‘X-Men’ dominates holiday box office with $91M

LOS ANGELES: A team of mutants overpowered one massive mutant monster at the box office during the Memorial Day holiday.

Fox-Marvel´s "X-Men: Days of Future Past" debuted with $91 million to beat last weekend´s No. 1 hit, the Warner Bros. science-fiction adventure "Godzilla," which earned $31.4 million in its second weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.

"Days of Future Past" is estimated to earn nearly $110 million over the four-day extended holiday weekend, which would make it the fifth highest Memorial Day opener just after last year´s $117 million-grossing "Fast & Furious 6."

´´Pirates of the Caribbean: At World´s End" holds as the highest Memorial holiday debut ever with $140 million in 2007.

"Days of Future Past" is the second-highest opener in the "X-Men" franchise after Brett Ratner´s "X-Men: The Last Stand" debuted over Memorial Day weekend with $123 million in 2006.

The film brings together a massive star-studded cast including Hugh Jackman, Jennifer Lawrence, Halle Berry, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Peter Dinklage and Ellen Page.

Globally, "Days of Future Past" opened No. 1 in 119 countries with $262 million, the highest grossing opening weekend worldwide of the "X-Men" franchise and the biggest Fox International opening weekend ever.

"This is a franchise that started back in 2000, which predated the first ´Spider-Man´ movie by two years so ´X-Men´ started the renaissance in the world of big superhero movies," Dergarabedian said.

The Warner Bros. romantic comedy "Blended" debuted at No. 3 with a lackluster $14.2 million. In the movie, Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore team up for the third time following "The Wedding Singer" and "50 First Dates."

Though Sandler´s "Grown Ups 2" grossed $247 million worldwide, his box office success has teetered over the years. His 2012 comedy "That´s My Boy" earned only $58 million globally, while his 2011 films, "Jack and Jill" and the Jennifer Aniston co-starring "Just Go With It" gained $150 million and $215 million worldwide, respectively.

Universal´s Seth Rogen and Zac Efron-starring lewd comedy "Neighbors" took in $14 million as it crosses the $100 million mark domestically with $114 million overall.

Sony´s "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" rounds out the top five with $8 million in its fourth weekend, while Disney´s "Million Dollar Arm" followed close behind with a solid $7.1 million in its second weekend.

Four comedies populated the top 10 with Fox´s "The Other Woman" landing at No. 7 and Jon Favreau´s "Chef," at No. 9, rounding out the bunch.

In 2013, Memorial Day weekend was the biggest grossing weekend of the year with $314.2 million over the four-day holiday that saw "Fast & Furious 6," ´´The Hangover Part III" and the animated "Epic" debut.

"This year it will be more like $230 million," said Dergarabedian, who notes that next year has a shot at being a record-breaking Memorial weekend due to the debut of Marvel´s "Avengers" sequel "Avengers: Age of Ultron." (AP)