X-Men Made $44 Million on Friday

Posted on May 27, 2006

X-Men: The Last Stand scored at the box office on Friday making over $44 million. The total was the second highest opening day ever in the U.S.

According to early Friday estimates from ShowbizData, X-Men: The Last Stand, the third chapter in the Marvel superhero franchise, has grossed $44.5 million in its first 24 hours, including midnight showings on Thursday night. It opened in over 3,688 North American theatres, which is fairly small by today's standards, although it averaged roughly $12,000 per theatre, as fans of the previous movies flocked to see the movie as soon as possible.
Although it didn't break the opening day record or one-day record held by Star Wars Episode III - Revenge of the Sith which grossed over $50 million on its opening Thursday last year, the Brett Ratner directed action flick has made more on its first Friday than any other movie. Previously, the biggest Friday opening was held by Spider-Man, which opened in May 2002, though last November's Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire came very close to beating it.

X-Men: The Last Day is now chasing Shrek 2's Memorial Day record of $95 million in 2004. Our guess is everyone is going to see Kelsey Grammar as the Beast. IGN's ranking of the Top 25 X-Men only puts the Beast at only number nine but maybe Kelsey's performance will give the character a boost. Other articles say Hugh Jackman as Wolverine is the fan favorite. With this huge opening you have to wonder if this will really be the X-Men's last stand. The Da Vinci Code also continued to make money on Friday, bringing in another $10.2 million to push the film's growing tally to $112 million.

MOVIES