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It wasn't Leonardo Da Vinci at the top of the U.S. Box office this weekend. Rather, it was Wolverine and his fellow mutants. X-Men: The Last Stand opened to record breaking ticket sales in both the U.S. and Canada, raking in $103.1 million during the first three days of its release. The movie had the biggest opening thus far this year, beating out The Da Vinci Code's first weekend take of $77 million. The movie also set a record for the Memorial Day weekend by earning $120 million in its first four days in theaters. The Da Vinci Code fell into second place but did bring in $43 million over the same four day period referenced. The third film in the X-Men series actually exceeded 20th Century Fox's own predicitions regarding ticket sales. Bruce Snyder, head of distribution at Fox, stated that the take blew his own expectations away. He described it as rarefied air. Hollywoods overall domestic box office came to a total of $228.6 million for the four day period at issue, up slightly from $225.5 million last year. The domestic box office has totaled $3.5 billion so far in 2006, 6% higher than at the same point in time in 2005, according to Paul Dergarabedian, President of Exhibitor Relations. He noted that last year there was a great deal of talk that revenue from movies in theaters would be on the decline in the future. The thought was people were finding other means of entertainment. However, he noted that there is a great deal more optimism in the movie business at this point in time. He remarked that if you give movie goers the right product, the right movies, they will turn out in great numbers. |
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