Sadly, it’s looking like 20th Century Fox’sX-Menfranchise is going out less with a bang and more with one of those sparkler things you may buy at Target.Dark Phoenixflew to $14 million on Friday night, with early estimates putting it at second place for the weekend with around $35 million. That would mark the lowest opening for a live-action X-Men film by a large margin, behindThe Wolverine’s $53 million take in 2013.
Dark Phoenixis looking to land behind the animated filmThe Secret Life of Pets 2, which nabbed $16.5 million on Friday night—plus another $935K from an early Fandango event—and is looking to debut around $46.2 million. Both films are struggling mightily compared to their predecessors, but it’sDark Phoenixgetting the most scrutiny, considering it’s being billed as the “final chapter” of the X-Men franchise that began all the way back in 2000. With a B- CinemaScore, it’s also one of the worst-reviewed of the series; inhis review, Collider’s Matt Goldberg described the film as “a horrendously muddled picture.”
Meanwhile,Godzilla: King of the Monstersisn’t the Kaiju-sized hit we expected, at least not domestically. DirectorMichael Dougherty’s monster mash took in another $4.2 million, bringing its domestic total to $67 million and landing it in fourth behind Disney’s live-actionAladdin($7 million).King of the Monstersis leaving a much larger footprint overseas, though, where it has snagged $130 million for a worldwide total of $197 million on a reported $175 million budget.
Rounding out the top 5 is Paramount’sRocketman, directorDexter Fletcher’s fantasticalElton Johnbiopic starringTaron Egerton. In its second weekend, the film brought in another $3.7 million on Friday night, bringing its domestic total to $40 million.
Take a look at Friday’s numbers below and check back tomorrow to see a few more records get broken. (Numbers viaBox Office Mojo.)
The Secret Life of Pets 2
$16,500,000
$17,425,000
Dark Phoenix
$14,000,000
$7,034,000
$214,919,926
Godzilla: King of the Monsters
$4,200,000
$67,257,097
$3,760,000
$40,258,756
