{"id":76533,"date":"2016-05-29T22:54:22","date_gmt":"2016-05-30T02:54:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=76533"},"modified":"2016-05-29T22:54:22","modified_gmt":"2016-05-30T02:54:22","slug":"depps-alice-bombs-x-men-apocalypse-top-65m","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2016\/05\/29\/depps-alice-bombs-x-men-apocalypse-top-65m\/","title":{"rendered":"Depp’s ‘Alice’ bombs, ‘X Men: Apocalypse’ on top with $65M"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: Disney Alice\/Facebook<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NEW YORK\u2014Johnny Depp’s \u201cAlice Through the Looking Glass\u201d bombed over the Memorial Day weekend with just $28.1 million through Sunday in North American theatres, while \u201cX-Men: Apocalypse\u201d debuted on top with an estimated $65 million.<\/p>\n

The anticipated showdown of the two big-budget films turned out to be little contest for 20th Century Fox’s latest \u201cX-Men\u201d installment. Both films were lambasted by critics, and neither drew the audience many expected over the holiday weekend.<\/p>\n

Disney’s \u201cAlice Through the Looking Glass\u201d had more than bad reviews to deal with. On Friday, as the film was hitting theatres, Amber Heard, Depp’s wife, was granted a restraining order after alleging the actor previously assaulted her. She appeared in Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday with a bruise on her right cheek. Some fans called for a boycott of \u201cAlice Through the Looking Glass.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for comScore, said it was difficult to quantify how much the fortunes of Disney’s \u201cAlice Through the Looking Glass\u201d turned Friday afternoon when news of Heard’s allegations spread.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the reviews had more to do with the film’s performance than any personal drama for Depp,\u201d Dergarabedian said.<\/p>\n

Before Heard’s court appearance on Friday, Tim Burton’s \u201cAlice in Wonderland\u201d sequel had been expected to open above $60 million. Disney estimates that it will gross $35.6 million over the four-day weekend.<\/p>\n

It’s a staggering fall for a sequel that returned Depp\u2014one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, albeit with a recently checkered box-office history\u2014as the Mad Hatter. \u201cAlice in Wonderland,\u201d featuring then-novel 3-D, made more than $1 billion worldwide in 2010 after opening with $116 million domestically.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s a disappointing result,\u201d said Dave Hollis, distribution chief for Disney. \u201cWe have embarked on a branded tent-pole strategy that makes big bets. But when you make big bets, there are times when you have results that are disappointing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hollis declined to speculate on the impact the allegations against Depp had on the film’s opening.<\/p>\n

It’s a rare blip for Disney, which is already crossing $4 billion in ticket sales in 2016\u2014a record pace buoyed by hits like \u201cZootopia,\u201d \u201cThe Jungle Book\u201d and \u201cCaptain America: Civil War.\u201d<\/p>\n

The flop of \u201cAlice\u201d made \u201cX-Men: Apocalypse\u201d look comparatively steady. But the seventh \u201cX-Men\u201d installment opened well below the $90.8 million debut of 2014’s \u201cX-Men: Days of Future Past\u201d or the $132.4 million bow of February’s \u201cX-Men\u201d spinoff \u201cDeadpool.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, the film, made for $178 million, has already made $185.8 million internationally. Fox had looked to keep expectations in check for the film, directed by Bryan Singer. It stars \u201cX-Men\u201d regulars Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence and others, but it introduces a number of newcomers, including Oscar Isaac, Tye Sheridan and Olivia Munn.<\/p>\n

Chris Aronson, distribution head for Fox, called it not a reboot but \u201ca readjustment\u201d to pave the way for future installments featuring the new performers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m very pleased,\u201d Aronson said. \u201cIt’s right on track with what our expectations were going in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Overall business over the weekend, according to comScore, was up about 5 per cent from Memorial Day last year when Disney’s \u201cTomorrowland\u201d bombed with $33 million. Boosting ticket sales were a handful of holdovers.<\/p>\n

The family-friendly video-game adaptation \u201cAngry Birds\u201d grossed $18.7 million in its second weekend, good enough for third place. \u201cCaptain America: Civil War\u201d followed with $15.1 million in its fourth weekend. (It has passed $1.1 billion globally.) And the R-rated comedy \u201cNeighbours: Sorority Rising\u201d came in fifth with $9.1 million in its second week.<\/p>\n

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theatres, according to comScore. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included. Final four-day domestic figures will be released Tuesday.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u201cX-Men: Apocalypse,\u201d $65 million ($55.3 million international).<\/li>\n
  2. \u201cAlice Through the Looking Glass,\u201d $28.1 million ($65 million international).<\/li>\n
  3. \u201cAngry Birds,\u201d $18.7 million.<\/li>\n
  4. \u201cCaptain America: Civil War,\u201d $15.1 million.<\/li>\n
  5. \u201cNeighbours: Sorority Rising,\u201d $9.1 million ($4.5 million international).<\/li>\n
  6. \u201cThe Jungle Book,\u201d $7 million.<\/li>\n
  7. \u201cThe Nice Guys,\u201d $6.4 million.<\/li>\n
  8. \u201cMoney Monster,\u201d $4.3 million.<\/li>\n
  9. \u201cLove & Friendship,\u201d $2.5 million.<\/li>\n
  10. \u201cZootopia,\u201d $831,000.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    NEW YORK\u2014Johnny Depp’s \u201cAlice Through the Looking Glass\u201d bombed over the Memorial Day weekend with just $28.1 million through Sunday …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":76534,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,106],"tags":[10914,10916,4069,10917,8330,10922,10921,798,10918,10919,10920,10915,10923],"class_list":["post-76533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","category-hollywood","tag-alice-through-the-looking-glass","tag-angry-birds","tag-box-office","tag-captain-america-civil-war","tag-johnny-depp","tag-love-friendship","tag-money-monster","tag-movies","tag-neighbours-sorority-rising","tag-the-jungle-book","tag-the-nice-guys","tag-x-men-apocalypse","tag-zootopia","mauthors-jake-coyle","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76533\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}