X-Men: Days of Future Past will dominate, but can it win the Summer box office race?
Last week, Godzilla roared, destroying Sensei’s prediction (taking Summer by atomic storm) with an amazing $91.3 million opening. Sensei did nail the prediction for Million Dollar Arm, and the rest of the calls were also pretty close.
This week, the X-Men franchise competes for Summer’s top box office crown.
Sensei’s weekend predictions and revenue results are as follows:
Please note: All predictions this week are 4-day (Fri-Mon).
1. X-Men: Days of Future Past ($117 million)– Smart move bringing the original cast members from the first X-Men film. The studio’s reward will be the most successful entry in the franchise’s history. Fan anticipation is high, critical reviews are solid. Sensei definitely sees enough buzz to hit a Fast and Furious 6-like opening ($97 million) and crush the $100 million mark over four days. Film will become the early favorite to win the Summer box office.
2. Godzilla ($48 million) – The king of monsterswill post a strong second weekend. Audience reaction is very positive, and the film’s core fan base is enjoying the fun. With such positiveresults, film already has a sequel in the works.
3. Blended ($28 million)– Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore found box office success together in 50 First Dates, but that was some time ago. Adam Sandler’s box office record hasn’t been that stellar as of late (outside of his ensemble film Grown Ups). Still, this film should tap into the Grown-Ups audience and pull a mid-level opening.
4. Neighbors ($15 million)– Film will easily break the $100 million domestic mark. Ironically, Zac Efron has his biggest hit as an actor since the High School Musical films. Don’t think you’ll find much similarity between Neighbors and those projects.
5. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 ($11.3 million)– Another big drop here. This will be the film’s last finish in the top five, definitely not the result the studio was hoping for domestically (film was originally the favorite to win the Summer box office). Instead, film is struggling to meet its enormous costs.
Checking other favorites:
#. Heaven Is for Real ($4 million)– The holiday weekend offers solid numbers for this one. Film will reach the $85+ million domestic mark. That allimportant milestone of $100 million remains within reach.
#. Captain America: The Winter Soldier ($3 million) With this result, film becomes 2014’s number one film (in total box office gross). Not bad, Captain. Not bad at all.
#. God’s Not Dead ($1.5 million) – Looks like the film will finish around the $60 million domestic mark. With a production budget of only $2 million, that’s some serious profit taking.
Those are Sensei’s calls. Have a great weekend.