X-MEN: THE LAST STAND certainly made its mark, debuting with a record breaking Memorial Day holiday gross of $122.8M over the four-day period ended May 29, 2006. The third X-MEN in Foxs Marvel franchise this time directed by Brett Ratner boasts vfx from Cinesite, Framestore CFC, MPC and Weta Digital, among others.
Last weeks leader, THE DA VINCI CODE from Sony (with vfx from MPC, Rainmaker UK and Double Negative), slipped to second place with $42.4M and a two-week cume of $144.9M. However, with an overseas take of $317.4M, DA VINCI has now reached $462.3M globally.
The third spot belonged to OVER THE HEDGE, the latest 3D-animated feature from DreamWorks Animation, which brought home $35.3M for a cume of $84.3M. Following in fourth was Paramounts MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III (with vfx from ILM), which brought home $8.9M and $116.1M to date. Warner Bros. POSEIDON (also with vfx from ILM) came in fifth with $7M and a cume of $46.7M. Grabbing sixth was Sonys RV, which accounted for $5.4M and a cume of $57.3M. Lionsgates SEE NO EVIL was the seventh place finisher with $3.4M and $9.4M. Eighth place belonged to Foxs JUST MY LUCK, with $2.4M and $14.1M. Holding ninth place was Universals UNITED 93 (with vfx from Double Negative), which picked up $1M and pushed its modest total to $29.8M. And Fox/Blue Skys 3D-animated ICE AGE: THE MELTDOWN moved into the top 10 once again with $985,778, giving it a cume of $190.6M. Box office information obtained from boxofficemojo.com.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
