X-Men movies have made $3 billion worldwide since the original X-Men in 2000. That’s set to change, with 2016’s Deadpool and X-Men: Apocalypse about to hit the silver screen in February and May.
The biggest grossing X-Men movie ever was 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past with $748 million. That holds true whether we adjust for inflation or not. The weakest earnings in the series came from the original X-Men in 2000. However, adjusting for inflation gives that dubious honor to 2011’s X-Men: First Class.
Unlike Marvel Studios movies or Star Wars films, no X-Men movie has yet cracked $1 billion in box office gross. Apocalypse and Deadpool are both likely contenders for the billion dollar throne.
See the complete list of X-Men movies by earnings in the tables below. The first table shows the films adjusted for inflation. The descriptions below are all inflation-adjusted too.
1. X-Men: Days of Future Past: $747,862,780
One possible reason for the film’s success is that it combined previous cast members with newer actors, pulling two different age groups of fans. The movie had a budget of $200 million. It brought in $263 million in its opening weekend. That’s the biggest opening for any X-Men film. More than half the viewers were men and over age 25.
Director Bryan Singer has said he would have only done the film once Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart and Hugh Jackman had signed on. Both Stewart and McKellen were in a traveling stage production of Waiting for Godot when Singer approached them. McKellen reported that both he and Stewart were shocked and delighted to be included once again. The pair had thought their X-Men days were behind them.
Also see: How Much Money Has Every Marvel Movie Made?
2. X-Men: The Last Stand: $542,044,281
The film was not critically well received, earning a “rotten” score of 58% on critics aggregator site RottenTomatoes.com. Even the positive critical reviews called it silly, devoid of magic and emotionless. Box office attendance fell off by 67% in its second weekend.
The Last Stand had a budget of $210 million. At the time, that made it the most expensive film ever produced. Visual effects supervisor John Bruno has said that a full 1/6th of the movies budget went into the Golden Gate Bridge sequence. A full size model of one section of the bridge had to be constructed for the movie. Brian Singer who directed the first two movies, said he regretted not directing this one, especially after seeing it.
So why did The Last Stand earn so much? Possibly just because it was the third in the X-Men series and fans wanted to be part of the big finale.
Every X-Men Movie Adjusted for Inflation
The table below shows the worldwide and domestic gross of every X-Men film to date. The numbers are inflation-adjusted. All told, X-Men films have pulled in $3.4 billion in inflation-adjusted dollars. That puts the franchise about $4 billion behind the Star Wars movie franchise and $17 billion behind the gross of all Marvel movies. That said, the X-Men movies are a subset of the Marvel films, even if Marvel Studios doesn’t own the rights. The upshot is that no matter how much the X-Men films make, they’ll never “overtake” the Marvel franchise.
Year | X-Men Movie | Release Date | Worldwide Gross | Domestic Gross |
---|---|---|---|---|
2014 | X-Men: Days of Future Past | 5/23/2014 | $747,862,780 | $233,921,535 |
2006 | X-Men: The Last Stand | 5/26/2006 | $542,044,281 | $276,547,709 |
2003 | X2 | 5/2/2003 | $525,947,900 | $277,285,107 |
2013 | The Wolverine | 7/26/2013 | $423,124,814 | $135,207,992 |
2009 | X-Men Origins: Wolverine | 5/1/2009 | $414,099,780 | $199,670,308 |
2000 | X-Men | 7/14/2000 | $408,948,551 | $217,073,614 |
2011 | X-Men: First Class | 6/3/2011 | $374,841,573 | $155,192,809 |
2016 | Deadpool | 2/12/2016 | N/A | N/A |
2016 | X-Men: Apocalypse | 5/27/2016 | N/A | N/A |
2017 | Untitled Wolverine Movie | 3/3/2017 | N/A | N/A |
2017 | Gambit | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Total X-Men Movie Money Adjusted for Inflation | $3,436,869,678 | $1,494,899,072 |
The Honest Trailers trailer below will make you realize two things: 1) It’s so wrong. 2) So is Days of Future Past.
Also see: Marvel Movies Are Worth More Than Belize
3. X2: $525,947,900
X2 earned a respectable 86% on critics aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes. The positive reviews may partially explain why the film earned back its production budget three times over.
The extras in the movie who played frozen people were mostly mimes. There’s one scene where an ice wall separates Wolverine from his nemesis. The wall is real ice. It weighed over 3500 pounds. The replica of the White House Oval Office desk took a full two months to construct.
4. The Wolverine: $423,124,814
The 2013 movie The Wolverine pulled in $423 million worldwide and $135 million in the U.S. It scored a 70% with critics on Rotten Tomatoes. The film had a budget of $120 million. The movie more than made up for its low domestic earnings with its high foreign gross. Wolverine had the lowest domestic opening weekend of any of the X-Men films with $53 million.
The Wolverine was shot on sound stages in Fox Studios in Australia, which also hosts an abandoned theme park. The failed Universal Studios-like park cost $261 million to construct.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson gave Wolverine star Hugh Jackman tips on bulking up for the role. Johnson’s advice? Jackman could gain a pound each week by eating “an awful lot” of meats like chicken and steak, plus brown rice. His food intake would have to total 6,000 calories per day. That’s more than twice what most mere mortals consume.
Also see: How Much Money Has Every Star Wars Movie Made?
5. X-Men Origins: Wolverine: $414,099,780
Star Hugh Jackman is actually one of the producers of the Wolverine origin film. He earned a reported $25 million through his production company. Jackman has expressed dismay that the film didn’t live up to his hopes. He came back to the table with 2013’s The Wolverine in an effort to right past wrongs.
Ryan Reynolds had always dreamed of playing Deadpool. When he learned the marvel anti-hero would be in the Wolverine origin film, he lobbied to get the part and won. Reynolds will reprise the role in 2016’s big budget movie named after the character.
6. X-Men: $408,948,551
A short time after Ian McKellen accepted the role of Magneto, he was approached to play Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings. McKellen initially had to decline the wizardly role. However, director Bryan Singer reorganized the movie’s shooting schedule so McKellen could appear as both the bearded mage and the X-Men nemesis.
Also see: How Much Money Did Harrison Ford Make for Star Wars?
7. X-Men: First Class: $374,841,573
One reason for First Class’s low earnings might be its reboot status. The film did not include any of the original cast members, and some fans may have resisted the transition.
Star James McAvoy shaved his head to prepare for the role of Charles Xavier. Shortly after doing so, he learned that his character would actually have hair in the movie. McAvoy had to wear hair extensions for the first month of shooting. The actor had to shave his head a second time for X-Men: Apocalypse in 2016. We’re betting this time he double-checked about the hair requirements before picking up the trimmer.
X-Men: Apocalypse and Deadpool?
If recent box office trends are any hint, the 2016 movies Deadpool and X-Men: Apocalypse are slated to earn huge money. Estimates place Deadpool’s earnings at half a billion and Apocalypse’s gross at roughly $1 billion. Watch the trailer for Apocalypse below.
Also see: How Much Money Does Daisy Ridley Make?
Deadpool may be a box office surprise. The character’s crass edges may narrow the movie’s appeal among some demographics. That said, the Marvel anti-hero is inarguably hilarious. Be warned that the red band trailer below may be offensive to some viewers. Then again, other viewers who see it (such as the one who wrote this article) won’t have any choice but to see it in the theatre.
Every X-Men Movie Not Adjusted for Inflation
The bulk of our article is based on inflation-adjusted numbers. There isn’t a huge time gap between the first X-Men film in 2000 and the newest ones in 2016. The franchise doesn’t need inflation adjustments as much as a series like Star Wars, which has a span of almost forty years from the first film to the most recent. Still, according to the Consumer Price Index, $1 in 2000 was worth $1.38 in 2015. We show the movies’ earnings without adjusting for inflation in the table below.
Year | X-Men Movie | Release Date | Worldwide Gross | Domestic Gross |
---|---|---|---|---|
2014 | X-Men: Days of Future Past | 5/23/2014 | $747,862,780 | $233,921,535 |
2006 | X-Men: The Last Stand | 5/26/2006 | $459,359,560 | $234,362,465 |
2013 | The Wolverine | 7/26/2013 | $414,828,249 | $132,556,855 |
2003 | X2 | 5/2/2003 | $407,711,550 | $214,949,695 |
2009 | X-Men Origins: Wolverine | 5/1/2009 | $373,062,865 | $179,883,160 |
2011 | X-Men: First Class | 6/3/2011 | $353,624,125 | $146,408,310 |
2000 | X-Men | 7/14/2000 | $296,339,530 | $157,299,720 |
2016 | Deadpool | 2/12/2016 | N/A | N/A |
2016 | X-Men: Apocalypse | 5/27/2016 | N/A | N/A |
2017 | Untitled Wolverine Movie | 3/3/2017 | N/A | N/A |
2017 | Gambit | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Total X-Men Movies Money | $3,052,788,659 | $1,299,381,740 |
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