This can’t be right can it? Remember last week when everyone gasped with amazment that Da Vinci Code made over $33 million on it opening day? That was amazing! Well, X-Men 3 comes along and makes over $44 million on it’s first day! I knew people were interested in seeing it… but I didn’t realize they were THIS interested in seeing it.
Well here’s the amazing thing… according to Yahoo Movies, X-Men has made… are you ready for this… over $102 million for it’s opening weekend domestically. That number is staggering. I’m partially thinking it must be a mistake… but nope… Boxoffice Mojo confirms it. X-Men 3 is now the #5 all time opening weekend ( just behind Spider-Man, Star Wars Episode 3, Shrek 2, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire).
Yeah… someone just try to convince me there isn’t going to be an X-Men 4. It’s like printing your own free money.
i think bishop, gambit, jubilee, and emma frost are going to be in the next show x4. i think bastion who controls the sentinals will be in the next x-men film as the bad guy. i heard hugh jackman doesnt want to be in the next film and if wolvrine isn’t in the next one ever body will be disappointed.
ADAM
man this movie was BAD! I didn’t care about the characters and at I was just waiting untim this whole special FX-exhibition was going to end. Ans what with this fuck-up ending. I mean, why the damn bridge?? Because it looks awesome ?? It’s pointless. “I know that Charles liked to make bridges” huh-huh. Didn’t he like a simple boot or something?
Ans somebody tell me why they didn’t send the kid to Phoenix to neutralize her? A lot of testosteron and explosions, but very little brains.
Was anybody else suprissed that Phoenix didn’t engulf herself in her fiery wings? And Im sure that the “cured” mutants will be back for another round in another movie. Fox will find a reversal to the “cure”
I saw it today…. and I liked it a lot. I’m sorry that so many people didn’t like it, but I loved it. Of course, it was lacking in some areas,…. Like, I totally agree with you about Storm and her lines (ugh!!) but it was just a fun movie. Agreed, the part of me that loves the comics was cringing at times, but it can’t always go the way we want it to go, ya know?
and dark phoenix kicked fucking ass.
I’ll just say there are two reasons “Last Stand” did so well: It was the only major movie opening on Memorial Day weekend (WTF!), and, well, people are sheep. What Brett Ratner did to this franchise was inexcusable … here’s hoping the upcoming Wolverine, Magneto and X4 movies are closer to the standard set by Singer instead of the gutter where Rather dwells
I’d love to see Sinister &/or Apocalypse in the next sequel (or trilogy). The return of Nightcrawler and debut of Gambit would be sweet.
What I noticed in this topic is that no one are talking about the next director. I mean, WB has Singer set up for Superman sequels, Whedon is working on Wonder Woman, and Ratner (to the relief of X3 haters) will start Rush Hour 3. So, who should be worthy of directing X4? I’d like to see Burton, but I don’t like the idea of loosing the comic roots for his pure vision.
Another problem: even if the studio finds a great director, will this movie surpass X3, or will it prove that we may actually lack the taste of watching great films for okay/fun films?
Wow, just got back from seeing it tonight. Great flick, lotsa good visuals, and the story was pretty decent. I’m with John in that it could’ve been longer and I wish there would’ve been more mutant fight scenes. Those were great fun. Several shocking moments in the movie had me stunned (I won’t put in any spoilers here). I actually yelled,”OH MY GOD!!!! NO F*CKING WAYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!” Good thing me and my gf were in our car at the drive-in, hehe.
And thanks, John, for telling us to stay after the credits for the bonus scene!
darren
good one. just put an ‘x’ in front of the title…
xmi3 would have made more. it stands to reason that a triple x would bring in even more. xxxmi3 would have had people slobbering to get a ticket (and you would have gotten the lonely greasy 40-60 year old unemployed single male audience)
seriously – cars is going to rake. now that we’ve gotten our flimsy action pic fix, we’re primed for some real quality.
maybe it’s not too late for them to rename it x-cars
I’m surprised to see a lot of negative reviews here. I thought it was a great movie – not a masterpiece, sure. But an enjoyable movie nonetheless. And I think the public thinks so too. X3 grossed 103 million for pete’s sake!
I’m sure that x3 is not the end of the franchse, but I don’t like the idea of a spin off. I think an x-men movie won’t work if the mutant ensemble we’ve been following for the past three movies will not be present. What makes X-men fun is the team – their relationships, interactions, action sequences. Wolverine has a large following though so I guess it’s likely he’ll get a spin off.
Boy I wish I could say I enjoyed it. But other than a few entertaining scenes, it was a bunch of hogwash. To me the emotional moments were non existant, the director (Ratner subpar director) didn’t know how to hit his marks, and the effects were very up and down.
I’m not surprised it made a lot of money. People were gung ho after the last one which, Singer a much better director, made. Each series became progressively better so everyone was expecting this to be a huge hit!
But will it go down in the hall of fame of great comic book movies? No.
The acting was cheesy, other than Mckellan and Stewart. The script was pretty horrendous and the last battle scene, if you like a lot of wire work, was insipid.
And why does Magneto have rip the Golden Gate of of its legs and extend it to Alcatraz? Wouldn’t a boat be more efficient? Or Magneto is just powerful to carry everyone over magnetly!! Everyone had some peice of metal on them, i.e belts…or better yet have him levitate people based on the iron in people’s blood!!! That is so much cooler!! Other wise the bridge was a waste and had no contextual merit. It was done for special effects sake pure and simple, when the real cool special effects should have been saved for the ending! I mean come on that was just stupid! I would have preferred seeing a real Sentinal instead!!
The movie was a real hack job. Singer knew how to bring emtional intensity, he relied on it because he did not have the resources to work with. Fox was cheap, but he was talented enough to work his way around those budgetary shortcomings. He made his moments count, whereas Ratner just went through the paces!!
It’s really sad seeing this disappointing movie, after what Singer tried to build up. There were so many other problems with this movie I could write a novel.
Lou–SuperSmash Bros the Movie LMAO!!
It’s really sad to see that people are so thrilled with mediocrity these days. This is just like when everyone applauded Revenge of the Sith, because everyone was so worried it would be bad. When it was just a shade above disastrous everyone’s “relieved”. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that these are both Fox movies either. If I want non-stop action I’ll watch Commando. Several times during this movie, the script (or possibly the director) has the characters completely out of character (for the movie versions, not the comics). This is just one of the many severe weaknesses with this film.
This is a vindication of the studio that it doesn’t matter how flimsy or poorly edited a film is, if they put an “X” at the front the audience won’t give a shit.
With the enormous success of the Da Vinci Code and now this, it’s a dark day for fans of REAL movies of substance.
saw it today, the movie was average. It was fun, but comic fans like myself get a little dissapointed at the shitty Juggernaut, and all the characters from the last two get shoved aside with the exception of crappy halle berry, who almost gets this whole movie to herself. and the dialogue is kinda lame. But seeing iceman in his full iceyness and seeing Angel fly through the sky made me so happy. So, average.
I was thinking, I bet this movie will be average in the box office, maybe 60 million opening weekend…but holy crap 102 million! No way!
There WILL be X4. I’m dreading going to see X3 due to the mixed reviews. I’ll wait till the crowds die down.
I really worry about the future of comicbook movies with any dramatic heft to them. The BO returns of X3 ensure more “FUN” SH movies – all style and no substance. Bring on SuperSmash Bros The Movie.
i think boredom and wanting to see something mainstream is a factor. here it is almost june and we really haven’t had a good mainstream movie except ‘over the hedge’. mi3 had a yuck factor, code was not for everyone – x-men is, i think, the first pic that has broad appeal.
i think the $44 million on opening day came from pent up demand
Xmen will rule for a while i guess.
I should say though i saw district 13 about a year ago now and it is good damm awesome. Like with ong bak and tom yum goong, my mouth was on the floor from begining to end. Go see this America!!:D
It should be ponted out that X-Men was the only new “major” release this holiday weekend. It should also be pointed out that next week…
What’s the competition?
The Break-Up?
And District B13 -the Sci-fi flick from France- is in limited release.
The Omen (also from Fox) opens on the 6th.
Who do you think is going to have full control NEXT WEEKEND?
Place your sucker bets.
Anyway…
In addition to taking over from “Da Vinci” as the highest opening so far this year, the new “X-Men” beats the nine-year-old Memorial Day weekend record held by “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” which opened to $72 million during its first three days. Steven Spielberg’s dinosaur picture earned an additional $18 million during the Monday holiday.
Take that, you nasty veloceraptors!
And, no, I don’t think bringing in the likes of Sinister, Apocalypse and/or Stryfe will hurt upcoming films at all, especially if this is indeed the “last” X film with the principals – Storm, Prof X, Logan, etc. I don’t entirely buy it, but if they do show up with a new crop of characters, ‘new’ film villians are not out of the question.
And even if this isn’t “The Last Stand”- new villians anyway. Someone worse than Magneto.
Is it not a problem that introducing enemies like Sinister and Apocalypse will take X men down the ‘bad’ Batman route in that it is taking away from the reality of the universe? Larger than life bad guys, although fun, may not fit in to the current setup of X men.
But hell – put Gambit in and please legions of fans!
…and the Nightcrawler movie too, if I can get the petition going…
I want to stress that again.
If Fox didn’t put the greenlight on Wolverine and/or Magento yesterday, they sure as hell have it a greenlight now.
Will there be an X4? Yes.
Will there be the spinoff Wolverine film (X-Men prequel)? Or Magneto?
I’d say both seem like strong players as well, although I’d much raher the stories go foward. Heck I wouldn’t even rule out a Nightcrawler spinoff he was missed so much.
And yes, Sinister and/or Apocalypse should be woven in “the next trilogy”.
Gambit too.
And
HOLY SHIT
was that 100+ million I saw?
Like John said, sequels n prequels. Free money.
I hate to say this but X3 was by no means a great movie. I went in with lowered expectations and still found a lot of it hard to take.
Ratner didn’t manage to give enough time to either the Pheonix story or the ramifications of the mutation cure. The main reason Singer’s films worked was because they focused on the central theme of minority segregation, while giving it an action foil. Here Ratner does the reverse and throws an interesting premise into a melting pot of storylines, none of which get the screen time they deserve. As for the fate of certain characters, well it seemed unnecessary and poorly executed.
I don’t want to be a fly in the oinkment but The Last Stand is just forgettable in a way that the first two films are not.
Plus I hated the change in Colossus’ metal skin effect. Call me picky . . .
:)
In the first movie you to explain the exposition and in the second you can do what you what which Bryan Singer had said in the Making of X2 featurette with X1 that he felt like he was making the trailer for X2.
Hey john,
I have heard maybe one or two, including your own, that have been favourable to it. Everybody else who i’ve come across seems to be panning it. I was actually not going to see it because of this and then a friend asked me if I fancied going and I thought yeah, why not.
I have to say though, i hated xmen2 for some reason. The second time i saw it I liked it a little better but i though the first one was way better and an all round better piece and set up movie.
Guess i’m just abit weird when it come to these films cos every one i know loves 2.
concerning Lonewolf’s comments
/\ my thoughts exactly
Hey there Lonewolf.
Don’t forget… a LOT of critics are saying they like X-Men 3. It’s got a hell of a lot better rating than Da Vinci Crap… I mean Code.
LOL
~JOhn
Why is it such a shock it’s done well? It just confirms to me that the movie public doesn’t listen to critics that much, sorry to burst that little bubble. I actually liked you review john and thought you were on the money with your take on the flick. The film isn’t great, but it kinda rocks and it’s very enjoyable.
Why has it been in doubt that they would not make any more? Hell, the wolverine pictures a go and i personally see many xmen movie still to come. You think they’re gonna stop making spiderman films after 3? Its not even possible.
It’s tried, it’s tested, it’s a winner! Why stop?
I did’nt so shame on me
i saw the movie this morning with my 5 yr old son, and we both had a great time. i thought there were going to be some slow parts in the movie and i was afraid that it was going to be boring for my son. but i was wrong. my son and i were thoroughly entertained. he loved the beast and the way wolverine called him a furball. he was already reciting lines from the movie. on the way home he said he wanted to watch it again. that’s my boy!!! we even stayed to watch the very ending. thanks for mentioning that there was more after the trailers.
peace, long live x-men!!!
and the stuff you guys covered on the X-men audio edition
it was out of context of what I meant to say
Well with a number like that and what most of us seen at the end of X-Men 3, there will have to be a 4rth somewhere down the line. I did enjoy X3 even with it’d flaws.
I’m sorry, John that’s not what I meant
Well sorry, it’s just that it’s unbelievable that X-men 3 is surpassed Spider-Man with all that’s going on with the red flags, one kids movie is making big money, and bad films making big money it’s just going crazy right now.
Why so many people went to see it (even me): controversy baby. Not to mention this movie is billed as the “last movie”. It was fun, controversal, and very good. And seeing how [VERY] successful this was in the box-office, X4 is truly a no-brainer. I knew it, the people who worked in the theater knew it, and almost anyone who saw the epilogue.
With that said, now is the time to bring in Apocalypse. He MUST be in the sequel! Only one problem: who’ll be directing?
Oh John I just want to clear up that James Marsden plays Perry White’s nephew Richard and he has a kid
Hey there Nick,
Well… you’re dead wrong. When you say “we can all assume”, you couldn’t be more wrong. Just looks around the various discussion on the site here… you’ll see a lot of people (including myself) enjoyed X-Men 3.
I respect that you, and many other don’t share that opinion… but making a sweeping comment like “We can all assume”, is wildly incorrect.
Cheers!
~John
We can all assume that the franchise is now offically mediocre and it’s dead