X-Men: Dark Phoenix Projected to Be Beaten by The Secret Life of Pets 2 at Opening Weekend Box Office

Nearly two decades after the franchise began, the X-Men series will conclude this weekend with the debut of X-Men: Dark Phoenix. Superhero films regularly dominate the box office and, while previous entries in the franchise have never been record-breaking, the new film adapting an iconic storyline has expectations quite high for the adventure. Unfortunately, the reviews for the film have been underwhelming, with review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes calculating only 21% positive reviews, which has diminished interest in the film, as well as having to compete with the follow-up film in a family-friendly adventure could see the film taking second place at the box office to The Secret Life of Pets 2, according to Box Office Pro.

The site projects that The Secret Life of Pets 2 could take in anywhere between $50 and $70 million domestically, with Dark Phoenix potentially settling for closer to the $45 to $55 million range. Currently, the lowest opening weekend of a film in the X-Men franchise is The Wolverine with $53.1 million. The original Secret Life of Pets holds the record for the highest opening of a film that isn't a sequel or adaptation with $104.4 million.

In Dark Phoenix, "The X-Men face their most formidable and powerful foe when one of their own, Jean Grey, starts to spiral out of control. During a rescue mission in outer space, Jean is nearly killed when she's hit by a mysterious cosmic force. Once she returns home, this force not only makes her infinitely more powerful, but far more unstable. The X-Men must now band together to save her soul and battle aliens that want to use Grey's new abilities to rule the galaxy."

When the X-Men franchise debuted in 2000, Batman and Superman were the dominating forces at the box office, though even audiences grew tired of seeing those heroes on the big screen. X-Men's relatively strong critical and financial success proved that, with the right formula, even heroes that the general public were unaware of could become big successes on the big screen. Following that film's success, adaptations like Spider-Man, Daredevil, and Fantastic Four made their way into theaters, ultimately leading towards the creation of Marvel Studios and the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Regardless of the X-Men series' ups and downs over the years, it's impossible to ignore the impact they've had on superhero cinema, with their next adventures after Dark Phoenix being within the proper MCU.

Dark Phoenix and The Secret Life of Pets 2 land in theaters on June 7th.

Are you surprised that the X-Men film might not top the box office? Let us know in the comments below!