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The new 'X-Men' is already crushing the box-office competition
(Alan Markfield/20th Century Fox)
"X-Men: Apocalypse."
With a strong $8.2 million in its Thursday preview screenings, "X-Men: Apocalypse" is looking to have a great Memorial Day weekend opening at the box office, even though critics have been split on the latest film in the franchise.
The ninth "X-Men" film, which brings stars like Jennifer Lawrence and Michael Fassbender back to their mutant roles matched against new foes played by Oscar Isaac and Olivia Munn, has a 47% rating on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. But the blockbuster is projected to make about $85 million over the long weekend, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Though "Apocalypse" is on par with the Thursday earning of the most recent X-Men movie, "Days of Future Past" ($8.1 million), Fox is gun-shy to predict a $100 million opening for its latest X-Men flick ("Future Past" opened at over $110 million when it debuted in the US on Memorial Day weekend of 2014).
A big reason for this hesitancy could be the polarizing nature of "Apocalypse." But general audiences are very excited to see the movie, as its preorder sales are close to those of "Future Past," according to Fandango.
(YouTube/Disney)
"Alice Through The Looking Glass."
One thing we know: This holiday weekend, a Disney movie will not top the US box office.
Though the studio has been dominating 2016, its latest release, "Alice Through the Looking Glass," looks to be a dud. The movie has a meager 27% on Rotten Tomatoes, and it took in $1.5 million on Thursday for a weekend projection of about $60 million, according to Deadline.
This is just a minor speed bump for Disney, as its titles on deck (particularly "Finding Dory," opening June 17) will put the company right back in the driver's seat.
This Memorial Day weekend will certainly be a better one for Hollywood than last year, when George Clooney's "Tomorrowland" topped the 2015 holiday with a soft $42.7 million.
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