A Dollar Short
Civilian
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2013
- Messages
- 445
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 11
Don't expect the North American box office to break the Memorial Day holiday weekend record set last year when the top ten grossed over $300M over four days. But do expect multiplexes to be packed with moviegoers as two new releases join forces with holdovers from the past to make for 2014's top-grossing weekend to date.
Fox will conquer the marketplace with ease with its big-budget tentpole X-Men: Days of Future Past which is part sequel and part super hero combo-pack. The PG-13 event film brings together characters from the original films from the franchise as well as those from the more recent First Class with the popular Wolverine at the center of it all. The fourteen-year-old series has remained mostly successful over the years with six pictures including spinoffs and the origin story. Fan excitement is super high thanks to the love many gave to First Class as well as to the return of veteran favorites like Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen who get to share the 'and' credit on this one.
Add to that the rising star wattage of Jennifer Lawrence since First Class and the long holiday weekend and grosses will be enormous. Working against it will be the competition. Although the marketplace expands over this holiday session, there will still be Godzilla in its second weekend plus Marvel buddy Spidey is still out there looking to stay in double-digit territory in its fourth lap. In 2006, X-Men: The Last Stand launched over this same frame with a huge $122.9M propelled by fan love for the preceding two X-Men flicks. The big difference was that in that year, Stand had no major action movies to compete against. The closest action titles were in the single-digit millions over four days. Future Past will see about $60M going to the current duo of effects-heavy action holdovers this weekend.
Reviews have been stellar for the new mutant saga. The core comic crowd is already sold, but the praise from critics will help lure in more general audiences looking for a big-screen spectacle with Oscar-caliber actors over the long weekend. Marketing has been very effective and fan interest is intense. Shows start at 10:00pm Thursday night. Attacking 3,996 theaters, X-Men: Days of Future Past could take in around $110M by the end of the long holiday weekend.
http://www.boxofficeguru.com/weekend.htm