- "Dark Phoenix" has the worst Rotten Tomatoes score of any "X-Men" movie ever, but if the franchise trend continues, that might not matter when it comes to box-office performance.
- Outside of three titles (the first two "X-Men" releases and "X-Men: The Last Stand"), every other "X-Men" release has made more money internationally than it did domestically.
- It has likely played a major factor in the length of the franchise.
- And if "Dark Phoenix" does the same, it may make Disney (the new owner of the intellectual property following its acquisition of Fox) have to speed up its plans to release future titles in the franchise.
- Here's a breakdown of how all nine "X-Men" movies have performed at the international box office.
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With a 21% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, "Dark Phoenix," the 10th movie in the "X-Men" franchise, is the worst-reviewed movie in the 20-year history of theatrical releases of the Marvel characters.
The general thinking is that it's finally time to take a break from these superheroes, especially seeing as they are now owned by Disney following the studio's acquisition of Fox (which had the rights to the intellectual property) and it will take time to implement them into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
But that might not be so easy if the box office for "Dark Phoenix" continues the trend of the franchise.
Though audiences (and critics) domestically have "X-Men" fatigue, internationally it's a different story.
Outside of three "X-Men" movies, the rest have performed better internationally than domestically. That's a huge reason why a studio will continue a franchise — it's why "Terminator" movies keep getting made. With the production budgets of most of these movies at more than $100 million (only two, "X-Men" and "Logan," were under that mark), international sales play a big part in making money off the IP.
If "Dark Phoenix" does the same, it may force Disney to speed up plans to get another "X-Men" movie out to moviegoers (or actually release "The New Mutants" in 2020, the current release date for the next title, which has been delayed to theaters numerous times).
Here's a breakdown of the international box-office grosses for the nine "X-Men" movies, from worst to best. (We've intentionally left the "Deadpool" movies off the list; don't worry, he won't mind.)
Note: All grosses are taken from Box Office Mojo.
"X-Men" (2000) — $139 million
Domestic: $157.2 million
Budget: $75 million
Rotten Tomatoes score: 81%
"X2: X-Men United" (2003) — $192.7 million
Domestic: $214.9 million
Budget: $110 million
Rotten Tomatoes score: 85%
"X-Men Origins: Wolverine" (2009) — $193.1 million
Domestic: $179.8 million
Budget: $150 million
Rotten Tomatoes score: 37%
"X-Men: First Class" (2011) — $207.2 million
Domestic: $146.4 million
Budget: $160 million
Rotten Tomatoes score: 86%
"X-Men: The Last Stand" (2006) — $224.9 million
Domestic: $234.3 million
Budget: $210 million
Rotten Tomatoes score: 58%
"The Wolverine" (2013) — $282.2 million
Domestic: $132.5 million
Budget: $120 million
Rotten Tomatoes score: 71%
"X-Men: Apocalypse" (2016) — $388.4 million
Domestic: $155.4 million
Budget: $178 million
Rotten Tomatoes score: 47%
"Logan" (2017) — $392.7 million
Domestic: $226.2 million
Budget: $97 million
Rotten Tomatoes score: 93%
"X-Men: Days of Future Past" (2014) — $513.9 million
Domestic: $233.9 million
Budget: $200 million
Rotten Tomatoes score: 90%