Hero Worship

As expected, X-MEN:The Last Stand, topped the U.S. box office during the Memorial Day holiday weekend. The super hero sequel took in $45 million on Friday alone and ended up with the 2nd largest single-day opening (beaten only by Star Wars: Episode III).

Ben Fritz of Variety put it this way:

"X-Men: The Last Stand" used Wolverine's claws this weekend to slice through plenty of domestic box office records...read more in Wolverine cuts wide swath...

Meanwhile, Brandon Gray of Box Office Mojo said this:

Blazing past expectations, 'X-Men: The Last Stand' raked in an estimated $120.1 million, breaking the Memorial Day weekend record.

Gray's full weekend report can be found here.

X-3 would still done very well, even without the extra day, according to Fritz:

Pic's Friday-Sunday gross of $103.1 million is the fourth-highest opening weekend of all time, behind only those of "Spider-Man," "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith" and "Shrek 2."

Director change be damned! In case you haven't read my take on the film that is X-3--Here it is.