X-Men FC: Only $56 Million estimated for opening weekend.

[Trekker4747]

I'm watching the first X-Men movie right now, for those who've not seen it in a while or don't remember it here's something worth noting:

Xavier while expositioning to Wolverine/the audience says when he was 17 he met Magento, so this certainly conflicts pretty hugely with what we've seen before in the other movies and what happens in FC.

 

[Dream]

Word of mouth has never been a factor for the X-Men films. X2, which is considered the best X-men film by fans, still dropped over 50% in its second and third weekends.

FC isn't magically going to make $200 Domestic like some fans are hoping.

 

[T'Baio]

Does Magento have the power to combine red and blue wavelengths?

"Watch out...I'll decorate you!"

 

[T'Baio]

Xavier while expositioning to Wolverine/the audience says when he was 17 he met Magento, so this certainly conflicts pretty hugely with what we've seen before in the other movies and what happens in FC.

I'm really not going to worry about them retconning one throwaway line, or use it as proof this is a reboot.

The way I see it, Hugh Jackman plays Wolverine in it. Prequel, which largely ignores X3. Again to that!

 

[JacksonArcher]

Batman Begns and X-Men: First Class is not a good comparison. BB opened on a Wednesday and essentially had a 5 day weekend, which it why it made 73 million. FC only made 55 million in its first weekend which is much worse.

Batman Begins made $45 million from Friday to Sunday, which was my point. I understand it opened on a Wednesday, but the $73 million total was taking into account the money earned on Wednesday and Thursday. If X-Men: First Class had opened on a Wednesday as well, I'm pretty sure it would have made an additional $20 million or so similar to Batman Begins.

Word of mouth has never been a factor for the X-Men films. X2, which is considered the best X-men film by fans, still dropped over 50% in its second and third weekends.

FC isn't magically going to make $200 Domestic like some fans are hoping.

X2 still earned over $200 million, though. Perhaps a better comparison would be the first X-Men, which opened similarly to First Class and ended up earning nearly $160 million.

People need to realize that First Class is opening in the wake of two lackluster and disappointing X-Men films. It is also the first X-Men film not to star Hugh Jackman. It's also not a traditional X-Men story in the typical sense. It's not the type of X-Men movie audiences are familiar with; at the very least with X-Men Origins: Wolverine it had something audiences were accustomed to... Hugh Jackman.

X-Men: First Class has a lot against it, which is why the opening was the lowest of the X-Men films so far. It's nothing indicative of quality. Now, if the film drops hard next week, and doesn't make at least $150 million then you might begin to worry, but that might have to do with a ton of other factors not due to audiences' opinion of the film.

I find it hard to believe that a crappy film like X-Men Origins: Wolverine can make $170 million domestic and a quality film like X-Men: First Class can't. While First Class might not earn $200 million, I'm sure it will leave theaters somewhere between $150-$170 million. Good word-of-mouth might not extend it to $200 million, but it will keep the film afloat.

 

[RoJoHen]

I find it hard to believe that a crappy film like X-Men Origins: Wolverine can make $170 million domestic and a quality film like X-Men: First Class can't. While First Class might not earn $200 million, I'm sure it will leave theaters somewhere between $150-$170 million. Good word-of-mouth might not extend it to $200 million, but it will keep the film afloat.

People didn't go into XMO: Wolverine thinking it was going to be crappy, though. They went in thinking, "Yes, a movie about Wolverine!"

While I thought First Class had awesome trailers, it doesn't really have a hook like Wolverine had, and it's about characters that casual X-Men fans probably don't care that much about.

 

[Dream]

I was kind of surprised how well Wolverine did, considering the movie got leaked online months before the official release.

 

[JacksonArcher]

People didn't go into XMO: Wolverine thinking it was going to be crappy, though. They went in thinking, "Yes, a movie about Wolverine!"

You would have thought after opening weekend audiences would have gotten the point that the movie was bad. I guess they kind of did, since the movie didn't make as much as X2 or X-Men: The Last Stand.

While I thought First Class had awesome trailers, it doesn't really have a hook like Wolverine had, and it's about characters that casual X-Men fans probably don't care that much about.

It's about the origins of the X-Men. It's set in the 60's. It features new, talented young actors as Xavier and Magneto. I think that would be enough of a hook.

People tend to write movies off nowadays based on opening weekend alone, which is kind of sad and disappointing. Just because it didn't make $70 million opening weekend doesn't mean audiences didn't like the film, or that they won't come back for more, or the film won't be successful. That's overly simplistic thinking.

I'm also speaking generally, so this isn't directed at you, RoJoHen, or anyone in particular.

 

[Admiral_Young]

^ If you're Temis you write it off after one day....

 

[Trekker4747]

Xavier while expositioning to Wolverine/the audience says when he was 17 he met Magento, so this certainly conflicts pretty hugely with what we've seen before in the other movies and what happens in FC.

I'm really not going to worry about them retconning one throwaway line, or use it as proof this is a reboot.

The way I see it, Hugh Jackman plays Wolverine in it. Prequel, which largely ignores X3. Again to that!

Eh, it's a lot more than that the new movie pretty much contradicts everything X1 - X3 establishes between the two characters. I'm more apt to ignore fan-service cameos than I am entire plot points in expository dialogue.

 

[RoJoHen]

People didn't go into XMO: Wolverine thinking it was going to be crappy, though. They went in thinking, "Yes, a movie about Wolverine!"

You would have thought after opening weekend audiences would have gotten the point that the movie was bad. I guess they kind of did, since the movie didn't make as much as X2 or X-Men: The Last Stand.

But the general public doesn't care about that. I saw Wolverine 2-3 weeks after it came out. Word of Mouth only accomplishes so much. Even if it's a piece of shit, I wanted to see it for myself.

While I thought First Class had awesome trailers, it doesn't really have a hook like Wolverine had, and it's about characters that casual X-Men fans probably don't care that much about.

It's about the origins of the X-Men. It's set in the 60's. It features new, talented young actors as Xavier and Magneto. I think that would be enough of a hook.

Obviously, I can speak for everybody, but as an only mildly casual X-Men fan, I can definitely say that the origins of the X-Men is not a story I really cared about. To me, the X-Men is Cyclops and Jean and Storm and Wolverine. Magneto and Xavier are there, sure, and they're decent characters, but they're not the reason I watch.

^ If you're Temis you write it off after one day....

Temis will write something off because she doesn't like somebody's haircut. Please.

 

[KB24]

My father made a good point tonight. He said even if there are inconsistencies with doing an after the fact prequel, First Class is still a great movie that fans of the comics will love. However, he said a lot less people will see it or give it a chance because of the crappy last two films. People pouting about Box office numbers are only going to further put people off it.

I know it is kind of a big duh, but it is nice and simple and I think we are forgetting the basic logistics here. I saw the film again today in the afternoon and there were only 10 people in the theater. But everytime Magneto did something cool, a woman behind me shouted 'Daymn!'

So the people that are watching are liking and going back.

 

[Dream]

I saw the film again today in the afternoon and there were only 10 people in the theater. But everytime Magneto did something cool, a woman behind me shouted 'Daymn!'

If I had been there, I would have told her to shut up the hell up!

 

[Turtletrekker]

Honestly, between Thor, X-Men, Green Lantern, Harry Potter and Captain America, and the price of movie tickets, I doubt I'll be seeing any movie twice this summer!

 

[StarTrek1701]

I'm at a loss to explain the popularity of Twilight. But the fact of the matter is, Twilight is an enoromously popular book series and the films makes aout $300 million. The X-Men have never been a $300 million franchise.

You are fucking kidding me, right? X-Men is a generation spanning franchise, not a flash in the pan like stupid Twilight. Look at the returns for previous X-films and tell me that XM:FC holds any ground to that.

Face it, we have an embarassing flop in our hands. But leave it up to the disgruntled fanboys to spin the bad news into a good one.

 

[Admiral_Young]

If "X-Men: First Class" fails to capture more than $30 million next weekend or remain in the top three then we can start to discuss it being a flop. Until then though it had a decent opening weekend.

 

[archeryguy1701]

^^Oh good lord, what is your problem? $56m certainly isn't the biggest opening ever, but it's not bad. How many other movies open up that big? I'm not saying that it won't flop, but after one weekend it certainly didn't do badly enough to be declared a flop.

Star Trek Nemesis opening up with $18m while being behind a Jennifer Lopez movie and making $43m its entire run is a flop. X-Men First Class opening to $56m is just fine. When it does flop, feel free to run back here and rub it in everyone's face, but try to sit still and wait until it actually does start flopping.

 

[Obiwanshinobi]

I'm at a loss to explain the popularity of Twilight. But the fact of the matter is, Twilight is an enoromously popular book series and the films makes aout $300 million. The X-Men have never been a $300 million franchise.

You are fucking kidding me, right? X-Men is a generation spanning franchise, not a flash in the pan like stupid Twilight. Look at the returns for previous X-films and tell me that XM:FC holds any ground to that.

Face it, we have an embarassing flop in our hands. But leave it up to the disgruntled fanboys to spin the bad news into a good one.

Says the guy who oh so eagerly started the review thread. You're just as much of a fanboy as the rest of us, disgruntled or not. But really, who cares. If it flops it flops and maybe will eventually get reboot later on. I'm still rooting for it to get a sequel. Ideally, I'm rooting for Fox to forfeit the rights, so that it can go back to Marvel. I just don't think that will happen anytime soon.

 

[StarTrek1701]

Says the guy who oh so eagerly started the review thread. You're just as much of a fanboy as the rest of us, disgruntled or not. But really, who cares. If it flops it flops and maybe will eventually get reboot later on. I'm still rooting for it to get a sequel. Ideally, I'm rooting for Fox to forfeit the rights, so that it can go back to Marvel. I just don't think that will happen anytime soon.

Haha! Yes, I am a fanboy and yes, I am disgruntled. I didn't enjoy the movie as fully as I would have, and the period piece turned me off a little bit more. But overall I liked it...kinda sorta. Azazel was cool, so was Mags. However whether I like it or not, the truth is its an abysmal return for a very well established franchise.

 

[Admiral_Young]

The truth is that anything below $50 million would be considered worrisome but combined with the fact that this film enjoyed critical acclaim as opposed to the last two X-Men movies does not make it a flop. I don't think anyone in this thread has been unrealistic about it's box office intake in the first weekend.