favorite ( comic books or movies)!! emoticon-cartoon-020

Tracking is partly attributed to advance ticket sales! I hope DOFP actually does better than $ 125 M in the USA for the 4-day weekend and set the all-time record!

Jo

I know my almost 8 yr old grandson won't be going to see her...he also only has Wolverine costumes from the X-Men universe! Even my 18 yr old grandson is a Wolverine fan. He might (now) like to ogle the Mystique body, but he goes to the movie to see Wolverine.
Sue

[jo]

According to Box Office Mojo, XMEN:DAYS OF FUTURE PAST will open in 3900+ screens in the USA/Canada.


Btw, in comparison, The Wolverine opened with 3924 screens while XMEN Origins : Wolverine had the top screen count at 4100.


In a week's time, we might have an estimate of how the memorial weekend box office( 4-day estimate) will yield for the latest movie in the franchise.


PS: On the international front, it was noted by Deadline.com that the overseas market will further heat up "with the next installment of the popular Fox franchise X-Men: Days of Future Past as it heads day and date into 100 countries — with the exception of Japan where it will open on the 30th and in Spain and Venezuela where it bows in subsequent weeks."

Japan was such a disappointment for THE WOLVERINE - the total receipts there were no more than $ 8 million.

Jo

[jo]

variety.com/2014/film/news/box-office-x-men-days-of-future-past-bows-to-strong-8-1-mil-in-late-night-shows-1201190056/

Box Office: ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ Bows to Strong $8.1 Mil in Late Night Shows



X-Men
May 23, 2014 | 08:12AM PT


Brent Lang

Senior Film and Media Reporter

@brentalang


“X-Men: Days of Future Past” got a jump on Memorial Day weekend, grossing a terrific $8.1 million in late night shows on Thursday, according to studio estimates. It marks the highest late night debut in the series’ 14-year history.

The fifth film in 20th Century Fox’s mutant franchise is on track to rack up north of $100 million over the four-day holiday. It will open in just shy of 4,000 locations, more than 350 of which are large screen formats (but not Imax theaters, which will screen “Godzilla”).

Screenings on Thursday began at 10 p.m. in 2,900 theaters.

By way of contrast, “X-Men: The Last Stand,” the highest-grossing film in franchise history, racked up $5.9 million in midnight screenings in 2006, en route to a $122 million Memorial Day opening. “X-Men: First Class,” the most recent film in the series, grossed an estimated $3.4 million in midnight runs at the domestic box office in 2011, while spinoff “The Wolverine” enjoyed a $4 million late night bow last summer.

“X-Men: Days of Future Past” unites several generations of mutants in a story that finds the heroes bending space and time to face off against an existential threat. It returns Hugh Jackman to the “X-Men” family after two solo outings and benefits from the higher profile of co-star Jennifer Lawrence following her Oscar win and leading role in “The Hunger Games” films. Reviews have been strong and the picture currently holds a 92% “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Internationally, the film will debut day-and-date in more than 100 territories, which should result in a massive global haul.

[jo]

Nikki Finke @nikkifinke · 6h

'X-Men 7' (Fox - 3996 runs) on track for $100M Mem Wkd with $8.1M late show start. Budget $200+M helped by tax credits.

Nikki Finke @nikkifinke · 7h

'X-Men: Days Of Future Past' scores hefty $8.1M Thursday 10PM late shows/Friday midnights to start four-day Memorial Weekend

Some fanboys are asking why FOX did not opt for earlier showing ( so more screenings could have been done). Earlier screenings were true for Godzilla, etc.

I wonder how the film project got any tax breaks? From Canada, where it was filmed??

Jo

[jo]

Nikki Finke @nikkifinke · 2h

'X-Men 7' (Fox) overperforming. 'Blended' (WB) pairing Adam Sandler & Drew Barrymore for 3rd time poison at box office.

Yay


Jo

[jo]

Variety analyzes how social media has helped shape the box office success of Days of Future Past --

variety.com/2014/digital/news/social-media-buzz-x-men-to-leave-mark-on-box-office-1201190584/

How this week’s wide releases are shaping up on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Google


Tobias Bauckhage


@tbauckhage


Does digital data offer indicators that can be used to monitor marketing effectiveness and predict box office success even before awareness turns into intent? We analyzed this weekend’s new movies across Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Google (the methodology behind the numbers is laid out in the appendix below) over the seven days leading up to their release, when marketing campaigns should be at their peak.





“X-Men: Days of Future Past”
(Full disclosure: Moviepilot worked with 20th Century Fox on this title)

The X-Men would appear to have their work cut out for them after Marvel heroes Captain America and Spider-Man both took more than $90 million with their sequels on opening weekend this year before “Godzilla” came stomping through the middle of them both last weekend. But “Days of Future Past” is poised to blast past them all and rack up a total of $120 million over the long weekend.

Facebook numbers at 11.4 million are larger than those for “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” or “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” showing the scale of awareness is there, and “DoFP” has also posted a YouTube view count within 2 million of “Godzilla,” with the giant lizard at 113 million. However, “DoFP” has pushed video content heavily on Facebook, where millions of views have been driven by clips and trailers, potentially putting “DoFP” way out ahead.

Search is a good indicator of older interest, and “DoFP” is tracking 10% to 17% ahead of “The Amazing Spider-Man 2″ and “Godzilla,” with 434,000 and 463,000, respectively, suggesting the X-Men have more appeal among older audiences. Content has been tailored to appeal to different audiences, with Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart put in front of older audiences doing Q&As on Yahoo Movies, whereas Tumblr and Twitter pushed celebrity and red carpet fashion updates to appeal to women.

All audiences have been exposed to the original and reboot’s ensemble cast mashup, which is the main appeal of the movie for fans both old and new. The marketing has leveraged that impressive cast by posting content on their personal profiles, none more so than Hugh Jackman, who appeals to everyone from small kids to older women, and has a personal network including 4 million Twitter and 628,000 Instagram followers. This built-in network was extended by posting Vines by influential producers like Zach King with more than 1.3 million followers.

Outside of social networks, there is the 25moments website, where the X-Men are interwoven into events that have shaped the course of history, further fleshing out the universe and satisfying more curious fans. The X-app, where users superimpose blue or red X’s from the poster campaign onto their profile pictures, has caught on among fans.

Final Expectations: “Days of Future Past” is set for the biggest opening of the year so far, with wide mainstream appeal pushing it to $120 million over the long weekend...

[jo]

Nikki Finke @nikkifinke · 6m

Early Friday Box Office: 'X-Men: Days Of Future Past' (Fox-3996) targeting $37M (incl $8.1M Thurs) and $100M four-day Mem Wkd.

[jo]

It looks like the weekend forecasts are a variety of numbers and a wide range --

variety.com/2014/film/news/x-men-days-of-future-past-could-hit-120-million-over-holiday-weekend-1201190573/


We'll see...

Jo

[jo]

Update --

Nikki Finke
‏@nikkifinke Friday Box Office: #1 'X-Men: Days Of Future Past' (Fox-3996) opening $36M (incl $8.1M Thurs) with $110M four-day Mem Wkd. Cost $200M.

[jo]

Deadline.com adds its own speculations re the weekend forecasts --

www.deadline.com/2014/05/box-office-x-men-fantastic-memorial-day-opener-blended-in-top-three-for-weekend/

BOX OFFICE: ‘X-Men’ On Track To Top Five Memorial Day Openers; ‘Blended’ No. 3; ‘Godzilla’ Takes Hit; ‘Neighbors’ Crosses $100M

By ANITA BUSCH | Friday May 23, 2014 @ 11:38pm PDT


OPENING: X-Men: Days of Future Past (FOX) biggest opening of 2014 with $95M to $97M 3-day; $115M 4-day; Blended (WB), $13M to $14M 3-day; $16.5M to $18M 4-day. NOTEWORTHY: Neighbors (UNI) crosses $100M, Chef (OPRD) expansion may land it in the Top Ten

X-Men: Days of Future Past looks to take in $36M Friday, which adds onto its $8.1M Thursday night for a total so far of $44.1M. If the picture drops only 10% on Saturday and Sunday, it could become the biggest opening of 2014, surpassing Disney/Marvel’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier for an expected $97M+ 3-day gross and a $117M to $120M 4-day gross. If it drops a higher percentage on Saturday, it could end up at $95M or around maybe $110M to $114M. We will have a better idea in the morning and after seeing Saturday’s numbers, but right now it looks like it will end up in the top five highest-grossing films ever during the Memorial Day weekend. The fifth spot is now held by The Hangover 2 which opened to an $85.9M 3-day and a $103.4M 4-day. The fourth highest-grosser for the holiday is Fast and Furious 6 which bowed last year to $97.3M for the three-day and $117M for the four-day.

This seventh film in this franchise, which was directed by Bryan Singer, also appears to become the second best X-Men opener behind X-Men: The Last Stand in 2006 which opened to a 3-day total of $102.7M on Memorial Day weekend 2006. The welcome gross of Days of Future Past, which has everything going for it, including good reviews, a killer cast of Hugh Jackman, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Ellen Page, Sir Ian McKellan, Halle Berry, Patrick Stewart, and Peter Dinklage (to name a few) and an A CinemaScore, is great news for Fox and the franchise itself.

The only thing it didn’t have was IMAX screens which Godzilla has this weekend; however, it is showing on 352 large format screens provided by other exhibitors.

BlendedThe other weekend opener, Blended, the comedy starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore is poised to take the third spot with roughly $13M+ for the three-day and about $16M to $18M for the 4-day. That’s pretty good (and for those of you not from the Midwest, that is considered a compliment), especially with a strong A- CinemaScore. Well done for this counter-programming mixer...

That’s a home run on word of mouth. Here’s what it looks like tonight. Remember, these are very early estimates so positions and numbers will likely change in the AM:

1). X-Men: Days of Future Past (FOX), 3,996 theaters / $36M Fri. / 3-day cume: $95M to $97.5M / 4-day cume: $115M / Wk 1

2). Godzilla (WB), 3,952 theaters (0) / $8.8M to $9M Fri. / 3-day cume: $32M (-63%) / 4-day cume: $41M / Total cume: $158M to $160M / Wk 2

3). Blended (WB), 3,555 theaters / $4.3M Fri. / 3-day cume: $13M+ / 4-day cume: $16.5M to $18M / Wk 1

4). Neighbors (UNI), 3,266 theaters (-45%) / $4M+ Fri. / 3-day cume: $13M (-50%) / 4-day cume: $15.8M / Total cume: 116M / Wk 3

5). The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (SONY) 3,160 theaters (-831) / $2M Fri. / 3-day cume: $8M to $9M (-50%) / 4-day cume: $10.5M / Total cume: $186.7M+ / Wk 4...

Deadline and Nikki F seemed to have different interpretations as to whether the $ 8.1 million Thursday midnight takings are part of the expected $ 36 million for Friday. Nikki seems like the veteran when it comes to putting together weekend forecasts, though. The Deadline writer seems a litte unsure of how she puts it together, I'm afraid.

We'll see...


Jo

[jo]

Saturday early morning update from Deadline --

www.deadline.com/2014/05/box-office-x-men-fantastic-memorial-day-opener-blended-in-top-three-for-weekend/

*They have corrected the double-counting faux pas.
*Interesting that despite the softer box office figures for Friday and some degree of expectations for Saturday, that Deadline has widened its four-day range to a higher top figure? Is it because they are making certain assumptions about the legs of the movie? How many fans are going back to see it ...again...and maybe another again and again ?

Jo

[jo]

Worldwide box office for DAYS OF FUTURE PAST for extended weekend estimated at $ 262 million!


www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/box-office-x-men-days-706933

Box Office: 'X-Men: Days of Future Past' Nabs Record $261.8M Globally; 'Blended' Bombs


3:53 PM PDT 5/23/2014 by Pamela McClintock



UPDATED: The suphero tentpole scores the best opening of any "X-Men" film; Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore's "Blended" is projected to earn only $17.3 million over the long Memorial Day weekend.


Bryan Singer's critically acclaimed X-Men: Days of Future Past is soaring at the Memorial Day weekend box office, where it is on track to earn $110 million through Monday. Internationally, the 20th Century Fox tentpole took in $171.1 million for the weekend, putting its global total at a whopping $261.8 million -- the best debut of any X-Men film.


Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore's comedy, Blended, isn't so lucky. The Warner Bros. film may only earn $17.3 million for the four-day holiday weekend, one of the worst openings for a Sandler title in recent times.

Days of Future Past is a victory for Fox and Singer, who withdrew from promoting Days of Future Past after a sex abuse lawsuit was filed against him. Domestically, the film earned $90.7 million for the three-day weekend itself.


The $200 million-plus movie features actors from the original X-Men trilogy of films and X-Men: First Class, including Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Halle Berry, Anna Paquin, Ellen Page, Peter Dinklage, Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen.

Singer produced the well-reviewed Days of Future Past alongside Lauren Shuler Donner, screenwriter Simon Kinberg and Hutch Parker.

Overseas, the tentpole opened in virtually every major market, save for Japan and Spain...

On the other hand, business publication FORBES is doing a sober analysis of the implications of the slightly dampened expectations for this movie --


www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2014/05/25/box-office-x-men-days-of-future-past-earns-261m-over-memorial-day-weekend/

Box Office: 'X-Men Days Of Future Past' Nabs $261M Worldwide Debut


X-Men: Days of Future Past has earned $90.7 million on its first weekend of release, with a projected Memorial Day four-day debut of $107m. That total that includes $8.1m worth of Thursday previews. That’s a lower opening than the 2006 debut of X-Men: The Last Stand, which earned $102m Fri-Sun and $124m Fri-Mon over its Memorial Day debut. Heck, adjusted for inflation, it’s a smaller Fri-Sun debut than X2: X-Men United ($85m back in 2003) about on par with X-Men Origins: Wolverine ($85m in 2009) and X-Men ($54m in 2000, which would be about $80m today without any 3D bump). The question becomes exactly how 20th Century Fox viewed this seventh X-Men picture. Was it merely intended to improve upon the box office fortunes of the last three installments, or was the “franchise all-stars to the rescue” super-sequel meant to shoot the 14-year old X-Men franchise to towering new box office heights? If it’s the former, then the picture will certainly be a success. But in terms of relative comparisons to the X-Men franchise as a whole, it’s coming up somewhat short. X-Men may no longer be a god among insects in America. I add that caveat because it also earned $171m overseas this weekend. So going into Monday, the film has already earned $261m worldwide.


The film’s $90 million weekend is the fourth biggest of the year, behind Captain America: The Winter Soldier ($95m), Godzilla ($93m) and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 ($91m). The good news is that the film played a little better than X-Men: The Last Stand over the long weekend. X-Men 3 opened with a $45m opening day (the second biggest on record) and then went on to earn $102m Fri-Sun (about $125m today not accounting for 3D) and $124m Fri-Sun (about $151m today), for a 2.7x four-day multiplier and an awful 2.2x Fri-Sun multiplier. This time around, X-Men: Days of Future Past earned $36m on opening day (the third-biggest of the year) for a 2.9x Fri-Mon multiplier and a solid 2.5x Fri-Sun multiplier. It’s also the sixth-biggest Fri-Mon Memorial Day opener ever, behind Fast & Furious 6 ($117), X-Men: The Last Stand ($124m), Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ($126m), and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End ($153m, which included $13 worth of Thursday previews).

X-Men: Days of Future Past, which brings back Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Patrick Stewart, and Ian McKellen for a time-travel story that also involves James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, and (the now red-hot) Jennifer Lawrence, was supposed to scale new heights for the franchise or merely stem the relative bleeding domestically. If Fox was looking for a Fast Five-type breakout success, it will have to happen overseas. Memorial Day weekend openers generally have terrible legs over their domestic theatrical run. X-Men: The Last Stand earned just 1.88x its four-day figure overall, ending its domestic run with $235 million. Most Memorial Day openers aren’t much better, with X-Men: The Last Stand, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, The Hangover part II, Fast & Furious 6, and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (the top five Memorial Day openers of all time prior to this weekend) doing around 1.85x-2.2x their 4 or 5 day debut figures.


It would seem at this juncture that the absolute best-case scenario is that X-Men: Days of Future Past ends its domestic total with $247m domestic (2.3x). That’s a solid figure, but it’s also below the $285m adjusted-for-inflation domestic totals of X2 and X-Men: The Last Stand. Like the Spider-Man reboot, it could be that the X-Men franchise, which was once one of the towering giants of the comic book superhero sub-genre, is now just another too-expensive fantasy property. The absolute nightmare scenario, and I’m not outright saying this is how it’s going to go, is that X-Men: Days of Future Past performs exactly like X-Men: The Last Stand from here on out and ends its domestic run with $200m. It”s doing about average for the franchise in America, although it’s clearly breaking out overseas. Again, if this were the first entry in a franchise, this would count as a win regardless of how it plays out.

But Fox was arguably expecting that the return of Bryan Singer and the returning of the old cast members would cause X-Men: Days of Future Past to play like a proverbial X-Men 4, with the inflated budget to match. Like The Amazing Spider-Man 2, with great budgets come great expectations. I don’t want to be too negative in case it performs like, for example, Fast Five, which earned $200m here and over $600m worldwide. The overseas marketplace has changed since 2006. It already earned $171m overseas in 100 markets, the vast majority of markets in which it will be playing. Considering that The Wolverine holds the record for overseas totals for a X-Men film at $282m, it would appear that at least a foreign record will be broken for an X-Men film. It should have close to $300m worldwide by tomorrow ($261m by today, plus whatever it makes worldwide tomorrow). So does this mean that the domestic total is irrelevant? Maybe, but that remains to be seen.

The other major release was a somewhat shocking whiff. Warner Bros. (a division of Time Warner TWX +1.01%) dropped the Adam Sandler/Drew Barrymore romantic comedy Blended as a form of counter-programming, but everyone who didn’t see X-Men went to see Warner Bros.’ Godzilla or Universal’s Neighbors instead. Blended opened with just $14.45 million, outright terrible for a mainstream Adam Sandler comedy. The film will theoretically cross $18m by Monday. The good news is that it cost just $45m to produce, meaning $50m here and $50m overseas will put the film in eventual break-even form.

The implications for Sandler’s box office pull as a mainstream comedy lead are troubling. This is one of Adam Sandler’s worst domestic debuts as a headliner ever, or about what That’s My Boy debuted with two summers ago. That one was a vulgar R-rated comedy. Blended was supposed to be a safe film, one that reignited Sandler’s box office mojo by re-teaming him with his Wedding Singer and 50 First Dates co-star. Interestingly, it played 59% female and 71% over 25-years old. Even in an era of the declining movie star, Adam Sandler has been among the most consistent draws for a $35-$40m debut when he does PG-13 mainstream comedies.

This is pretty grim news for the star, even if the film is cheap enough to eventually make its money back. The good news is that if the Sandler brand is “finally” declining a bit, that means that perhaps Sandler will be open to more films like Punch Drunk Love or Reign Over Me. Say what you will about Jim Carrey’s declining box office muscle, but it freed him up to take chances with films like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and I Love You Phillip Morris. No one stays on top forever, and perhaps if we stopped expecting them to than they’d be more open to more off-the-beaten path films.

In holdover news, Godzilla dropped a sharp 66% from last weekend, earning $31.4 million for the Fri-Sun frame and an expected $39m for the holiday. That’s a harsh drop, even with competition from X-Men, but the film has $148.77m today and will still have $155m by Monday, or about its $160m budget. For what it’s worth, the film surpassed the $136m domestic total of Roland Emmerich’s Godzilla on Saturday. And Gareth Edwards’s monster mash started the weekend with $220m worldwide, so a new cume of over $300m is all-but-certain (I’ll probably be gone when the overseas numbers drop, so I’ll update on Twitter). It’s not quite the word-of-mouth sensation that some hoped, but with a likely final domestic total of around $200m-$220m, it’s still a solid hit. Marketing Does Matter. And so do Reasonable Budgets...

[jo]

Updated from The Hollywood Reporter ( they reported the wrong sum total in the previous report ) --

UPDATED: The suphero tentpole scores the best opening of any "X-Men" film; Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore's "Blended" is projected to earn only $18.2 million over the long Memorial Day weekend.


Bryan Singer's critically acclaimed X-Men: Days of Future Past is soaring at the Memorial Day weekend box office, where it is on track to earn $110 million from 3,996 theaters through Monday. Internationally, the 20th Century Fox tentpole took in $171.1 million for the weekend, putting its global total at a whopping $281.1 million -- the best debut of any X-Men film.

Days of Future Past also marked Fox's top international opening of all time, besting Avatar...

It's $ 282 million, not $ 262 million


LOL - I didn't notice the slip-up either. Although technically-speaking, it was $ 262 million if Memorial Day results from the USA were not included.


Jo

[jo]

A more detailed report from Deadline.com re the international market performance --


www.deadline.com/2014/05/intl-box-office-x-men-bows-to-biggest-fox-opener-ever-godzilla-second-weekend-pushes-wb-to-1b-2014-blended-rolls-out-slowly-neighbors-continues-partying/

INT’L BOX OFFICE: Fan-tastic ‘X-Men’ Bows To Biggest Fox Opener Ever And No. 1 In Every Market; ‘Godzilla’ Second Weekend Pushes WB To $1B 2014; ‘Blended’ Rolls Out Slowly; ‘Neighbors’ Continues Partying

By ANITA BUSCH | Sunday May 25, 2014 @ 2:30pm PDT
Tags: Blended, Godzilla, International Box Office, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, X-Men: Days Of Future Past


OPENING: X-Men: Days of Future Past (FOX), bow spectacularly with $171M+ in 119 markets for biggest year opener to date and No. 1 in every market; Blended (WB) opening in 6 markets, including the UK/Ireland and Germany; Godzilla grabs another $34.5M in its second weekend. Grace of Monoco bows in Russia and Her rolls out in Korea; The Grand Budapest Hotel nearing $100M with a worldwide total of about $156M; Frozen skates into the record books again.

2nd UPDATE, SUNDAY 2:30 PM: Most all estimated grosses are in right now; there are some stragglers I’m waiting for, but updates have been provided for a territory breakdown for X-Men: Days of Future Past which is breaking studio records and biggest opening territory records as it marches across markets. It definitely took away Godzilla‘s strength this weekend. Scroll below to see how the franchise has done in bigger territories.

PREVIOUSLY, SUNDAY, 10:34 AM: 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. both have big news this weekend. Fox opened the next installment of its highly-anticipated X-Men franchise while Warner Bros. reached the $1B mark internationally, driven by some notable films (see story here). And Frozen skated in with a new record for Disney; it’s taken a seat in x-men-days-of-future-past-trailer-finalthe top five movies of all time and skating past a well-known Marvel franchise (see story here). So, here we go on the international openers and holdovers:

20th Century Fox’s seventh film in its franchise, X-Men: Days of Future Past, opened in 36 countries more than last weekend’s monster Godzilla, to gross an estimated $171M+ in 119 countries this weekend to (not surprisingly) stepping around the lizard to become the biggest international opener of 2014 (to date). It’s smashing many studio records as it opened to No. 1 in every market and the studio can proudly tout it as the biggest opening ever in 11 of those markets. Fantastic for Fox.

Fox touted that X-Men is also the highest grossing opening weekend globally for the X-Men franchise as well as its biggest international opening ever, surpassing Avatar which grossed $164.5M on Dec. 16, 2009. I made an error in trying to gather all this data. The $164.5M Avatar gross came in from not 64 markets as I reported earlier, but from 107 markets and included Spain and Venezuela. As I previously (and correctly) reported, 3D accounted for about 25% of the Avatar gross and China wasn’t included in that $164.5M number.

I do not have all the numbers of all the X-Men international debuts and to report things in the proper perspective we need to see if it is an apples to apples comparison. Remember, it’s a bank holiday weekend in the UK which boosts business and next weekend all pics will enjoy another holiday in Germany.

x-men LondonStars Hugh Jackman, of course, is a fan favorite from Wolverine and Jennifer Lawrence is known to the worldwide audience through the wildly successful Hunger Games franchise and the cast includes international favs such as James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Peter Dinklage, Sir Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart with Omar Sy who starred in the French box office hit Intouchables and popular Chinese actress Fan BingBing. So we can expect Australia, France, the UK and China to benefit from this international casting job. Smartly done, Fox.

The picture has also been promoted heavily throughout Europe, complete with a star-studded premiere and also projected a very cool 3D still in the X-crossing of Oxford Square in London’s West End last night in the X-crossing of Oxford Square where about 500,000 shoppers pass through daily. It paid off with the biggest X-Men opening ever in the UK with $14.2M … and counting.

X-Men market by market: The Fox franchise rolled into China and took $37.7M of the three-day, opening the second highest ever for the studio, only 5% behind Titanic 3D. Speaking of 3D, X-Men doesn’t have the benefit of those screens unfortunately as they are locked up with that pesky monster, Godzilla. In South Korea, X-Men beat Avatar to beccome the biggest opening of all time and the best opening of 2014, beating both Marvel titles Captain America: The Winter Soldier and The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Add another $10.6M in France. X-Men-Days-of-Future-PastAnd in Mexico, it enjoyed the second highest opener there (behind Ice Age 4) for the studio and opening bigger than Dark Knight Rises, Thor 2 and the Captain.

It ranks as the biggest X-Men opener also in Russia where it grabbed $10.3M to jump past Spidey’s opening by 10% and Cap 2‘s opening by 33%. Not to be outdone, it’s busting records Down Under. In Australia, with a $7.7M opening, it marks the biggest for the industry this year and also marks the biggest X-Men opening ever in that market, 54% bigger than Spidey, Cap and Thor 2. It plowed through Germany, taking nearly 50% of the total marketshare for a No. 1 spot and $4.7M gross (17% bigger than the Cap). With $3.9M a piece, the seventh film in the series also became the studio’s biggest opener ever in both India and the Philippines. Same record for the biggest studio opener holds true in Brazil with $8M, Singapore and Malaysia. Nicely done...

I think it may not have been noted ( by industry paper and filmsites) that part of the overseas success may be due to the reorganization of the marketing and distribution arm at FOX. CEO Jim Gianopulos of Fox Filmed Entertainment has also been known for his forte in distribution. It seems that with the reconceptualization of the cinematic vision ( sans Tom Rothman now) and the strengthening of the film distribution arm as well as recognizing ( with intensive marketing and partly through casting of international stars/actors) the burgeoning strength of the overseas market, that an excellent formula may have been hit!

Only slight disappointment-- the USA market seemed to have flattened for XMEN ensemble movies ( although this represents a strong recovery from the First Class box office for the domestic market). Maybe there should have been stronger emphasis across America rather than just TV/social media/general media and a NYC premiere?


Jo

[jo]

Well done, XMEN Gang ( Actors/Director/Producers/Creative Team/Jim G)!!



A critical and commercial hit...and dedicated to fanboys and fangirls and other fans!

Special mention to Hugh for the backbreaking promotion work, despite health issues and other commitments!


Jo

[alma]

Well said, Jo! smiley-happy096

Well done by all and Hugh was super committed to promoting it, too.

I hope there's a larger, high-resolution version of this memorable picture. I recognize almost everyone (too bad it's missing Jean, Blink, Toad, Sunspot, Warpath, young Stryker...?)

Can anyone do a left-to-right ID? Just curious.

Alma

[jo]

Estimated worldwide box office figures for the 4-day weekend --

www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=xmen2014.htm

Total Lifetime Grosses

Domestic: $111,000,000 (36.8% )
Foreign: $191,000,000 (63.2% )

Worldwide: $302,000,000

$ 302 million earned worldwide for only 4 days ( including a weekend) has already exceeded the total worldwide run of the first XMEN movie which debuted at $ 296 million for its entire run!