In X-Men: Days of Future Past, the U.S. government is terrified that mutants might one day take over. And that’s exactly what they did on Friday, earning an estimated $36 million on the film’s first day in theaters. That debut makes it the third-highest movie opening of the year. (Last weekend, Godzilla crushed the competition with $38.5 million, while Marvel flick Captain America: The Winter Soldier took in a cool $36.9 million in April.) Starring veteran mutants Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, and Ian McKellan, and X-Men: First Class alums James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, and Jennifer Lawrence, the Bryan Singer-directed time-travel movie was the seventh X-Men film to date — and the most expensive, costing 20th Century Fox an estimated $200 million. EW’s Chris Nashawaty gave it a B+, saying: “Singer’s return in the pretzel-logic pop fantasia X-Men: Days of Future Past is so triumphant because of how effortless he makes connecting the dots seem. It’s an epic that couldn’t be more Byzantine on paper but scans with ease on-screen.” With its opening day gross across nearly 4,000 U.S. theaters, X-Men: Days of Future Past looks to be a bonafide summer blockbuster that will likely continue to dominate over the four-day holiday weekend. See more at http://insidemovies.ew.com/2014/05/24/box-office-report-xmen-days-of-future-past-friday/
