‘Dark Phoenix’ Had the Worst Second-Weekend Percentage Drop in Superhero Box Office History
Dark Phoenix had the worst opening ever at the box office for an X-Men movie. Now it’s breaking records for the entire superhero movie genre. And definitely not the good kind.
Box Office Mojo notes that Dark Phoenix “cratered” (their word) in the film’s second weekend of release, grossing an estimated $9 million in U.S. theaters. That makes for a drop of some 72.6 percent form its opening weekend which means it...
...is the second largest second weekend drop for a film playing in over 3,500 theaters in its second weekend behind only 2015’s Fifty Shades of Grey (-73.9 percent). Additionally, Dark Phoenix earned an estimated $24.2 million in its second weekend of release internationally, raising the overall overseas cume to $152.5 million for a global haul that now tops $204 million.
That 72.6 percent drop from first to second weekend makes it the worst second weekend, percentage wise, for any superhero or comic book movie to date. (You can see the full list of biggest weekend drops at Box Office Mojo.)
Percentage-wise, that drop is in Mortal Engines territory (76.8 percent). That’s Star Trek: Nemesis territory (76.2 percent) — and it’s notable in this case that Nemesis wound up being the last iteration of the Star Trek franchise with the Next Generation case. These numbers almost certain foreshadow a similar changing of the guard behind the scenes (and in front of the cameras) for the X-Men now that Marvel has regained control of the franchise following its purchase of 20th Century Fox. At this point, you would have to want to commit career suicide to try to make a direct sequel to Dark Phoenix. Some kind of reboot is coming from Marvel, eventually.
Gallery — The Worst X-Men Movie Plot Holes: