X-Men' Rule Theaters in $85 Million Debut
The Associated Press
May 4 2003 3:15PM
LOS ANGELES (AP) - The mutants of ``X-Men'' are stronger than ever, showing even more box office power than in their first outing.
The superhero sequel ``X2: X-Men United'' debuted with $85.85 million domestically, the fourth-best opening-weekend gross ever and a 58 percent increase over the $54.5 million first weekend of the original ``X-Men'' three years ago.
Opening in second place was ``The Lizzie McGuire Movie,'' starring Hilary Duff in a big-screen adaptation of her Disney Channel TV series about a young teen coping awkwardly with adolescence. With an audience of mostly young girls, the movie took in a healthy $17 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Receipts for ``X2'' came in behind the record $114.8 million for ``Spider-Man'' over the same weekend last year. The first two ``Harry Potter'' movies had the second and third best openings, $90.3 million for ``Sorcerer's Stone'' and $88.4 million for ``Chamber of Secrets.''
Overall, however, Hollywood revenues were down with the top 12 movies grossing $140.8 million, off 7.6 percent compared to the same weekend last year, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations.
``X2'' drew about 14.3 million viewers, up 4.2 million from the opening weekend for ``X-Men.''
Distributor 20th Century Fox blanketed theaters with the sequel, which played in a record 3,741 cinemas, topping the previous high of 3,682 for last year's ``Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.'' However, ``X2'' played on about 1,300 fewer movie screens than the record 8,500 for ``Chamber of Secrets.''
The studio also opened ``X2'' in a record 95 countries, with the movie taking in nearly $70 million overseas.
``X2'' reunites director Bryan Singer with his ``X-Men'' cast, including Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, Hugh Jackman and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos as mutants with superhuman abilities that include telepathy and shape-shifting.
It teams good and bad mutants against a human enemy who has hatched a plan to destroy their race.
The film's success continues a string of hits based on Marvel comic books, including ``Spider-Man,'' ``Daredevil'' and ``Blade II.'' Marvel's ``The Hulk'' opens next month.
``Marvel today is a bona fide brand name for the movie industry,'' said Avi Arad, Marvel Studios president. ``More and more, the audience is catching on that when they see the Marvel logo, they know that fun is about to begin.''
In limited release, John Malkovich's directing debut, ``The Dancer Upstairs,'' opened solidly in 13 theaters with $105,300. The film, which expands to more theaters over the next three weekends, stars Javier Bardem as a Latin American policeman tracking a terrorist.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released Monday
