TOP PICK: 'X-Men: Days of Future Past' opens with $36 million on Friday

In X-Men: Days of Future Past, the U.S. government is terrified that mutants might one day take over. And that’s exactly what they did on Friday, earning an estimated $36 million on the film’s first day in theaters. That debut makes it the third-highest movie opening of the year. (Last weekend, Godzilla crushed the competition with $38.5 million, while Marvel flick Captain America: The Winter Soldier took in a cool $36.9 million in April.)

Starring veteran mutants Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, and Ian McKellan, and X-Men: First Class alums James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, and Jennifer Lawrence, the Bryan Singer-directed time-travel movie was the seventh X-Men film to date — and the most expensive, costing 20th Century Fox an estimated $200 million. EW’s Chris Nashawaty gave it a B+, saying: “Singer’s return in the pretzel-logic pop fantasia X-Men: Days of Future Past is so triumphant because of how effortless he makes connecting the dots seem. It’s an epic that couldn’t be more Byzantine on paper but scans with ease on-screen.” With its opening day gross across nearly 4,000 U.S. theaters, X-Men: Days of Future Past looks to be a bonafide summer blockbuster that will likely continue to dominate over the four-day holiday weekend.

Blended – a family-friendly movie featuring Drew Barrymore and comedian Adam Sandler in their third effort following The Wedding Singer and 50 First Dates – was the weekend’s other new wide release, taking in $4.41 million. Featuring Barrymore and Sandler as single parents who fall in love during a vacation in South Africa, Blended (Cinema Score: A-) was in third place behind Godzilla, which continues to stomp all over the competition. The monster film — starring Breaking Bad‘s Bryan Cranston — earned $8.84 million on its second Friday, making for a domestic total of $126.19 million.

Frat comedy Neighbors took in an estimated $4.2 million on Friday, pushing the film over the $100 million domestic mark in its third weekend. Rounding out the top five was The Amazing Spider-Man 2 with $2 million, making for a domestic total of $179.1 million.

Here’s the top five:
1. X-Men: Days of Future Past– $36 million
2. Godzilla – $8.84 million
3. Blended - $4.41 million
4. Neighbors – $4.2 million
5. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – $2 million

Outside of the top grossers, Million Dollar Arm earned an estimated $1.82 million on Friday. The feel-good sports film — starring Mad Men‘s Jon Hamm in his first leading movie role — cleared a domestic gross of $15.35 million in its second week of release.

In limited release, colonial race drama Belle took in an estimated $428,000 from 453 theaters, making for a domestic gross of $2.63 million. And Jon Favreau’s foodie film Chef took in $562,000 from just shy of 500 location, bringing its domestic total to $1.85 million.

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