While in Marvel Comics the rivalry
between readerships of the Avengers (plus affiliated characters) and the X-Men
(ditto) is notable for being pretty fierce at times, on the big screen right
now there is only one clear king in popularity between the two franchises. Gone
is the early 2000s heyday of 20th Century Fox’s “X-Men” films by (current-disgraced)
filmmaker Bryan Singer. In its place is the massive Disney-Marvel juggernaut of
the MCU movies, centered on the “Avengers.” The counterpart “X-Men” films could
not rate as well, with the latest, “Dark Phoenix,” actually already bombing in
the box office. This new development just makes things worse.
According to Comic Book Resources, cinemas in the US have started retiring 20th
Century Fox’s “Dark Phoenix” (known as “X-Men: Dark Phoenix” in some
international markets) from their screens. This is bad news considering the
wide release of the film was but three weeks ago. Hard numbers are provided by
Exhibitor Relations Co. On their official Twitter page, the box-office
analytical outfit notes that “Dark Phoenix” is already pulling out from 1,667
movie theaters in the US. That amounts to 44% of the cinemas that premiered the
film June 7.
Fire extinguished. X-MEN: DARK PHOENIX will lose 1,667 theaters (-44%) in just its 3rd week of release.— Exhibitor Relations Co. (@ERCboxoffice) June 20, 2019
On its initial release period the
stats had been promising for “Dark Phoenix,” which is the penultimate X-Men
film from Fox following its studios’ acquisition by Disney. For its opening
weekend the mutant superhero adventure was top 2 on the box office. But it
could not muster greater momentum from that point and had slowly meandered
along as days turned to weeks and the month of June comes to a close. After
only a high of $32.8 million the first weekend the earnings just went downhill
with no figurative brakes. By its third weekend the US gross of “Dark Phoenix”
was an anemic $60 million. Added with an unhelpful $172.8 million take, this is
the worst-performing “X-Men” film in history.
“Dark Phoenix” revisits the
classic comic storyline where X-Men telepath-telekinetic Jean Grey was
possessed by a cosmic force that gave her immense power but an easily-corrupted
psyche, leading to a complex resolution that apparently saw her killed then
resurrected, the first time it happens to the character but not the last. The
plot was first used in 2006’s “X-Men: The Last Stand,” without references to
the cosmic-powered elements. “Dark Phoenix” actually uses the cosmic possession
angle on Jean Grey, but also alters some events and characters to fit with the “reboot”
movie setting stemming from “X-Men: First Class” in 2011.
“Dark Phoenix” stars Sophie
Turner (“Game of Thrones”) as Jean Grey/Phoenix, with Tye Sheridan as Scott
Summers/Cyclops, James MacAvoy as Prof. Xavier, Michael Fassbender as Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto,
Nicholas Hoult as Dr. McCoy/Beast, Jennifer Lawrence as Raven Darkholme/Mystique,
Jessica Chastain as Vuk, and several more. It is still running in cinemas.
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