LOS ANGELES, (Reuters):
THE FINAL film in the X-Men superhero trilogy blew past last weekend's box office champ, The Da Vinci Code, to post the fourth-highest all-time opening in North America, according to studio estimates issued yesterday.
X-Men: The Last Stand sold about US$107 million worth of tickets in the three-day period from Friday to Sunday, dwarfing Da Vinci's US$77 million opening a week ago, said tracking firm Exhibitor Relations Co.
The Vatican conspiracy thriller slipped to No. 2, but sales data were not immediately available as most studios were planning to report sales estimates for the U.S. Memorial Day holiday weekend today.
The three-day record for a film opening on a Friday is held by 2002's Spider-Man (US$115 million), followed by 2005's Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith (US$108.4 million) and 2004's Shrek 2 (US$108 million).
PRODUCTION COSTS
X-Men: The Last Stand, which reportedly cost at least US$165 million to make, was released by News Corp.'s 20th Century Fox, which licensed the comic book franchise from Marvel Entertainment Inc. The first film in the series, X-Men opened to US$54 million in 2000. Three years later, X2: X-Men United launched with US$86 million. Fox executives were not available for comment.
The new film, whose returning cast of mutants includes Hugh Jackman as the heroic Wolverine and Ian McKellen as the evil Magneto, was directed by Brett Ratner, best known for the Rush Hour films. It had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival last week, and earned rave reviews -- unlike Sony Corp.'s Da Vinci Code.
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 US$72 million during its first three days. Steven Spielberg's dinosaur picture earned an additional US$18 million during the Monday holiday.
