‘X-Men’ Defeats Film Record

The third installment in 20th Century Fox’s “X-Men” franchise had the biggest-ever start for a Memorial Day weekend film, with the movie grossing an estimated $107 million in the U.S. and Canada through Sunday.

Although complete results for the holiday weekend are expected to be released today, “X-Men: The Last Stand” is already one of the biggest film openings.

According to box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations Co., only three films have had bigger openings in a three-day period: “Spider-Man” in 2002 ($114.8 million), “Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith” in 2005 ($108.4 million), and “Shrek 2” in 2004 ($108 million). The “X-Men” film opened on 3,690 screens, Exhibitor Relations reported, each grossing an average of $28,997.

The “X-Men” film’s $45.5 million in ticket sales Friday also was the second-largest single-day gross after “Star Wars: Episode III,” which took in $50 million when it opened on a Thursday in May of last year.

The results provide another boost to Hollywood’s efforts to recover from an anemic box-office performance last year.

The film, which stars Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen and Halle Berry reprising their comic-book mutant roles, had been much anticipated.

Directed by Brett Ratner, whose credits also include “Rush Hour,” the movie was widely praised by critics. Ratner is new to the franchise, with the first two films directed by Bryan Singer, who also directed “Superman Returns,” which opens next month.

The third “X-Men” movie also drew strength from the popularity of its predecessors.

The first in the series, “X-Men” in 2000, grossed $54.5 million for its opening weekend and went on to sell $157.3 million in tickets in the U.S. and Canada. 2003’s “X2: X-Men United” took in $85.6 million in its opening weekend, with a total U.S.-Canadian gross of $214.9 million.

Figures weren’t available for Sony Pictures’ “The Da Vinci Code,” starring Tom Hanks and directed by Ron Howard, which grossed $77 million last weekend despite often scathing reviews. According to the Box Office Mojo website, “The Da Vinci Code” grossed an estimated $33.5 million from Friday through Sunday, followed by DreamWorks Animation’s “Over the Hedge” at $27.3 million.