X-Men: Dark Phoenix has hit the theatres in most parts of the world, and now everyone would be looking at the Box Office numbers of the film upon its opening weekend. This is a movie that has come out in a time when the competition is at an all-time high, people have lost interest in the franchise and the critics have completely thrashed the movie. So, there’s nothing that’s going with the film as of now.
X-Men: Dark Phoenix was produced at a budget somewhere around 180-$200 Million. But the massive reshoots that completely changed the entire third act of the film would have sure rose the cost of production to an all-time high for an X-Men movie. So, this film has to make at least 400-$500 Million to be profitable for the studios. Considering that this is the last X-Men film, people should come in, but as we’ve mentioned above, there are 3 major factors which could hinder the Box Office numbers.
The opening projections for the Domestic Box Office originally suggested $60 Million. But now all the websites are claiming an even lower number because of the holdover of all the films from previous weeks. Avengers: Endgame is apparently getting a good audience, and people who didn’t get to chance to watch Aladdin, John Wick 3, Detective Pikachu, Rocketman & Godzilla 2 will be going for that. So, things do get difficult for X-Men: Dark Phoenix, and it could end up with just 45-$50 Million at the domestic Box Office upon its opening.
If that happens, then the film would have the lowest opening numbers in the entire franchise. Can you imagine that? The first X-Men movie came out in 2000 and it made $54 Million upon its opening. Tickets at that time were about 4-$5 each. Tickets now sell at 15-$20. Even with such inflation, X-Men: Dark Phoenix will probably end up being the lowest grosser upon its opening. That’s just sad.
But there is something to be happy about as far as the worldwide numbers are concerned. The film is looking to bring in $170 Million upon its worldwide opening. This could put it right on the track and ultimately save it from being the lowest grossing film in the X-Men franchise. Dark Phoenix is already the lowest rated film, and the critical acclaim has just been awful. It has a 22% score on Rotten Tomatoes. It would be sad if it ends up with the lowest Box Office numbers as well.
We’ve discussed why the film doesn’t actually deserve what the critics have given it. The movie is much better if you watch it individually, without making any comparisons with others, and it has clearly evolved from what The Last Stand was, which is a good thing. So let’s just go and enjoy it while it lasts. The core of the actors in the movie has been great.
Director Simon Kinberg talked about X-Men: Dark Phoenix being the conclusion to the franchise. He said:
“Even long before the Disney of it all, three years ago, I started writing the script [for Dark Phoenix]. I approached this movie as the culmination of 20 years of storytelling, of living with the X-Men for all this time, and watching this family come together. And this movie is the movie that challenges that family, and tears them apart in a new way, and so I imagined it as the culmination. And I even pitched it to the studio as this is the culmination of this cycle of X-Men stories, which there will be more X-Men movies in the future, no doubt, but this particular cycle with this cast, it felt like it was time to do kind of what Game of Thrones has done, what Endgame has done, really see them challenged in a new way, and survive and go off into the sunset.”
