Oh, ‘Dark Phoenix’. I really wish Disney/20th Century Fox would just dump this movie into theaters and get it over with. The film has already had its release date pushed back numerous times. There have been all sorts of rumors– mostly negative– about the picture, but a recent preview presented at WonderCon seemed to galvanize fans, as the short presentation was greeted with enthusiastic applause, assuring that the entire franchise was not being flushed down the toilet. (Besides, if it can withstand ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’, it can survive anything.)
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But despite that, ‘Dark Phoenix’ is still tracking to open in the $45-55 million range, which would make it the lowest opening for any X-Movie. Even the very first movie, 2000’s ‘X-Men’ took in $54 million and that was back when superhero movies weren’t even a thing yet. ‘X-Men: First Class’ barely surpassed that, earning just $55.1 million on its opening weekend. The highest opening for a movie in this franchise was that for ‘Deadpool’ which opened to $132 million in 2016. As for the team movies, the 2006 turd ‘X-Men: The Last Stand’ still holds the record with an opening of $102.7 million. (Incidentally, that movie had the same basic plotline as ‘Dark Phoenix’, in a feeble attempt to adapt the ‘Dark Phoenix Saga’ from the comics.)
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Making matters worse, rumor has it the production budget is upwards of $200 million. Keep in mind, that’s a RUMOR.
But at this point, no one really cares about the ‘X-Men’. The franchise helped kick off the modern age of comic book movies. Without the ‘X-Men’, there probably wouldn’t be a Marvel Cinematic Universe.
But there is an MCU, and that is the franchise that currently dominates the box office. And now that Disney has bought Fox, all anyone cares about is knowing what Marvel intends to do with the brand. Though the ‘X-Men’ franchise has had some highlights and have mostly done decently in terms of ticket sales, it has also had some major low points. And the continuity is a disaster (which is fitting considering the comic books it’s based on).
These are just tracking predictions. No one expects ‘Dark Phoenix’ to pull in MCU numbers, but it could still do okay.
The final chapter of this ‘X-Men’ movie franchise, ‘Dark Phoenix’ will hit theaters on June 7th.
Source: Box Office Pro
