Saturday update:
Fox's "X-Men: First Class" debuted to a solid if unspectacular $21 million Friday, putting the $160 million franchise reboot on pace to meet pre-release predictions of around $55 million, according to studio estimates.
Fox, for its part, had more conservativley predicted an opening of around $50 million for the film, which is not in 3D.
Some box-office outliers had forecasted an over-performance of over $60 million, given the film's late critically driven buzz, but that doesn't appear like it's going to happen.
The fifth X-Men movie -- produced by Bryan Singer, director of the first two movies, and directed by Matthew Vaughn -- features an entirely overhauled cast and an origins story arc. It made $3.4 million in midnight showings early Friday.
The film has been exceptionally well-reviewed for a super-hero movie, scoring 87 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Legendary co-produced comedy sequel "Hangover Part II" finished second Friday with $10.6 million and is on pace to drop about 60 percent from its premiere weekend.
Universal is set to pass two benchmarks this weekend, with "Bridesmaids" grossing $3.6 million Friday and due to pass $100 million domestically by Sunday; also, "Fast Five," which grossed $962,000 Friday, will surpass $200 million domestically.
Meanwhile, the limited release realm remained especially active.
Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris," expanding by 89 locations to 147 houses, grossed an estimated $704,000 Friday. The Sony Classics-distributed comedy should finish the weekend with around $2.6 million, giving it $6.6 million after three weeks of very limted play.
Fox Searchlight's "Tree of Life," expanding by 16 outlets to 20 theaters, grossed $180,000 Friday -- that's a solid pace that will give the Terrence Malick Palme d'Or winner around $600,000 this weekend, leaving it just outside the top 10.
Also, Weinstein's lightly promoted "Submarine," debuting at four locations Friday, grossed just $10,000 Friday, while Focus Features' "Beginners" -- also very much under the radar -- took in a soft $38,000 at five locations.
Thursday preview:
By Daniel Frankel & Joshua L. Weinstein
Overlooked by many as a tired comic book movie sequel debuting amid a flood of superhero films, "X-Men: First Class" could very well be the X factor at the summer box office.
No Hugh Jackman. No Halle Berry. No Ian McKellen.
But "X-Men: First Class” is suddenly getting the kind of critical buzz that stands out in a summer box-office that includes such comics-themed titles as "Thor," "Green Lantern" and "Captain America."
Might Fox have the sleeper hit of the popcorn movie season on its hands?
By late Thursday, the fifth X-Men movie -- which features an entirely overhauled cast with a Cold War narrative -- had rated 86 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, exceptional for the superhero genre.
Critics including the Wall Street Journal's Joe Morgenstern raved. "Preaching mutant pride with endearing fervor, 'X-Men: First Class' proves to be a mutant in its own right -- a zestfully radical departure from the latter span of a sputtering franchise," Morgenstern wrote.
