1. X-Men: Apocalypse (review here)- $65M
Maybe the third of 20th Century Fox's X-Men movies are always destined to be cursed? X-Men: Apocalypse, the third film in the second mutant trilogy and ninth franchise film overall, opened with only $65M during the Memorial Day weekend, with $80M expected through Monday. This is $25M lower than what X-Men: Days of Future Past did just two years ago, and one of the series' lowest openers overall. On the plus side, $115M overseas gives it $180M overall which isn't so bad. The thing to notice is that the film, which largely brings in a bunch of newcomers, isn't performing as well without the benefit of regular stars such as Hugh Jackman (he only has a small cameo), Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, and Halle Berry. It's doing roughly the same as X-Men: First Class, which was powered by Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy, and Michael Fassbender before they were established box office stars. So it's a little surprising that their enhanced star power doesn't seem to be making much of a difference. It suggests that fans of these movies are fans of how it used to be, not necessarily where it's going. We may see Fox try to draw closer ties to Deadpool which everyone seemed to like.
2. Alice Through the Looking Glass (review here)- $28.1M
We've talked about it a lot on this site, and again in my review of Alice Through the Looking Glass, that Tim Burton's $1B-grossing Alice in Wonderland was the beneficiary of some fortuitous timing. Six years ago audiences were more willing to shell out extra cash to see what 3D and CGI were all about, and if it could reach the heights seen in James Cameron's Avatar. But the reviews of 'Wonderland' were still merely average, and six years later nobody is enamored with the technology anymore. All they see is a film that looks exactly like the one they snoozed through before. That's what gave Disney's sequel a disastrous $28M opening weekend, with $35M projected through tomorrow. For context, 'Wonderland' made $40M on its first day alone. Disney should have seen this coming miles away. There was no noticeable buzz for a return to Wonderland, just as there is no buzz for Maleficent 2 or The Jungle Book 2 or any sequels to their live-action fairy tales. It may be that audiences simply want to see the stories they know and love on the big screen, while anything beyond that will be seen as gratuitous. The $170M production, directed by James Bobin and not Burton, has $65M overseas, and if it's going to be a success clearly the numbers will have to come from there.
3. The Angry Birds Movie- $18.7M/$66.3M
After only two weeks The Angry Birds Movie is the fifth highest-grossing video game movie ever with $223M. Just goes to show how weak this genre has been for a long time.
4. Captain America: Civil War- $15.1M/$372.6M
And with its $372M total Captain America: Civil War is the new top domestic grossing film of the year, surpassing Deadpool. Chances are it will stay that way for a while, unless Doctor Strange or Finding Dory do better than expected. Almost certainly it will lose that title to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story in December.
5. Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising- $9.1M/$38.3M
6. The Jungle Book- $6.9M/$338.4M
7. The Nice Guys- $6.3M/$21.7M
8. Money Monster- $4.2M/$33.9M
9. Love & Friendship (review here)- $2.4M
10. Zootopia- $831K/$335.8M
