By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The X-Files … to be continued
Though publicized as the conclusion of a franchise, X-Men: The Last Stand isn’t likely to be the last word on the cinematic mutant super heroes. It led the 4-day Memorial holiday frame with an estimated $120.8 million with second place falling to The Da Vinci Code with $43.3 million. X-Men added an additional $76 million from its initial forays in overseas markets.It was the second largest grossing Memorial weekend; trailing record levels set in 2004. X-Men 3was the only debuting national release but Fanaa, a new Bollywood entry, and the global warming doc An Inconvenient Truth both rang up potent returns in niche premiere engagements.
Entering the weekend, expectations were high for X but according to a Fox exec the top estimate was $85 million. “The first inkling that it was going to be bigger started with the Thursday Midnight screenings,” said Fox distribution president Bruce Snyder. “The first estimate was $3.9 million but as we separated those shows from Friday box office it rose by close to $2 million.”
As with last weekend’s The Da Vinci Code, X-Men daily box office declined throughout the span. However, with a $40 million start (plus Midnight shows), the final tally set at least one new impressive benchmark – biggest Memorial gross.
The question of how hard a hit The Da Vinci Code would experience in its second session was answered with a 56% decline (comparison is 3-day). The Friday comparison was even steeper at 62%. Nonetheless, the drop was in line with expectations and initial international returns indicate the controversial thriller held at a 60% level with weekend projections of roughly $90 million.
Da Vinci and X-Men: The Last Stand vied for top spot in most first tier territories as major releases scramble to get into theaters in advance of World Cup soccer finals. X-Men initial salvo was minus openings in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China and included impressive bows of $12.8 million in the U.K., $10.6 million in France, $5.1 million in Australia, Mexico with $5.9 million and Russia bowing with $3.1 million. Da Vinci maintained top spot in such territories as Germany, Italy and Spain as well as Japan.
Weekend box office should tally close to $240 million for a 3% boost from the 2005 holiday span. Its three-day portion exceed last weekend by 34%.
Holdover titles proved to be more resilient than expected with family fare holding up best to current top releases. The animated Over the Hedge ranked third with an estimated $35.6 million that only experienced a 30% decline in its second session.
The much-publicized globe warming documentary An Inconvenient Truth stepped out on four screens and heated up a torrid $370,000 during the holiday frame. The film, focusing on efforts by Al Gore in the arena, got an early start on the weekend with a Wednesday bow that netted $123,000 in its first two days.
The news was also upbeat for Fanaa with the unusual dramatic musical from Mumbai eyeing roughly $820,000 from 72 venues in North America.
Weekend Estimates – May 26-29, 2006
| Title | Distributor | Gross (average) | % change | Theaters | Cume |
| X-Men: The Last Stand | Fox | 120.8 (32,750) | – | 3689 | 120.8 |
| The Da Vinci Code | Sony | 43.3 (11,540) | -56% | 3754 | 145.8 |
| Over the Hedge | Par | 35.6 (8,690) | -30% | 4093 | 84.6 |
| Mission: Impossible III | Par | 8.6 (2,820) | -41% | 3053 | 115.9 |
| Poseidon | WB | 7.1 (2,180) | -41% | 3245 | 46.7 |
| RV | Sony | 5.3 (2,150) | -18% | 2481 | 57.2 |
| See No Evil | Lionsgate | 3.2 (2,540) | -43% | 1270 | 9.2 |
| Just My Luck | Fox | 2.3 (1,440) | -46% | 1604 | 13.9 |
| United 93 | Uni | 1.1 (1,370) | -42% | 781 | 29.9 |
| Akeelah and the Bee | Lionsgate | 1.0 (2,012) | -29% | 487 | 17.2 |
| An American Haunting | Freestyle | .91 (1,220) | -52% | 748 | 14.9 |
| Ice Age: The Meltdown | Fox | .85 (1,340) | -33% | 633 | 190.6 |
| Fanaa | Yash Raj | .82 (11,390) | – | 72 | 0.82 |
| Keeping Up with the Steins | Miramax | .71 (4,860) | 45% | 146 | 2 |
| Thank You for Smoking | Fox Searchlig | .61 (2,260) | -7% | 270 | 23 |
| Stick It | BV | .51 (1,140) | -62% | 449 | 24.7 |
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | – | $232.70 | – | – | – |
| % Change (Last Year) | – | 3% | – | – | – |
| % Change (Last Week) | – | 34% | – | – | – |
| Also debuting/expanding | |||||
| An Inconvenient Truth | Par Classics | .37 (93,200) | – | 4 | 0.5 |
| Cavite | Truly Indie | 16,200 (8,100) | – | 2 | 0.02 |
Domestic Market Share: January 1 – May 25, 2006
| Sony (16) | 578.8 | 17.90% |
| Fox (12) | 477.9 | 14.80% |
| Buena Vista (15) | 385.4 | 11.90% |
| Universal (10) | 342.1 | 10.60% |
| Paramount (8) | 321.4 | 9.90% |
| Warner Bros. (11) | 280.1 | 8.70% |
| Weinstein Co. (9) | 189.6 | 5.90% |
| Lions Gate (10) | 154.7 | 4.80% |
| New Line (7) | 117.7 | 3.60% |
| Focus (7) | 101.1 | 3.10% |
| Fox Searchlight (7) | 92.5 | 2.90% |
| Sony Classics (13) | 45 | 1.40% |
| DreamWorks (3) | 24.7 | 0.80% |
| MGM (1) | 22.3 | 0.70% |
| Other * (128) | 98.7 | 3.00% |
| * none greater than 0.5% | 3232 | 100.00% |
