This really isn't the way team X-Men would have wanted to wrap up the Fox era of the mutant heroes: with the final film of the First Class crew to end up beaten by a bunch of animals. But that's what has happened – Dark Phoenix had to make do with second place after animated sequel The Secret Life Of Pets 2, which made $47.1 million on its opening weekend, according to studio estimates.
The second Pets film from Illumination's franchise factory had its own expectations to live up to; after all, the first launched to more than $104 million back in 2016. So while the film topped the Stateside box office, the sequel has some catching up to do.
As for Dark Phoenix, the mutant movie had the lowest opening result of any of the X-films, coming off a slew of negative reviews and, seemingly, a fanbase that was more waiting to see what new owners Disney/Marvel might do with the characters of Professor X, Magneto, Jean Grey and more. The film made $33 million, around $20 million lower than its previous lowest stablemate (The Wolverine). Worldwide, it had a little more joy, earning a little more than $107 million outside the States, but the perceived wisdom is that it'll take in less than $300 million when all is said and done.
Aladdin fell to third on $24.5 million, while last week's champ, Godzilla: King Of The Monsters was beaten down to fourth with $15.5 million, a 67% drop. Rocketman slipped to fifth place, earning $14 million.
Thriller Ma was sixth via $7.8 million, while John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum fell a couple of places to seventh and $7.4 million. Avengers: Endgame took home $4.8 million at eighth, while Detective Pikachu was knocked down to ninth with $2.9 million. Booksmart wrapped up the top 10, making $1.5 million.
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