Don't Bet Against Those Mutants: 'X-Men Apocalypse' Pulls in $65 Million

Well, the votes, which are actually dollars, are in for the first three days of the 2016 Memorial Day Weekend Box Office championship, and those mutants engaged in a decades old struggle for acceptance have pulled out on top once again. In fact, it wasn't a very close competition after all.

According to IGN, "X-Men: Apocalypse" took in $65 million at the box office, which more than doubles the total of "Alice: Through the Looking Glass." While the Johnny Depp sequel failed to draw an audience, those X-Men are moving strong. The latest installment of the franchise is even managing an over seventy percent favorable rating on Rotten Tomatoes with a near fifty-percent review rating, while not a perfect score by any means the reviews have been consistent.

"X-Men: Apocalypse" was one of those films that many were concerned with. The large cast was going to give every character some competition for screen time, and it was the third mega-release in the superhero genre in the past few months with Batman V Superman and Civil War already making debuts. Still, these X-films will continue to be compared with "Deadpool," which performed outrageously well (It is still the best debut for any X-Men franchise movie).

There are still a few superhero releases coming in the year, and most of the eyes will be centered on "Suicide Squad." The fact is: The genre is not dead and the box office dollars simply do not lie, because there is room for improvement and innovation.

The X-Men have been a fan favorite for years (probably decades), and the latest film leaves enough open for another flick or two and several spin offs. It's a respectable debut, and it really keeps the franchise alive.